Before the manifestos come out, I thought we all needed a reminder of what was promised in 2015 by the Conservatives. I was especially interested in this:
"This Manifesto sets out our plan to do just that. It is a plan for a better future - for you, for your family. It is a plan for every stage of your life. For your new-born baby, there will be the world's best medical care. For your child, there will be a place at an excellent school. As you look for your first job, we are building a healthy economy that provides a good career for you with a decent income. As you look for that first home, we will make sure the Government is there to help. As you raise your family, we will help you with childcare. And as you grow older, we will ensure that you have dignity in retirement.
Throughout, we will make sure that if you or your family fall ill, you will always be able to depend on our cherished National Health Service to give you the care you need."
Whatever way you vote, take this as your mantra:
Anyone But Conservative (#ABC)
If you're a dyed-in-the-wool Labour supporter but in your area the Lib Dem MP has the best chance of beating the Tories - hold your nose and vote for them. If you're a Lib Dem supporter and the Labour candidate is the best chance of ousting the Tory candidate - hold your nose and vote for them. If you're a Lib Dem/Labour and a Green candidate has the best chance - you get the picture.
This is beyond #Brexit. #Brexit is a done deal at this point in time. That's not to say at some point in the future, when the consequences become more apparent, that it won't be reversible. At this point in time, everything is too raw, and any Bremainers angling to change it are going to skew the situation even further, and perhaps irreparably. The primary objective over the next 7 weeks must be to consign the Tories to the scrapheap of electoral history for a generation.
The 18-24 year olds are key. So are disabled people, who have been affected from the outset by austerity. I did a little rough calculation last night - and with these two groups, you have approximately 34.9% of the voting public. So do what you have to, to get these groups to the polls.
I'm Irish, so not even a British subject - but I've lived here for 18 years and it angers me to see the rise in inequality and poverty. I do not pay my hard-earned taxes to subsidise corporations. I don't pay them so that while some Hooray Henry (or George, or Dave, or Boris, or indeed Theresa) lives it large in Chelsea, 3,900,000 children live in poverty in the UK. There's roughly 12 million children in the UK, so 1 in 3 of them are living in unsafe housing, with little food. Think about that - that could be your child, or one of their friends.
I want those taxes to go to the NHS. I want them to go towards helping people into decent housing. I want every child to have enough food in their belly. I want them to go towards education.
The question is more than tribal now - it's visceral and it depends on a very simple question:
What do you want to see in 5 years time?
Do you want a nation where the majority are well-fed, well-housed, well-cared for in health terms, well-educated, happy? (For all his talk about happiness, David Cameron seemed to know exactly what to do to create the maximum amount of misery). Well, guess what?
YOU CAN HAVE ALL THAT.
That's the good news. But it comes down to choice. If the definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result, giving any leeway to the Tories to regain power on June 8th, or to give them a bigger mandate, will reveal exactly the type of person you are. Are you the type of person who fixates on someone's appearance/awkwardness, rather on the substance of their policies? Are you the type of person who needs to hear sweet nothings from your politicians, even if you know they have no notion of keeping their electoral promises to you?
Or are you the type of person who can look at themselves in the mirror squarely and say 'I will do what needs to be done for the greater good?'
In the end, it's all down to you.
#VoteResponsibly #GeneralElection #GeneralElection2017 #ABC