Posts tagged Labour Party

I’ve campaigned for Labour in every election since 1987. But this time is different. In every other election I hoped that Labour would win, I was disappointed, shocked, gutted when we didn’t win in 1987 and 1992. But that’s as far as it went.

But this time it’s different. This time it’s far more emotional and personal. Because this time I’m responsible for people.

• I’ve got a daughter who’s almost three and I’m sick to the pit of my stomach with fear for her future if the Tories win. But my fear isn’t just for her, it’s for every other child in the country whose lives will be blighted by the Tories.
• I’ve got a team of brilliant young people that I employ and am responsible for. I’m terrified for their future if the Tories win. I’m terrified how Tory economic policies will devastate small businesses and force thousands of us out of business, just like in the 80s. I don’t want my young people to suffer that trauma.
• I’ve got a father-in-law living in a great care home. I’m terrified what will happen to him if the Tories win. From Tory and Tory/Lib Dem councils around the country we’ve already seen how they deliberately attack the most vulnerable in society by closing homes and viciously cutting home care services.

Quite simply I’m terrified of the Tories and how they’ll govern to benefit the few, while the rest of the country can go to hell.

Growing up in the 80s I’ve had personal experience of just how bad it is to suffer under the misery of a Tory government. I remember:

• being taught in schools with classrooms where the roof leaked, where classrooms were Portacabins in the playground, where we didn’t have enough teachers.
• people waiting over a year for hospital appointments, not just weeks.
• when people were scared of the police who the Tories were trying to turn into a political tool to attack the miners and working people.
• when Tory ministers celebrated the fact that a pregnant woman was handcuffed to her hospital bed
• when people were losing their homes and jobs, because of extortionate 15% interest rates.

It scares me that young people I talk to don’t know just how terrible the Tories really are. They never lived through the sheer misery of a government with the core principles of selfishness and greed.

And the truth is even if you believe in Compassionate Cameron, it’s still the same old nasty Tory Party that he leads. Tony Blair was a true leader and took on Labour Party members to reclaim it and take it back to its founding principles, rejecting the left-wing doctrines that had polluted Labour’s original philosophies.

Cameron hasn’t done this. There can only be three reasons:

1. Cameron is lying and doesn’t really believe his compassionate Conservatism, it’s just a ruse to seize power. I used to believe Dave and think he had changed, just not his party. Now, I’m not so sure. Maybe I’ve been conned by Cameron.
2. Cameron is too scared to take on his own members. He doesn’t have the courage for the job. You have to ask if he can’t lead a political party, how can he lead a country?
3. Cameron isn’t capable of taking on his own members. He’s just not bright enough. You have to ask if he can’t lead a political party, how can he lead a country?

So I urge you, if you do one thing today then vote to stop the Tories plunging Britain into misery.

Vote to ensure that the UK gets true electoral reform as advocated by Labour and the Liberal Democrats, not the gerrymandering, vote-rigging proposed by Cameron.

UPDATE: A few typos helpfully corrected by @karenbruce, my lesson is more haste less speed!