I voted Labour once. In 1997 for Tony Blair, with the NHS in mind. Very soon afterwards thought to myself, “Well I’m not doing that again”. And that was before Iraq.
I do have this deep rooted feeling that every generation needs to experience the crushing disappointment of a Labour government. How those high ideals can evaporate under the pressure of high office whilst sky high expenditure brings once again the high tides of national debt. And as hangover follows indulgence, the Conservatives come in to sort out the mess. So goes the perpetual national tale.
So why should I consider going red again as I step into the voting booth for this Christmas election? Is my inner leftie surging as I drift further into middle age? Where does this motivation come from?
Well, there was a real catalyst in the summer. A moment of great clarity. When the scales fell and the tectonic plates in my mind clattered into a newly forming shape. It was announced that the toilets on our local beach were to be closed.
Now I will grant you that there have been more seismic events in our national life than this. But in one of those mundane-speaks-profound instances, this spoke to me of a greater truth and lie that has been allowed to prevail for far too long. The online news article told us that we can’t afford to keep them open.
Of all the bullshit stories that we have been fed down the years, this represents the truth that if you tell a lie big enough and often enough, people will believe it. OF COURSE WE CAN AFFORD IT. We are one of the richest countries in the world. In a lifetime of travelling I have wandered through some of the poorest nations and found a state and sense of dignity and propriety that puts this nonsense beyond shame.
There was a time – within my lifetime – when we had enough police officers. When there were fire stations in every town. When raffles were for the extras at your local hospital, rather than the basic equipment and products. When schools had the books for the students. When taxes paid for the services and goods we expected.
The “rationalisation” of services, contracting out of food, cleaning and other central services from both companies and councils were all geared towards the great gods of efficiency. So after the service staff have been sacked, the work given to the lowest bidder who gives not a fleeting damn about quality – where is the reward? Where are the benefits of these greater efficiencies being enjoyed? Well it ain’t you and me…
There is a capitalism that works for the many. Which provides a reasonable dividend for the masses; care and protection for the weak, vulnerable and faultless poor. But that version of capitalism is dead. The rampant, ever-spiralling pyramid of money- grabbing, power-hungry tiny circle of obscenely rich have a lofty view. They are less discreet than ever before, so sure are they in security of their position and future that they no longer need to enjoy their wealth and power in the shadows.
Every company powered by private money has squeezed their workforce for years to maximise profits for those who really don’t need any more. The passing reference to pension funds being wrapped up in those same corporates doesn’t wash. Shareholders have been rendered impotent by lock-in clauses, feeble legislation and ‘regulators’ that are a bunch of bean-counting jokes.
And the very cleverly constructed system of fluidity in their power, moving capital via corporates from continent to continent. Over cocktails, they bait the nominal ‘leaders’ whose diminished roles as presidents and prime ministers reduce them to a bitter competition to attract investments from these global oligarchs.
I am an optimist. I lived in a time when the Berlin Wall seemed destined to divide Europe forever. And when South African apartheid appeared unbreakable. Things can change. And they will again.
But the illness that attends our national life seems to warrant severe medicine. The staggering levels of mass inequality are a disgusting indictment of governments of ALL shades leaving too many behind.
It appears that only a shock to the system will do the trick. A genuinely socialist radical agenda being implemented? A turning back of the tide of fiscally centre-right policy application back towards collectivism? Public ownership, the restoration of union power? Well, it worked after the war well enough. Some of those triumphs of post-war British socialism remain with us today, the NHS being foremost.
In truth, the agenda for change put forward by Corbyn’s Labour Party is moderate by European standards. How often have we marvelled at the Scandinavian social care, with dignity, security and welfare maintained for all its citizens? You know how they pay for that? Well it’s the working population paying up to 50% of their income through taxes to finance it.
So that’s the challenge – can we as a home-owning, low-tax preferring society accept that we will keep less of our earned money for the greater good? Can we adapt to the notion that whilst we won’t have big slices of the pie during our working lifetime, that we can rest assured our dotage will be spent without fear of the ‘eat or heat’ dilemma? That’s a BIG mind shift.
Corbyn’s ill-advised ambivalence over Brexit has exposed his shedding of the ‘conviction politician’ image. Tony Benn would never have surrendered his principles so easily. I understand Corbyn’s need to shore up the huge divides in his party, but it’s a chronic failure of leadership that may cost him dear.
IF Corbyn and McDonald could galvanise the country and deliver a genuine Brexit, alongside social justice and restoration of fairness across our land – even their rosy-eyed Europhile members would forgive all. And I would cheer them to the echo.
Mark Cundy 