ELECTION BLACKMAIL

There is a General Election in UK on May 5th, 2005. Again we are being told by the party currently in government, so-called 'New Labour', that we must vote for that party or the Conservatives may get in. Columnists in liberal-minded newspapers, notably Polly Toynbee in The Guardian, has said despite the illegal war in Iraq, the lies, the deceit, the privatizations, etc. we should 'hold our nose and vote Labour' to stop the Tories getting in.

This is simply not good enough. If you can't vote for the political party or independent candidate which most reflects your views, it isn't democracy. I have never shied from voting for the minor political parties whenever I felt their policies were closer to my own views than the Labour Party (I would never consider voting Conservative). In the past I have voted Labour, Communist, Green, Respect and Liberal Democrat. On May 5th I will be voting Liberal Democrat, even if it means the local Labour MP loses to a Tory one, and even if loads of people voting for minor parties mean Conservative leader Michael Howard forms the next government. I have voted Liberal Democrat in all General Elections since Tony Blair was elected leader, and will continue to do so until Labour returns to its Socialist roots. Who knows, the polls could all be wrong, and people in the voting booths could decide to vote in a Lib-Dem government. This will never happen if everyone is afraid to vote for them for fear of letting the Tories in.

In actual fact I hope Labour under Tony Blair, or Gordon Brown or any of the current leadership shower, don't get re-elected. I would rather see a Conservative government. This is the only thing which might shock the Labour Party into getting rid of its corrupt Thatcherite leadership with its arse-licking of George Bush's neo-cons, and perhaps eventually getting the Labour Party to return to its Socialist roots. This will never happen whilst they keep being given new mandates on more and more rightwing policies.

Of course, I'd rather see a Liberal Democrat government than a New Labour or Tory one. I'd rather see a genuine Socialist government than a Liberal Democrat one. But of the three main parties, the Liberal Democrats are nearest to my own views, and are still far to the Left of New Labour. There are currently no Socialist parties, big or small, who's views coincide with my own for various reasons. Most are anti-Europe, and none have a Socialist policy which takes account of past mistakes committed by Stalinism, neo-Stalinism, Trotskyism, Leninism and plain old-fashioned nationalization.

Not only would the election of a Conservative government on a minority vote shake up the Labour Party and perhaps help to bring it back to its roots, it would emphasize the need for a more democratic electoral system. Another reason I support the Lib-Dems is because I am a firm believer in electoral reform, with some system of proportional representation or alternative vote so that every vote counts.

If we had two rounds in the General Election, or if we could choose our first and second preferences, I would happily vote Liberal Democrat in the first round or as my first choice, and Labour in the second round or for my second preference once all the minor parties have been eliminated from the contest. I would also support a true PR system whereby votes are totalled nationally for each party and allocated accordingly.

I will NOT be denied my right to vote Lib-Dem, Green, Respect or whatever by emotional blackmail from morally bankrupt Labour politicians who refuse to introduce electoral reform so my vote counts, and yet say if I vote for one of these minor parties I will be letting in the Conservatives. This is a recipe for indefinite two-party politics, and with the two major political parties in UK both being Thatcherite Tory parties, this is really no choice at all. Just Tweedle-Dum or Tweedle-Dee. Both would have taken us into an illegal war over Iraq, and both would continue to privatize the entire economy and public services, whilst keeping taxes to the minimum. I want a high tax economy with good non-privatized public services and a government with some principles, such as not leading us into illegal wars because of some shady promise to George Bush and his bunch of neo-con friends.

I hope Labour loses and during the next 4 or 5 years the shock will cause it to get rid of the shower who have turned it into the New Thatcherite Party and ally of George Bush, and return to its Socialist, working-class roots.

In any case I cannot vote for a party who's leader is a liar and a war criminal who should now be in jail awaiting trial by the International Criminal Court on charges of mass murder.

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