So the 2005 UK election is all over. Actually it was quite painless. After months of phoney electioneering, a three week intensive campaign just seemed like a continuation of the last six months.
There is an immense amount of joy watching politicians squirm and even before the dust has settled on this election it appears that while both major parties claim victory, neither leader will outlive the Christmas turkey.
The Tory leader, Michael Howard, is he scary or what?, has already announced his resignation as party leader. It still baffles me how he even made leader. As the party and country looked for dynamism and fresh ideas along came an old school has been, an accomplice of eighteen conservative years of British decay. He may have appeared the right man to bigoted, wealthy ladies running church fates but hardly the man to take the country towards an exciting new future.
Meanwhile the man who won the election, Tony Blair, must somehow dodge the knives of his fellow members of parliament, the knives perilously close to his back. But what does he care? He tried his grand vision during his first four years in office. I believe he walked into his new home on Downing Street with great ideals. Problem was as the real world hit home, he realised the people he needed on his side would not co-operate with rewards of their own. The business world wanted Conservative policies not Socialist. The arms manufacturers wanted continuing sales. It was fine in opposition standing for principals but when in government life was a little more complicated. Ethical arms sales costs jobs. Cancelling world debt pisses off the banks.
The war in Iraq proved one of the most divisive aspects of Blair?s election. It still confuses me as to why he went ahead anyway. The United States would have invaded with or without us so why put himself in such an impossible position. Did he really underestimate the opposition here? Why did he put so much effort into deceiving the population? Did he think so little of his electorate? Or was he genuinely taken in by the Bush ?Crusade?? The last alternative is pretty scary.
Either way Blair is now finished. He cant win. His majority, now around sixty, is nowhere near enough to force through his radical policies, especially the ridiculous ID card programme. The general population see him as either a liar or a misguided friend of one of the most dangerous men alive today. The sincerity that brought him to power, now a distant memory. What the hell. He broke the record for achieving three consecutive Labour election victories. Time to pack it all in, hand over the baton to Gordon Brown, write a book and watch the decline from a trough filled European seat.
I remember the excitement of 1997. The feeling of a brand new start, the end of sleaze, a future of hope and fairness. Dignity. Forget it Tony, you were no better than the creeps you ousted. Eight years later crime is worse, hospitals dirtier, world poverty more widespread, terrorism greater, we still sell arms to corrupt regimes, industries still privatised, taxes higher, oh but you did sort of ban fox hunting (with more loopholes than a fisherman?s net).
Last time I abstained. Well kind of, I took my voters card to the polling station, put a huge cross through all the listed names and scribbled the words ?This is not democracy?. An Electoral Commission report says there were over 100,000 spoilt ballot papers at the 2001 election. I was not alone.
If I thought all the candidates the same last time around, hell, they are even more alike now.
Last election I lived in Manchester, Bury South to be more precise. We swung with the rest of the country as Uncle Tony swept the board with New Labour. Now I live in Scotland, the new seat of Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale seat. Even the constituency is a mouthful.
My choice of candidates was somewhat limited. There were the usual suspects, Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem and Scottish Nationalist plus UKIP (UK Independence) and the SSP (I presume SSP stands for Scottish Socialist not Smoked Salmon). I was saved the dilemma of choosing The Green Party as they didn?t stand. A grand vote of conscience but a real live wasted vote.
I couldn?t vote UKIP as I don?t disagree with the idea of us Europeans being one happy family. I find it strange those UKIP members elected to the European parliament didn?t wave their rights to attend and stay away. Say what you will about the IRA, at least their members elected to the UK parliament stayed away as principle. Perhaps the free lunches and expenses are a little harder to resist in Brussels. Until UKIP can string together more than one policy, and one sentence, I can?t see their attraction.
As for the Scottish Socialist, well, while I believe all men are created equal, in the real world some work harder than others and should be allowed to reap the benefits. I guess that makes me a ?non-socialist?. Of course Labour were socialists before they realised there were no votes in it. Now if they were the Smoked Salmon Party, well that is a whole different issue. I love the stuff but it is rather expensive, even the stuff Jamie Oliver peddles for Sainsbury?s. I could possibly vote for a party that distributed free smoked salmon.
So I was left with the three biggies, or 2.5 really (the Liberal Democrats more of a tea party than a political party).
Labour have looked over us for the last 8 years or so. They have looked after our children?s schools, hospitals and our taxes. They must love our taxes because they keep taking more and more. One major does bugbear besides the stealth taxes, they say save for the future as pension forecasts hit rock bottom. So we try to save, and they tax. They tax our wages, then they tax our savings then a third time when we spend the money. Why should we be taxed three times on the same money?
If I am to be selfish, I don?t feel any wealthier or safer now than I did ten years ago. Crime figures may be down, but that is only because people don?t bother reporting crime anymore. On a world scale I still see poverty around the world and more terrorism than ever before. Labour, the party of the poor, the working man, stands by as some of the biggest companies in the UK dump their workforce here in place for cheap labour in India and elsewhere. They may criticise the Tories past but how many privatised companies have been re-nationalised, how many pits reopened? Where are the ethical policies? Where is the aid for third world nations? Why do we still arm corrupt regimes?
If we bring in personalities, then how can we trust Uncle Tony after his deceit and lies over Iraq. Whether for or against the war, we were lied to and misled. Still Blair talks with that sardonic smile, waving his arms and expecting us to trust him. Sorry but you blew it. Perhaps if had you been truthful before, or even after the invasion, but you must think so little of us and care even less. With millions around the world objecting to the war, you and Bush and few Christian fundamentalists went ahead anyway. While the rights and wrongs of the war are an issue, today, at this election, what is more important for me is the fact you chose to ignore the peoples will, the people who voted you. The people you asked for trust. How stupid do you think we are moving tanks to Heathrow Airport, frightening us into a war, a war decided on the day after the first Gulf war if not on September 12th 2001.
Labours only saving grace is the good state of the economy and the lack of opposition. The Tories hypocrisy knows no limit. Seventeen years of snouts in the trough, of self-gratification turned a caring society into a jungle. Under Thatcher and Major unemployment and crime rocketed while the health and morality of the nation sunk to new depths. A key member of that conservative evil was Michael Howard. Today he panders to the lowest common denominator, the immigration card. For a man, who?s family were accepted into this country when fleeing for their lives, to turn away even one desperate refugee is repugnant. Perhaps he should consider where he would be if the laws he proposes were in force sixty years ago?
The Liberal Democrats are probably the most honest of the crowd. I am not certain they could organise a jumble sale let alone run the country. Perhaps this is why their policies are so appealing, nobody, not even themselves, believe they will get into power. They can promise the world without having to produce.
The practise of coal for votes is long gone. Instead of the candidates turning up on the doorstep with a bag of coal, they arrive with a list of false promises, lies and the good ideas pinched from their opponents.
I did vote this election, my choice coming an unimpressive third. Our constituency has the dubious distinction of presenting the only Conservative MP from Scotland. I feel none of the desperation felt when John Major was elected in 1992 nor any of the optimism of Tony Blair?s victory in 1997. I feel apathetic yet angry enough to comment.
The election over, we can return to matters of real importance, issues that really concern us the people, will Manchester City qualify for Europe, will Everton make the Champions League, will Norwich beat the relegation drop and will all our dreams be realised by Manchester United ending the season without any trophies?
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Hyuck Hyuck Guffaw! ---Couldn't agree more----you wrote---The Tory leader, Michael Howard----, has already announced his resignation as party leader. ----- As the party and country looked for dynamism and fresh ideas------- along came an old school has-been,---- an accomplice of eighteen conservative years of British decay.------- He may have appeared the right man --------------to bigoted, wealthy ladies running church fates----(fetes)------ but hardly the man to take the country towards an exciting new future. ---most of the Western Nations seem to be stuffed ---only answer is don't have any kids!--don't buy any cheap-laboured-goods-keep your money under the bed -this might stop the corps (corporations) from enslaving future generations.---if populations were smaller, and less inclined to want too many goodies, you could put a stop to the rot. The more you use a system and become dependent on it, the more it getsya! ----Well, I aint gonna change nothin' by B!TC#!N' here-----but I am glad to see more 'John Noboddy's --- gettin' some social awareness! If people can see that their buck aint buying any bang, maybe they will start voting accordingly. -----Good article, enjoyed reading it. *** stars!
I?m a rat in the US, Johnny. I can?t even vote, and I don?t know a whole lot about the process in the UK. If I?m way off base in my comments remember, I?m just a US rat and ignore me.
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You say you don?t have much of a choice. Heck, in the US all we have is one viable party, the Industrialists. You guys got a lot more choice and more diverse representation you must have more say in the government itself. In the US we got us two groups that are automatically against each other. If one says the sky is blue the other will disagree on principal and spend hours arguing the point at taxpayer expense.
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I see a lot of similarities though, like your Labour Party seems to be like our Labor Unions, supposedly for the working man. In reality they are big business themselves, at one time for the worker but those days long gone.
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Terrorism! That?s the catchword right now, thanks to George Bush. They hit the US good that one time and we struck back. I can see him needing to do something, and quickly. But why continue and call it a ?War? when it?s a police problem. Invading countries for no reason other than you feel like it is a bunch of crap. We have had terrorists for as long as people have lived together. We have them now, and we?ll always have them. It?s a police matter and should be treated as such. I think your government got into it because of the petroleum, plain and simple.
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Your government, like many others, wanted a share of the Iraq oil when the whole thing was over. With Bush, an oilman, in control of it there was billions of dollars worth up for grabs. Countries that helped in his war, not mine, would benefit while others wouldn?t.
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I?m embarrassed to be a US citizen. We flaunt world opinion and international law, setting precedents that will come back to haunt us all in the future. Hell, the US is one of the biggest terrorist countries in the world. I think about the Iraqi citizen, out of work because of the unjust invasion, sitting in his living room, shaking in fear when a helicopter flies overhead. Now isn?t that terrorism? We, yeah your government included, bombs whole housing areas just because there may be one terrorist in them.
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You bring up Christian Fundamentalists, a valid subject. One thing I?m afraid of is that this could truly escalate into a religious war. And the Fundamentalists are egging it on. Sometimes I turn on the 700 club on tv. They sound like the Nazi?s in their preaching of hate. That and asking little old ladies to send in money. Listening to the news in the US I get the false impression that all Christians are like that, which I know is wrong.
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There are a lot of similarities though. Like the way voters are swayed by last minute speeches and advertising. They seem like a big mass just hanging there. At the last minute that mass gets pushed by all sides, trying to sway it in a certain direction. The big dumb mass swings one way or the other and, Voila, you have a winner.
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I hardly think that?s fair to the rest of us whom try to study all the issues and make an intelligent decision. I spend endless hours trying to understand the candidates despite all the semantic perils shoved in my path. Such as finding out true information, untwisting innuendoes, trying to find grains of truth in piles of horseshit.
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The candidates themselves and their parties tell you one thing. You have to read between the lines and extrapolate what they don?t say. The other candidates and parties tell you the reverse and converse, some of which might, just might, have grains of truth floating in the slime. You hear two sides on an issue, knowing there are several more side left unsaid.
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Usually I end up doing the same thing in the end. I vote for or against the incumbent. I try to think in terms of ?has he/she made my life even a little better or not?? The answer is normally ?not.?
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When I was younger, I used to think that all those intelligent people in government knew more than I did on complex issues. I trusted their judgement. After all they had more information on issues than I had. They were more likely to make an intelligent decision that I was.
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As I got older, I revised that opinion, realizing they have their own priorities. First comes their own and their family?s welfare, then comes their party. We, the governed, come way the list, after such things as worries about what will be written in the history books, their friends opinion of them, whether they can stay out of jail, whether it will impress their girlfriends, and what they plan for dinner that night. The only time we?re important to them is at election time.
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Well, there?s my ranting reply to your rant. Sorry I couldn?t argue for or against your points, not knowing much about your electoral processes. Hell, I don?t know much about my own except they certainly ain?t like I learned in Rat School. I guess I ain?t in Kansas anymore, Toto.
Oscar Rat
Will Dale Jr win the Nextel Cup? Hey, Johnny! Nice to read your thoughts. Have missed your take on things. (I too haven't had much time these past few months.) Here is a question for you...what about Georgia? Our inept leader is over across the sea sticking his nose in someone else's business. I just wonder where Blair will end up in that. Interesting that Blair might just be tossed aside anyway. Too bad it takes so much to do that here. It has happened of course but...and to comment on Richard's comment....yes! I say we all move to Antigua. (family joke) You in?
Apathy was certainly the main feature of this election. With a stable economy Tony was always going to win – don’t get me wrong, the people will never forgive him for taking us into an illegal war against the will of the nation, and some day he will get his comeuppance. Now of course the real excitement will begin – how long Tony lasts. In reality we have two Prime Ministers (Domestic – Gordon, and Foreign – Tony), and the economy, therefore this latest win, is very much down to Gordon. He has already seen off Tony’s latest bid to oust him (once again Milburn has left for more time with his family) it is only a matter of time before he replaces Blair. This will be interesting for our US friends, because Brown and Bush do not like each other.
The real achievement of this Labour government is not in having big ideas, but in pinching everyone else’s ideas and turning them into policy – the Lib/Dems have suffered particularly in this respects. It is in effect, incremental government, or to give it it’s proper name, consensus government. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing?
Yes, British politics is well and truly buggered, johnny. My suggestion that we all move to a new country and leave the politicians here didn't go down so well. The only explanation for Blair's re-election is that a) there's no-one better and b) our opinion of our government has fallen so low (understandably) that we simply don't care anymore.
PS; Scott, I'm amazed you managed to get out alive from the bleak war zone that is Henley-on-Thames, aka 'the new Vietnam'. Presumably trying the same trick in, say, North Korea, wouldn't have quite the same effect.
Now that Lord Sutch has gone UK elections hold no excitement at all. I did manage to wave a huge red flag through the streets of blue blue Henley-On-Thames on election night. It stirred a few passions at least and I did manage to get out alive. Hope you're having fun up there in Scotland Johnny...perhaps the rest of us could come to join you soon.
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