The Adventure of the Brexitmas Election
Next week the UK return to the polls for yet another general election. I remember turning eighteen and looking forward to being able to go and vote. The political trauma of the intervening years quickly turned voting as less of a privilege and more of a chore. Once again I shall be heading to the polling station to try to have my say on who should sort the mess out.
We're not exactly spoiled for choice right now. Current Prime Minister Boris Johnson is an arsehole and I have honestly not heard anyone disagree with that. This is a man who is extremely untrustworthy who at worst lies and at best misleads. Take the run up to the Brexit referendum when he stated that leaving the EU would give an extra £350 million to the NHS on the side of a bus. It's just one example of many where Johnson deliberately manipulates the facts to grab power. Even his personal life gives cause for concern given he is famous for being a womanizer and won't even admit to how many children he has, if indeed he knows.
He leads the Conservative party who have been in power since 2011 (initially in a coalition and then on their own). The government have led of a period of austerity which involved huge cuts to public services, putting increasing strain on the NHS in particular but making life considerably more difficult to the police and education services. We've seen how their new benefits system 'universal credit' has made those most at need worse off. I work with children with special needs and I've seen directly how government cuts have led to local councils struggling to afford to pay for the care and educational needs people need and how charities are disappearing and greatly reducing services because they no longer get the government help they need to operate.
The big issue we have at this election is the lack of a strong alternative. If you're in Scotland you've got the SNP, but I'm not. Those in favor of Brexit don't really need the Brexit Party any longer because the Conservatives have promised to deliver Brexit. If you believe the UK should remain in the EU then the Liberal Democrats are the biggest remain party but the problem is that they are still the third biggest party by a mile (and other parties with similar views like the Green Party are much smaller).
Which leads us to Labour. Now Labour is read by Jeremy Corbyn who is not the arsehole that Johnson is but is similarly not what you look for in a Prime Minister. I personally think he's a well-intentioned and generally good man but he's not got the material of a leader. One of the big minus points many have against him is that they consider him antisemitic or at least have big issues with the way antisemitism in the Labour party has been dealt with. If you've heard him speak I think it's clear that he is not antisemitic himself but it's hard to argue with the fact he has failed to shake the issues within his party.
Corbyn has also received a lot of stick for not declaring his position on Brexit. He's explained that he wants to offer the UK a referendum between a specific exit deal with the EU and remaining in the union. If this happened he would remain neutral and follow through with whatever the public voted on. Many people are critical of this but I think it's the best way for the UK to move through the stalemate it's now on. The 2016 referendum was vague and it was never clear what leaving the EU would actually mean. This proposed referendum would settle the issue once and for all and I think most remainers at least would settle for leaving in this way if that's what was decided.
I think there are three choices you can make with your vote in this election. You can vote for the Conservatives and keep Boris Johnson in power, which seems like the choice of a madman. You could vote for one of the smaller parties and in some areas this might be a good call in stopping the Conservatives. In many areas though it's surely just a vote which achieves very little. The third choice is to vote for Labour and though it's problematic it's a lot less problematic than allowing Johnson to lead the country.
If nothing else, I think the UK has long worked best when the two parties swap over power every few years. The Conservatives generally do a decent job with the economy and Labour do the spending to improve our lives. Both are two sides of a coin that need each other to function and after the best part of a decade of Conservative rule it's time to flip the coin and move into the Labour phase once again.
If you are having trouble considering voting for Corbyn or indeed another leader, consider the fact you are not voting for the party leader but for your own local MP. You've likely had leaflets through the door and in the 21st century it's easy to look up exactly how your candidates are and what they stand for. Find out who best supports your views and vote for them.
The result of this election is difficult to predict but I fear the likeliest outcome is another few years of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It's a nightmarish prospect.
That's enough politics for a while here I think and normal service will be resumed next week...
He leads the Conservative party who have been in power since 2011 (initially in a coalition and then on their own). The government have led of a period of austerity which involved huge cuts to public services, putting increasing strain on the NHS in particular but making life considerably more difficult to the police and education services. We've seen how their new benefits system 'universal credit' has made those most at need worse off. I work with children with special needs and I've seen directly how government cuts have led to local councils struggling to afford to pay for the care and educational needs people need and how charities are disappearing and greatly reducing services because they no longer get the government help they need to operate.
The big issue we have at this election is the lack of a strong alternative. If you're in Scotland you've got the SNP, but I'm not. Those in favor of Brexit don't really need the Brexit Party any longer because the Conservatives have promised to deliver Brexit. If you believe the UK should remain in the EU then the Liberal Democrats are the biggest remain party but the problem is that they are still the third biggest party by a mile (and other parties with similar views like the Green Party are much smaller).
Which leads us to Labour. Now Labour is read by Jeremy Corbyn who is not the arsehole that Johnson is but is similarly not what you look for in a Prime Minister. I personally think he's a well-intentioned and generally good man but he's not got the material of a leader. One of the big minus points many have against him is that they consider him antisemitic or at least have big issues with the way antisemitism in the Labour party has been dealt with. If you've heard him speak I think it's clear that he is not antisemitic himself but it's hard to argue with the fact he has failed to shake the issues within his party.
Corbyn has also received a lot of stick for not declaring his position on Brexit. He's explained that he wants to offer the UK a referendum between a specific exit deal with the EU and remaining in the union. If this happened he would remain neutral and follow through with whatever the public voted on. Many people are critical of this but I think it's the best way for the UK to move through the stalemate it's now on. The 2016 referendum was vague and it was never clear what leaving the EU would actually mean. This proposed referendum would settle the issue once and for all and I think most remainers at least would settle for leaving in this way if that's what was decided.
I think there are three choices you can make with your vote in this election. You can vote for the Conservatives and keep Boris Johnson in power, which seems like the choice of a madman. You could vote for one of the smaller parties and in some areas this might be a good call in stopping the Conservatives. In many areas though it's surely just a vote which achieves very little. The third choice is to vote for Labour and though it's problematic it's a lot less problematic than allowing Johnson to lead the country.
If nothing else, I think the UK has long worked best when the two parties swap over power every few years. The Conservatives generally do a decent job with the economy and Labour do the spending to improve our lives. Both are two sides of a coin that need each other to function and after the best part of a decade of Conservative rule it's time to flip the coin and move into the Labour phase once again.
If you are having trouble considering voting for Corbyn or indeed another leader, consider the fact you are not voting for the party leader but for your own local MP. You've likely had leaflets through the door and in the 21st century it's easy to look up exactly how your candidates are and what they stand for. Find out who best supports your views and vote for them.
The result of this election is difficult to predict but I fear the likeliest outcome is another few years of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It's a nightmarish prospect.
That's enough politics for a while here I think and normal service will be resumed next week...
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