A General Rejection

Apr 29, 2017 · 4 minute read
Category: Politics
Tags: politics
Words: 984

Rejecting and general election. Is that even possible

Oh goody! A General Election is coming. Actually, scratch that. There is no joy (for me) in the upcoming General Election. I'm even asking myself whether I'm even going to vote. I now understand, after years of berating people for "not being engaged" and "if you don't vote, you don't have a say" why they actually might not bother voting. I'm close to that, and this is why.

I've voted in every General Election that I have been eligible to vote in. In my stupid youth, and that was several elections into 'adulthood', I voted Conservative because, well, my parents did. Actually, my real father didn't; he was a socialist, and I now understand why. Since understanding the reasons, I've voted Labour and Liberal ever since.

But now, in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum, the triggering of Article 50, and the calling of a General Election by a cynical PM, I'm at the delightful point of not bothering to engage. There's nowhere to go. We live in a two party state in the UK. Probably soon to be a one-party state, due to the impending annihilation of the Labour Party at the hands of Jeremy Corbyn, who seems unconcerned that he, and his gang, are driving it to irrelevance.

Plus, this is a single issue General Election around the topic of Brexit. The PM, the disastrous Teresa May, is seeking a mandate to lead us into the wilderness to further the finances of the already-rich. That we're coming out of Europe is, I suspect, just a joyous coincidence. She's ardently for Brexit. Which allows this picture of her 'campaigning' to remain IN Europe sum up her integrity as an MP (and a PM) quite nicely:

Teresa May pretending to support the IN campaign

So let's look at the options for voting in the upcoming election:

Conservative

Really? Reasons to not vote Conservative:

Pro Brexit.
Intent on dismantling the NHS.
Really, really, really do not like helping less fortunate people in society. i.e. the poor, disabled and ill-heath.
Champion the needs of business and money over the needs of people.
Seem to hate anybody who isn't a Conservative. Little England (at prayer) stuck somewhere in the ideals of the 1950's with delusions of grandeur and something about "taking back our country" and all sorts of nonsense about nostalgia about the Empire.

Reasons to vote Conservative:

As a little reminder, we're in this mess because a weak and ineffectual Prime Minister (David Cameron) couldn't control the UKIP-light part of his party, a Xenophobic and largely unpleasant group of people, who also, I believe count a Climate Change denier as part of their fold. (Yes, I know that is poisoning the well, but it has to be said.)

We continue to be in this mess because of a duplicitous, scheming, and (largely) ineffectual Prime Minister (Teresa May) who is beating a path to ignominy by perusing a damaging Brexit because of the raciest and xenophobic UKIP wing of her party.

Labour

I wish, but there is the Jeremy Corbyn and entryism issue. Will this man ever be seen as PM?

Plus, the Labour party also want Brexit, which probably eliminates any vote I'll have for them. Considering most Labour MPs supported staying in the EU, and now they broadly support leaving means that, again, we have a bunch of self-serving people who don't really care about the future prospects of the country.

It's a shame about the entryism, because I'm a broad tent Labour supporter, rather than Marxist Socialist died-in-the-wool revolutionist. The people running the Labour party now (think McDonnell and his cabal) don't actually seem to be that interested in actually achieving power, but rather having yet another protest party.

Liberal Democrats

I actually quite like the Liberal Party and really would like Cleggy to come back. I realise I'm in a minority, but his heart was in the right place, and they did a lot of good. Students (rightly) still feel a bit pissed off, though.

However, an issue for the Liberals (from my perspective) is this guy:

Yes, it's the leader of the Liberal Party. Still, they're not going to achieve power. But they do have ONE major thing going for them. They actually do seem to like the EU.

Our local ward candidate is as mad as a box of frogs, though. However, that (should be) irrelevant in a general election.

So ...

I'm ignoring the other parties. They're mostly either single issue, or simply so barmy or racist or unpleasant that I don't even consider them.

So I'm either going to spoil my ballot paper (it's a postal vote) or vote for the Liberal Democrat. I live in a Labour heartland - one Mr Brown of Newcastle East is my MP. He's been the MP here for a very long time. I'm not going to vote for him because I think he's got a bit complacent with his safe seat and he just toes the company line. I wonder if he really thinks Brexit is a good idea.

The worst part about this ...

... is that this is a single issue General Election. It's going to be taken as a mandate by Teresa May for Brexit. And, as such, it's even less democratic than the referendum as, in the UK, parties are elected on around 30% of the vote. It's despairing. Perhaps I'll not bother after all.

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