Hi Folks,

I really wanted to ignore this topic, but I can’t. Its too big and too important. So welcome to General Election 2019.

On December 12th the country will go to the polls to elect a new government of the United Kingdom.   The last election was only in 2017. Mrs May’s ill fated, snap election, supposed to give her a bigger majority but which resulted in her losing the majority she had. Whoops.  Since then, the government has seemingly stumbled from crisis to crisis.  In the last few months, despite having a new leader in Boris Johnson, or perhaps because of the new leader,  it has effectively been a zombie government. Dead, but still moving.  This minority government  shed even more seats and has been completely unable to do anything except frustrate the life out of the general population.  So it should be a relief that we are having General Election 2019.  But it isn’t. Frankly it fills me with dread.

Divisive Politics

Politics seems to have become very polarised and tribal over the last few years.  Unsurprising when it has been dominated by two highly polarising referendum. Scexit and Brexit.  Even though these are now years old, being held in 2014 an 2016 respectively, the fallout is still shaping politics in the UK.  Undoubtedly,  the biggest issue of the day is  Brexit. The UK is still hopelessly divided on the issue. Some are calling this the Brexit General Election and I suppose to a large extent it is. However, in Scotland, whilst Brexit is a big deal, its overshadowed by Scexit, another terribly polarising  issue and one which is increasingly entwined with Brexit.

Somewhere in the background are all the other issues. Education, Policing, Health Care, The Economy, and recently, the UK’s nuclear Deterrent. You know. The little things.  The major parties have mostly clear positions on most of these issues. I say mostly, some are accused of being a little bit confused, but we’ll come to that. All are making some mind blowing promises in what seem like very populist policies designed to sway voters.  Both the main two parties seem to have discovered a magic money tree and are being very free with their spending promises. So for the benefit of overseas readers and those who have been stuck in a coma for the last 3 years, who and what will people be voting for in General Election 2019?

Labour

Traditionally, Labour have represented the working class man. They were the socialists with a left of center bias.  I grew up in the North of England, the traditional homeland for Labour. Certainly my Grandparents would never have dreamed of voting for anyone else. I don’t think they questioned or even knew what the policies were, they knew Labour would look after them.  Under Jeremy Corbyn,  Labour  have lurched to the far left. My grandparents wouldn’t recognize the party as it is now. I know they would be horrified to hear of the claims of antisemitism and the general intolerance perceived within the party.

As far as I can determine, Labour are in favor of a 2nd ‘Peoples Vote’ on Brexit. If elected they will renegotiate a new deal with Europe and take this deal back to the British public. Its not clear if they will campaign in favor or against their own deal. This will be decided at the time? More of their Constructive Ambiguity policy. They also want to re-nationalise the Utilities, move to a 4 day working week with no loss of salary, increase minimum wage for all, invest billions in new infrastructure and housing, green initiatives and climate change,  the NHS,  policing.  Oh and seize 10%  of shares from companies to redistribute among the workers.  There are other gems involving private education and buy to rent properties, but I cant believe these will really make it into their manifesto, due out this week.

What Cost?

Cost of this lot was estimated by the Conservatives at a whopping GBP 1.2 Trillion. That’s a lot of zeros.  Labour dispute this number and it does seem to be a worst case figure. None the less, Labour would need to borrow hundreds of billions in order to fund this program.  This would be paid for by higher taxation. Of the richest individuals and of corporations and businesses. Many believe it will bankrupt the country and drive away investment and business.  They fear the UK will become a European Venezuela, a country often praised by Corbyn for its socialist government but which is an international basket case.  Corbyn has also indicated he would not stand in the way of a 2nd Scexit vote, paving the way for further division within Scotland, which is just what we need.

Labour have traditionally stood up for minorities and have  championed the fight against racism.  Now they are only the 2nd UK Party to be investigated by the Equalities and Human Rights  Commission for institutionalized antisemitism.  The only other party to be investigated was the BNP.  These days Labour are in thrall to the Momentum movement. Not exactly a shining beacon of reasonableness, Momentum are now possibly the most powerful movement within Labour and determined to rid the party of anyone considered to be moderate or even worse, a Blairite.

Conservative and Unionist

The nasty party.  The Conservatives are seen as the party for the rich and of business and, of course, of Brexit.  Boris got a new deal out of Europe in the final days of the last government. Hence the Tories claim they have an ‘oven ready’ deal on the table set to go. They dream of an overall majority to be able to push this deal through and get Brexit done. Of course it was to a large extent internal conservative division that foiled Brexit in the last parliament.  A lot of these opponents to Brexit are not applying for reelection or have joined other parties or are standing as independents. So perhaps it is possible. If unlikely.

Whilst promoting an image as the party of fiscal responsibility, they too seem to have grown a magic money tree. Whilst their plans are not as big as Labour’s, they are also promising to borrow and spend billions. Once again the main beneficiaries are the NHS, Policing and an increased minimum wage. We haven’t yet seen the price of this lot, but they promise it will be fully costed and should not result in increased taxation. Hard to see how that would work.

Firmly a unionist party, Boris has already ruled out a 2nd Scexit vote under any circumstances. You can hear the outrage and gnashing of teeth by the SNP from here.  They are already threatening legal action against this position and they have form for taking the government to court.  They also have a surprisingly  good track record at winning these actions too.  The Tory’s of late have a real gift of shooting themselves in the foot and of as coming across as deserving of the nasty party title.  Worse, they seem incapable of changing this perception and it will undoubtedly hurt them.

The SNP

The Scottish Nationalist Party.  Led by Nicola Sturgeon, they have held power in the devolved Holyrood parliament for over 12 years.  In Westminster they are likely to hold the balance of power and become king makers. Nicola has said she will under no circumstances work with the Tories, but is willing to work with Corbyn and Labour.  But at a price. And guess what that price will be? a 2nd Scexit vote. Another notable price, the removal of the Trident Nuclear Deterrent from Scottish Soil.  Not sure how well this will go down at home as it will cost an awful lot of jobs in Scotland.

Apart from Scexit, its not clear what the SNP policies are. Oh they are pro Europe, so anti Brexit.  I never understood this, personally.  It seems odd to want to break a union in order to gain self determination, only to hand the power back to another union with whom you have so much less influence.

The Liberal Democrats

For a long time the Lib Dems were a bit of an afterthought if not an irrelevance. All but wiped out after the 2015 General Election, they have gained a bit more traction as the clear anti Brexit party. Under the stewardship of their new leader Jo Swinson, they have a clear,  unambiguous policy on Brexit. They want to cancel Article 50, thereby cancelling Brexit. No 2nd vote or anything silly like that.  Just scrap it.   Not very liberal or democratic really, but also unlikely to happen.

The Brexit Party

Mr Farage’s new movement, The Brexit Party. Did well in the European elections, I suspect much to the disgust of the rest of the European council as they are a  disruptive bunch.  They have been hemorrhaging support recently as they are seen, bizarrely, as a  threat to Brexit.  Nigel wants to fight every seat in the election, but in doing so threatens to split the pro Brexit / Conservative vote. This is a real risk and could easily result in Labor winning a majority.  It would be ironic if, on the brink of a possible Brexit,  Nigel’s life work, it was scuppered by the very party its named after.

So there you are.  There are also Greens and Plaid Cymru and the Irish DUP  and various other small or independent parties. But the above are the serious players.

General Election 2019 the Nasty Election

So why am I dreading it?  Simply because I don’t think its going to solve anything and could potentially make things a lot worse.  It’s also going to be a nasty election. I mentioned the growing tribalism and polarisation of politics earlier. Well, its also a lot nastier.  Faux outrage and competitive virtue signalling have replaced debate.   Insults and abuse on social media are the norm. Rational debate is out of the window and that’s just the MP’s themselves. Amongst Joe Public its a lot, lot worse.

We did need to do something about the last Parliament. It was a National embarrassment and incredibly self serving. But we seem to live in an age where patriotism is a dirty word and the concept of self sacrifice and compromise for the National Good is a completely foreign concept. So I predict another hung parliament which could well usher in a far left Labour government propped up by the SNP.  How long it would last is hard to say.  Would it last the full 5 years of the fixed term act? I would doubt it.   The SNP would get their Scexit referendum, Brexit would be stopped and then there would be a vote of no confidence and we can go through the whole rigmarole again.  Either that or the collapse of civilization as we know it, so nothing too serious.

Will You Vote?

I am not going to recommend how any one should vote. That’s up to the individual, their beliefs and their conscience.  I do strongly suggest that everyone who can, does vote but after taking a proper look at the issues and likely outcomes. Put a little thought into the process and not fall for spin and dogma.  This General Election 2019 is quite possibility the most critical for generations and will decide the shape and nature of our society for a long long time.

As for me, I will be voting Conservative.  Not because I am Tory Scum as a gent on Twitter suggested, but because I think the alternatives are worse.  I honestly believe a Corbyn led government would destroy our country and our way of life.  I Won’t vote SNP as I am totally unconvinced of their ability to successfully govern an independent nation. They are not exactly doing a great job as a devolved government. Plus anyone who would willingly allow Corbyn to get his hands on the Downing Street Keys has to be deranged or completely lacking in principles.  The Lib Dems are at best opportunists and at worse hypocrites. As for the Brexit Party? A one trick pony and a bit dodgy in my opinion.

Please be Over

One thing is for certain, the sooner the election is done and dusted the better. Whatever happens, I for one am heartily sick of politics and politicians and if they spoil Christmas, they will definitely be getting cinders and ashes in their stockings.

And on that bombshell, talk again soon about something far more interesting. Our  new Tesla Model 3 has finally arrived.

 

Graham Wannabe, 11th November, 2019.