One cannot quite fathom whether it’s his supreme lack of imagination, his total incompetence or poor-hating agenda that keeps bringing him back to the welfare state as the place to grab a load of cash to bung up the gaping hole endlessly referred to as the source of all our problems.
No getting heavy with those massive tax avoiders, still, or any tax burdens at the top of the pile. Is he scared of big, strong business men who drink whisky and shout aggressively?
He strikes me as cowardly as well as faintly ridiculous and he reminds me of the kid who did the bully’s bidding in order to “fit in”, to be a part of something.
He is weak, and lacking in moral fibre.
Should he really be in charge of the purse strings of the country? as it is uncertain where the £25bn is supposed to come from.
Should he really be in charge of the purse strings of the country? as it is uncertain where the £25bn is supposed to come from.
With charities having to feed ever more desperate people via foodbanks, with ever increasing numbers of suicides, with ever greater numbers of people evicted due to being unable to afford housing following bedroom tax & council tax cuts, with vast swathes of the population choosing to heat or eat in the middle of winter storms.
How much more can he take from the pockets of the vulnerable, the young, the old, the disenfranchised, the desperate?
But the problem we all face when we go out to the polls is which party do we vote for, if we vote the present parties out and vote the other in (Labour) would we be any better off?
Probably not, as Labour has acknowledged the party will not be able to commit to reversing any of the cuts in day-to-day public spending if or when they are elected.
It leaves me thoroughly depressed about the time leading up to the next general election which takes place on Thursday 7th May 2015
Barring some spectacular government collapse between now and then each of the leaders and their parties will try and appeal to enough voters to secure victory.
Or perhaps in the case of the Liberal Democrats enough votes to help either Labour or the Conservatives secure victory
Or perhaps in the case of the Liberal Democrats enough votes to help either Labour or the Conservatives secure victory
Victory being the ultimate goal, just enough of each particular message to keep the various factions together for mutual electoral benefit, each compromising a bit of their passion and purity to secure power.
And that’s before you get onto the expenses scandals and the backroom tactics of each parties’ bully boys.
So, when someone comes to me and says they’ve had enough and that they can’t tell the difference between parties that can’t stop disagreeing, I nod my head. Gone are the days when I excuse the abuses, or marginalise the misappropriation of funds.
It’s enough to make you walk away from politics, rip up the purple electoral registration form and mute the TV when a political face pops up.
When we don’t like what’s on at the cinema we don’t go. If we’re fed up with our football club we let our season ticket expire. When a shop charges too much we go somewhere else.
We walk away and our exit is a way of making our views known, but in politics it doesn’t work like that.
If we take the choice to exit the political process, the only effect we have is to leave it to other people and if we walk away we lose our voice.
We leave it to those who have learnt the system, climbed their way up, made the right friends or trodden down those who offered themselves as a footstool to get on the ladder.
Why is politics different? Why is walking away and ignoring politics not an appropriate response?
Politics is a place where collective decisions are made, decisions that affect us all and some will disappoint.
We all come with our own agendas, priorities and principles but we have to find a common way forward.
We all come with our own agendas, priorities and principles but we have to find a common way forward.
Finding policy solutions is not easy, but when things keeps on happening something more than bandaging up the wounded is needed.
All faiths, or of no faith are committed to tackling the most intractable problems in our world, whether they are on the streets of our communities or in communities far away and walking away is a dereliction of duty.
All faiths, or of no faith are committed to tackling the most intractable problems in our world, whether they are on the streets of our communities or in communities far away and walking away is a dereliction of duty.
We like acting the Good Samaritan sometimes – it’s satisfying but someone has to ask what can be done to stop it and that takes politics.
Walking up the Jericho Road to find out why people are getting mugged, to fix the lighting or sort the security and its politics: it takes effort, it takes work and it takes time.
If we want to transform our society, if we want to see light break into darkness, then politics matters and we need to make our vote count!
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