Monday 29 May 2017

Let's not let dead cats decide this election.

The rest of the Tory election campaign will be headed up by Lynton Crosby - a very unpleasant, unelected Australian 'strategist' with some unanswered questions about his tax arrangements, who delights in using 'dead cat' tactics wherever he can and is very effective at making nasty and incompetent people (Cameron, anyone?) look good. 



Please don't be fooled - May will not deliver a good (or possibly any) Brexit deal but she will continue to hammer the poor, the disabled and anyone other than the wealthy, despite all her faux concern for "ordinary hardworking people". And the NHS will continue to be run into the ground to soften us up for a US-style insurance system (look up how many Tory politicians have a financial interest in private healthcare companies if you don't believe me). 

She is a weak PM (and was a rubbish Home Sec if you look back at her record) who crumbles and then hides at the first sign of adversity. And if Brexit is what you're worried about, look at her negotiating team - the dilettante Boris Johnson, the security risk Liam Fox and David Davis, who really doesn't seem to know what he's doing so far. Angela Merkel has already given up on us, seeing the UK as Trump's ally! If we have to have Brexit (and I voted Remain, so I'm less than happy about it) then we at least need a decent settlement, and we won't get that with this bunch. 

I'm old enough to remember when Tory governments had Big Beasts - you may have disagreed with them and not liked them but at least there was a level of competence. Instead we have people like First Strike Fallon, who can barely control a tv interview, let alone our national security. 

And then there is what they're not telling us. There should have been an announcement on the state pension age due out before the election, but they're holding it back until afterwards - from which we can probably deduce that it's going to be bad news for us and we'll all have to work even longer than the current 66/67/68. 

So yes, you may not like Corbyn (although it's funny how many people have changed their mind now they've seen more of him in action) but really - does the Conservative Party really strike you as Strong and Stable after the last few weeks? Compare that with the calm response Corbyn has shown over two years of vilification from a hostile press (and large chunks of the PLP). If there's one thing he doesn't do, it's panic when things go pear-shaped. Unlike May. 

And before anyone starts with that "magic money tree" bollocks, there is no Magic Money Tree; what there is is a costed manifesto - and that's something else that's missing from the Conservatives. 

So if you live in a marginal, get out and vote - preferably for Labour, but tactically if that works better where you are. The collapse of the UKIP and LibDem vote means this is the most 2-party fight in a generation, but there are some marginal Tory seats that can be overturned - in some cases by a few hundred votes. And if you live in a safe seat, vote to keep the vote share high (and start campaigning for voting reform!) 

If you're young, follow up on that phenomenal registration surge and actually turn up on the day. 

If you're older, consider what old age and frailty will be like with no NHS, and vote for a party that won't allow it to be taken away from us. 

If you're poor, unemployed, disabled vote to stop being demonised by your own government. 

If you're not poor, unemployed, disabled have a bit of compassion for your fellow citizens and vote to stop them being demonised by your government. 

If you have children, vote for a party that won't starve schools of funding to levels not seen in a generation while reintroducing unjustified and un-evidenced educational segregation through grammar schools. 

So in conclusion, vote. Obviously, I'd like you to vote Labour, but in reality vote for anyone who can get rid of this shower of unpleasant incompetents. And remember, what you see from them over the rest of the campaign will be Crosby, not May.

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