In elections as closely fought as this politics drives out truth.
No party dares to tell the truth least it frighten voters off. Lots of noise
about peripherals. Not a word about looming disasters,tough measures or any
thing that might require major changes
So the parties don't fight about the major issue of re powering
the economy to grow through present difficulties or about borrowing more for
investment but lots of noise about who
can close the deficit fastest and whether every promise has been carefully
costed. Escapism is the best form of electioneering.
What are the major problems? First we have an alarming and
growing balance of payments deficit, currently 6% of GDP, which we have to borrow
and sell off assets to cover.This indicates that the pound is substantially
overvalued and has to come down.There won't be a word of this in the election.
Second. We can't pay for all the social welfare and local
government services a modern society needs. There will have to be an increase in
taxation, particularly on wealth and high earners. Not a word
Third. You can't expand the economy and boost employment without
more borrowing and spending to boost demand and investment. Borrowing is very
sensible now interest rates are so
low. No one dares say so
Fourthly. New industries and jobs don't just spring fully armed out of some entrepreneurs
head.They need government encouragement and support ,an industrial policy and a
regional policy to attract jobs to the deprived regions. All that will be
difficult with EU rules on state aid. Silence again. Ferme ta bouche
Elections are a brief escape to happy land amidst the gathering
gloom.Enjoy.
+++++++++++++++
I've spent a lot of time over the last week explaining to people
that UKIP isn't going to win Grimsby. Grimsby needs Labour and the public
spending and development Labour will bring because Grimbarians are less well
off than other parts of the country their interests lie with Labour. We have an
excellent Labour candidate who's winning the debates and doing well. So why
not concentrate the effort going to Grimsby on next door Cleethorpes which is
much more marginal but which we need if we're to form a government.
There is one problem common to both that's the Fed up tribe which
feels that both parties have let the, down and destroyed their comfortable
world of steadily rising wages and living standards, welfare employment and a
mixed economy. About a third of the electorate have turned against both parties
and politics and they'll either abstain or vote UKIP which voices their
discontents.Their interests lie with Labour not negativism and its Labour's job
to win them back to reality by a nationalist policy of rebuilding Britain's
strength.
Having preached this sermon for months I preached it again for a
journalist from the Independent since he didn't quite seem to understand I
added as I rang off the merry quip that there is no need to be so obsessed
with UKIP, anyone could hold Grimsby for Labour. I exaggerated because the
electorate are now more choosy than in the days when voters for both main
parties could say "I'd vote for a pig if my party put one up" This
was a joke, not for quotation and certainly not a criticism of our candidate. Indeed it ran against the whole trend of my argument which was Labour has to
work to win back voters it's disappointed
But ill advised to joke with.the stupid. The sneaky bastard
probably recorded the interview (without asking) and even sneakier made that
his main report. With his original news story shot down he opted for the easy
way out of stirring up trouble by making summit out of nowt. What did the
candidates think of my view "Monstrous" What did the electors think.?
"Insult" What did the Tories think? "Labour takes people for
granted" and the pedophiles?"insulting to say we'd vote Labour"
etc and a whole storm,of the twitterati descended on my head plus television news demanding
clarification.Thus the whole point was lost.Daft being obsessed with Grimsby
and ignoring the real marginal: Cleethorpes
There's a foretaste of the election to come .No great
issues. Parties deadlocked. Let's just start rows over nothing. It works too.I
bought a copy of the Independent on Sunday for the first time in years.If this
is the standard of their journalism I
won't need to again.
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