It's The Stupid, Stupid


We are entering the age of the first anti-political election. No longer, it seems is there an election being fought even vaguely on policy, but simply on spin and bluff. The election campaign which hasn’t even started yet seems to be fought on one criteria : who would you prefer to come to your house for dinner?

Clearly, the frankly grumpy old man that is Gordon Brown has a mountain to climb. David Cameron on the other hand, has been preened and cleaned to an inch of his no doubt privileged Eton life.

The dilemma that a long term Labour voter faces – the kind of person raised on Thatchers cruel Britain and who remembers growing up in age of the Bomb – is that Labour doesn’t resemble Labour any more.

Labour used to be the party that relied on looking out for the poor in an age of kneejerk conservatism and reactionary condemnation. Now, Labours position is almost Toxic.

I’m tired of a Labour Party that seemingly couldn’t give a fig for the poor or the needy. I’m scared of a Conservative Party that will judge and not understand. And I’m bored of a charisma-free Gordon Brown who could bore even a brick into a contemplation of Brickicide.

What this country needs is not David Cameron. His values are dangerous to any of the underprivileged, the poor, the disabled, the ill, and there but for the Grace of God and Ron Burgundy go I. That’s what scares me – not the words Conservative or his slick, empty soundbite smarm. What scares me is that the Conservatives have been a party that, as long as I can remember, have defended the I’m Alright Jack and The Poor Are Evil principle.

What this country requires is a principled leader. A man who isn’t a management consultant or a dogged value zealot, but a trustworthy, fair, no bullshit person who refuses to kowtow to Headline Moral Outrage and stay firmly out of the pocket of Big Business.
- posted by Mark @ 9:21 am