I am voting Labour next Thursday, May 7 – and it hasn’t been
a particularly difficult decision to come to.
Here, for what it’s worth – say, my own piece of mind – is why:
Labour under Ed Miliband have made a clear break, in my opinion, from the simultaneously audacious and disreputable New
Labour of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown – the rhetoric is now more measured,
about change needing to happen, but happen at a pace that is realistic and
achievable, not in one big explosion off the back of yet another grandiose,
statesman like Blairite address.
Labour are committed to repealing the Conservatives
deleterious bedroom tax and the Health and Social Care Act (which will benefit
the NHS), initiatives that have made, and if they survive will continue to make, life for a
sizeable number of poor, weak, elderly and disabled very miserable. Moreover,
should the Conservatives get back in to Downing Street, they plan to cut the
budget for welfare by another (reported) £8-12 billion to finance George
Osborne’s revised attempt to eradicate the deficit (at present around £90
billion) before 2019. Under a Conservative government the disadvantaged in
society will be even worse off than they are now, under a Labour government the
opposite. Politics has to be about creating a more just society for all, and
should absolutely entail real concern and support for the less well off first and foremost.
Staying on the subject of the deficit for a moment; the fact
it remains at £90 billion is because the Conservative government have a patchy economic record over their last term in office. It is no surprise that
those who sing their praises for engineering an ‘impressive’ recovery from
recession exist firmly within ABC1 – this is a consequence of rump politics as
well as general apathy and complacency. But it should be noted that while
things have improved since Gordon Brown’s premiership, they have improved
fairly sluggishly and although employment has risen this is largely in the area
of low cost labour bringing little money into the treasury to be redistributed
to those areas of the economy and society in need.
I am also voting Labour because I believe they are the party
that has the heart and expertise to redistribute fiscal wealth generated in
this country in the most equitable manner; and, to return to low cost labour, precisely
because of how they are going to tackle equality for workers on low pay. To start with Labour are going to insist on a
living wage of c£8 an hour, and secondly they are going to do away with zero hours
contracts. Both these measures will
positively incentivise people to seek and find work, safer in the knowledge
that employment under the Labour government will bring a greater measure of
security.
Thirdly, while on employment , that Labour will commit to
making sure that migrant workers will also have to be paid the living wage
addresses an other major issue at the heart of the general election this year –
immigration. The likelihood being that employers will no longer have a reason
to discriminate between migrant and indigenous workers, which in a European
economy in the long term will go some way to readdressing the labour and skills
drainage from less well off parts of Europe, in addition to quelling the
malignant though, in the wake of economic hardship under the Conservative
government, somewhat understandable voices
that claim immigrants are taking ‘British’ jobs (which really translates as: ‘Society
governed by the Tories does not value or recognise me’).
Furthermore, the fact Labour are committed to staying in
Europe is beneficial from the point of view of cultural integration in Britain today.
We live in a multi-everything nation in a multi-everything European community.
Staying in Europe , with stricter employment
laws in place, will maintain a British community which derives great benefit
from accommodating and continuing to accommodate people from various ethnic and
cultural backgrounds, at the same time as upholding their value and rights as
British citizens. Under a Conservative government there is likely to be a
referendum on UK membership of Europe within the next five years which will
endanger our multicultural society in the future, keep UKIP’s myopic, xenophobic and
racist politics high profile in the media, and result in a possible second referendum
on Scottish independence, which may well break up the Union altogether at a time
when it seems better to stay together and have Westminster gradually cede power across the border. Scotland is not a going economic
concern of its own at present (and I would also like to see Labour prove itself
to the Scottish people again, following Miliband’s ill-advised decision to
explicitly follow the Conservative lead last September).
Meanwhile, another reason I will vote Labour is because of
the potential I see in their ranks and, in spite of this and that, in their
leader, Ed Miliband. It is perhaps fair
to say that Miliband struggled to define himself as Labour leader early in his
tenure, and has made missteps (including his actions over Scottish
independence), but more or less in the last eighteen months has come into his
own. His looks and accent are irrelevant, and although he resorts to
double-speak from time to time, he does give the appearance of a man who genuinely listens to what is being said
to him from all sides. I, for one, liked the fact he was prepared this week to
go and talk to comedian-cum-political-agitator, Russell Brand, because it
showed again Miliband’s willingness to listen, and in some cases, learn from
the electorate (let’s not forget that Brand has been responsible for raising
political awareness among the young - even if his advocacy for non-voting is
dubious - and that in dismissing Brand, Cameron has also shown himself not to care about the very same young). Behind Miliband too, there is an eager and able team of potential
cabinet ministers from diverse backgrounds not jaded and compromised by five
years in muddy coalition government, including Chukka Umunna, Sadiq Kahn, Ed
Balls, Tristram Hunt, Gloria de Piero and Caroline Flint.
I am wholeheartedly in favour of green policies taking more
of a centre stage in years to come, and I think that the Green Party need to
keep exerting influence over the major parties to enable this. Moreover, the
more the Greens (and others) have influence and command media presence, the more
the UK political landscape will naturally evolve into a multi-party system, and once
again, especially under a Labour government, the first past the post system
will be undermined, potentially paving the way for a second chance on AV – that
Milband himself has described as the ‘first step to ending the disconnect
between politicians and people’.
There is a quasi-socialist link between Labour and the
Greens, and one can dream of a Labour government in power with the mind and the
expertise to implement policy, supported by a strong minority party such as the
Greens with a fair, forward thinking and inclusive ideology. It can happen, but
this time around on May 7, where it is tight between Labour and Conservative in
any constituency anywhere, Green voters have to think tactically and go with
Labour. For under Labour, their time will come a damn sight faster than under a
Tory government.
Lastly, of the various other key policies Labour’s approach
seems indicative of a party that has escaped the hyperbole of Blair and Co. To
choose two areas of policy in conclusion: While the Conservatives have a
zero-tolerance aspect to their Education policy, not to mention a divisive
drive for more free-schools (meaning less equity in schooling), Labour want to
protect the education budget in the long-term, keep class sizes manageable and
cut university tuition-fees by c33%. Second: When it comes to housing, Labour
are keen to guarantee tenancy agreements which will stem
gentrification in certain areas and enable communities to remain diverse, at
the same time investing heavily in affordable homes; under the Conservatives
we’ve seen over the last five years, in London boroughs for example, locals being
driven out of their apartments in return for a miserly hand out of c£5k, before
demolition and the development of ‘new living spaces’, with poor door somewhere around the back by the toilet effluent.
Want to live in a content, fair-minded, safer and more
secure, inclusive multi-cultural neighbourhood, one that is as far as possible
mirrored across the UK ?
Start by voting Labour. Labour will heal Britain, whereas New Labour searched unsuccessfully (in the main) for a cure, and Cameron's Conservatives have cleansed.
** Disclaimer: This is not a policy document or a manifesto,
simply an opinion piece, hence, at times, the relative lack of detail on
certain issues or indeed the omission of aspects beyond the scope of this article **
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