What's a saddened Labour person, the kind of altruistic soul who wants to see progress to a fairer Britain to do in this snap election? On the one side a triumphant Tory Party offering strong and stable government. On the other a divided party with a leader who's not up to the job, offering policies it has no present prospect of being able to deliver.
The only answer must be to keep the faith. Electoral triumphs and excessive majorities lead to bad government. Think back to 1918, 1931,and 1983 and recognise that a triumphant party can do what it wants and usually falls back on bad but basic instincts. Unchallenged power means hubris, heedless folly and excessive generosity to the interests and priorities of the holder. With the Tories, that will mean a shift in all the social and economic balances to wealth, business and market forces. Those who've had it good in recession will have it better but those who've had it bad won't be helped.
Ignore the pretext for the election. It's the old party political trick of seizing a transient opportunity to ask for a doctor's mandate on Brexit. The election has no bearing on this. Nothing our parties say will have the slightest bearing on the outcome. Babble and burble how they might about hard Brexit, strong Brexit or a no-Brexit Brexit, the outcome will be decided by a shambling EU not by them.Europe's jostling scrum of nations institutions and interests can opt to punish Britain or it can talk sense The only effect of British arguments and divisions will be to strengthen their negotiating position in the hope of wearing down a divided country
Forget Brexit .Go on automatic pilot. Ask what kind of Britain you want to see. A stronger, fairer Britain able to carry the burdens necessary to ease the problems of a creeping health service, expand education instead of cutting it. A Britain which can move back to the best form of social security, full employment. Or a low tax, lower spending Britain, rewarding wealth in the hope that the benefits will trickle down to the people,to obviate redistribution by the state and make this a country in which its good to do business. And better for business to do the people.
Those who want the first have no alternative to voting Labour. It may not win but can make a stronger stand in defence of a good society so badly hit by the Great Recession and the austerity which was the Tory Party's misguided response. Only Labour can offer better prospects to the left behind people and areas whose distress led to the Brexit vote. They're Labour's responsibility and that's Labour's job
Can we now trust the Tories under their new more serious leader? Possibly. But probably not.Theresa May talked of moving her party back to the centre, helping the "just managing", restraining board room greed, stopping wasteful big spends, but she's delivered on none of these promises Instead her government has cut back on education,and welfare and done nothing about the crises in the health service and social care. The result is to increase public pain and make society less equal. Yet instead of living up to the promises of healing and a new start Theresa has seized the opportunity to grab a political advantage and set herself free of all restraints. So much for national unity.
So what's the alternative to a Labour vote? The SNP are playing their own selfish and different game, irrelevant to the real needs of a fair society for all Britons. The LibDems are full of good intentions as usual but lack both the guts and the power to deliver on any of them. Abstention is abdication into irrelevance.
So badly led, clumsy,divided and misguided as Labour may be there's no alternative to holding your nose, crossing your fingers, baiting your breath and voting for it.
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