We can change the Labour Party...
...easy as A, B, C
I am your typical left-wing (mainstream) voter, who was up until recently in a quandary, but the more I read woolly, apologetic, cowardly articles like Jonathan Freedland's and numerous others in the Guardian, the more I realize that it is every left-of-centre persons duty NOT to vote Labour in this election.
No, its not yet again about holding one's nose and voting tactically. We do this every time, and yet the same authoritarian, right-wing, neo-liberal administration stays in power, be they Tory or Labour.
The media don't like to acknowledge it, but we have two main parties who have the same political agenda. This will be the first and hopefully only time I will vote Liberal-democrat, because it is the only mainstream party to identify itself (ever so slightly) with the left of centre and it seems not be scared to either.
Since the Labour party abandoned its principles and accountability 15 or so years ago in its desperate search for power, its only natural for traditional, democratic socialists like me to look to the Liberals in order to try and break that strangle-hold that the right-wing free-market evangelist nutters have had on us for the past 30 years.
Sure, the Liberals are not the answer, and yes, the British government is based not on popular votes, but on the electoral college of Parliament, but you do three important things when you vote Liberal-Democrat.
.
A
If you vote Liberal Democrat then you show to the powers that be on May the 7th, that by looking at the sheer percentage of voters who went over from New Labour to the Lib-Dems, that the electorate rejects what Brown, Darling, Mandleson, and Ed Balls stand for.
B
This then precipitates the radical overhaul the Labour party needs in order to get back to its proper Keynesian roots, when everybody realizes that Clegg and Cameron can't and won't work together in a hung Parliament.
.
C
That way, when we have another election soon afterwards, the Labour party will have got rid of its corrupt, right-wing control freaks and will be represented by a proper, accountable, pro-union mainstream left- of - centre party.
I voted tactically in '97 and will not do so again. Tactical voting has not worked. If we want REAL change, it's not necessary the Liberal-Democrats, it's voting for a party that is closest to your beliefs. The greens, for example, or even RESPECT.
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The party that you once believed in, the Labour Party, will have to come to the mountain, that is the electorate.
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That way the party you once believed in, will have to come to the mountain that is the electorate. Over three-quarters of us (the electorate) - normal working people earning 15 - 50,000 pounds a year, have not had a party to represent us for the last 13 years.
We've had to accommodate our lives to the Blair and Brown governments, now its time that party (Labour) come looking for us again. If you want the same- old- saymo, do what Guardian writers like Jonathan Freedland say- hold your nose (or more suitably, have a lobotomy!) stick your head in the sand, and let one version or another of a right-wing government further degenerate the nation state in favour of the corporate state.
By Andy Hall
Comments
also, the working class arent interested in labour anymore, most buy into rightwing individualism, would the old labour party have survived on us middle class, socially aware lefties? i really doubt it....seems a bit of a stalemate.
I am not sure if your Arguments work Andy.
Lucy, i don't think its as black and white as that. There are still a majority of working class people out ther that still have an allegience to traditional Labour values, and also enough middle classes out there that sympathize with a broadly left view, that arent neccasarily sandal-wearing muesily crunchers (although i am partial to a bit of Alpen every now and then!). Andy
Camraman sends comments to me, but doesn't post them up. Vote Liberal Democrat, get Conservative, was one.
If voting Liberal Democrat means waking up to a Conservative government, would you still do it?
I wonder if they know just how sick we are to the bones of the political system we have - a political system that serves the powerful and rich - come what may.
We have no choice. Our democracy is a fraud and the fifth estate helps perpetrate that fraud. The real action all taes place in the dynamics between government and the rich and powerful after the election.
To paraphrase Henry Ford You can have any government you like so long as its neo-con.