The doors of politics have recently been blown wide open and, according to the Daily Mail, 40% of voters are still undecided. Old, or deep seated ties, that may have crossed generations have, by many, been scrutinised and set aside like no other election before it. There is a general feeling that the publics appetite for the party politics of old has dwindled leading to, what would have previously been considered more marginal parties, hold far more power. All of this has left us, a distinctly normal British family, in a real dilemma of who should receive our vote.
We have almost staunchly shied away from discussing politics in our blog. The reason for this is that we did not want for our message, of supporting British manufacturing and farming, to become tied to one party. This would simply polarise our audience and dilute our general message of celebration. However, we have had a number of opportunities to meet, or have other contact with, politicians over recent years. I would say that these interactions have always left us disappointed and with little faith in intentions of those particular individuals.
Our blog is about British manufacturing. So what do the main parties say about what they will do to increase British production and promote it abroad? Well, as far as we can see – very little. We looked. Although we will admit to not having the will to read each party manifesto cover to cover, as you might imagine. If we are wrong on this please do comment below.
So where does this leave us on 7th May? We will be frank with you – we don’t now. We are left weighing up the pros and cons of each party:
The Conservatives
Historically, we have been a conservative household. What we can say for sure is that this has changed. For us, their willingness to sell off Britain’s assets to private companies is a real turn off. Recently they agreed the privatisation of Royal Mail (losing a shedload of our money in doing so) and are continuously chipping away at the NHS. The two remaining institutions that we should hold in absolute reverence in this country are the NHS and the BBC but we cannot help but feel that these would be in danger in Conservative hands.
Labour
Milliband is an option. Although it has to be said that we still smart from the deceit of the Tony Blair’s administration. Their policies regarding rising taxation for the countries richest seem to be entirely logical though. Labour do mention creating a ‘world leading’ farming and fisheries program which seems a little woolly but they are saying sort of the right things as far as supporting our farming industry is concerned.
Liberal Democrats
The Lib Dem’s appeared decidedly gutless in the recent coalition and are sure to get a hammering in the polls this year. We do like the concept of raising extra funds by having increased taxation on banking though. Generally, they have some sensible policies but we cannot help be feel that they are a party in decline.
Ukip
UKIP are an odd one. Nigel Farrage is, in many ways, the most appealing character of all of the main parties. Looking through all of the guff about them, their policies actually seem quite ‘sensible’. Although there stance immigration has been accused of smacking of racism, they simply seem to mirror those employed (and lauded) in Australia. Their policy on significantly cutting foreign aid is perhaps a little concerning. It seems logical to continue to help the worlds poorest as much as you can afford to. However, central to their manifesto is pushing for an EU referendum. We are a little concerned by the impact that this might have on the foreign manufacturers that currently have sites in the UK, especially automotive. However, it is never a bad thing to let the people decide… after all that is democracy right?
The Green Party
We actually like a number of The Greens key priorities; ending privatisation of the NHS, taking back public ownership of the railways and protecting the green belt are all positions that are attractive to us. However, their open-door policies in immigration do concern us. It perhaps swings too far the other way. Also, following the recent TV debates we are not sure that Natalie Bennett would be a particularly convincing PM.
Following the all party TV debates we were, like many, most impressed with Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP. This was a real surprise as we held a deep dislike of their former leader Alex Salmond. We could not help be feel that she was genuine and something really different in todays political arena. If it were not for her parties commitment to tearing Great Britain apart and the fact that, being in England, we could not vote for even if we wanted to, she might have been a real option.
So there we have it – a run down of our thoughts leading up to the 7th of May. Still undecided.
Of course we will vote for someone. It is clearly important that we all exercise this right. Will we tell you afterwards who we voted for?… nope! Despite this rather unusual (but frankly important) post from us, our message is still not about politics but about enjoying what we make in the UK.
Regarding: ‘Who to vote for’, My sentiments and thoughts completely. But I would go as far as saying most MP at Westminster seem to live on a completely different planet to the ordinary working men and women of Britain.
I look at the thousands of youngsters leaving school at the end of the day, and I ask myself, what future will there be for them? Yes, Tony Blair said that Tesco would bring Salvation, create jobs, ha, now Tesco tell us we can do the whole shop ourselves, load the basket, click and record the cost, pay at a machine, and leave, as for jobs for staff, who needs them? And this is just one example.
The Tory party local will talk about repairing the pot holes in the road, and improving the bus service, and I write back to say, ‘Yes, OK, holes in the road does annoy me, as does that person with two Mercedes on the drive that goes to town with a free bus pass, ‘But’, ‘what about the local ‘Boots store’, owned by foreigners, selling us foreign made goods, and avoiding tax, what about about that?, but I get no reply.
I do believe that for the working-class people of this country, the best years are behind us. Can you see young couples being able to afford to buy a new house now, not that these newly built house are worth buying anyway, but that’s a different story.
As for UKIP, well, one good idea I thought was that there should be ‘floorspace tax’, We have locally a huge ‘Amazon shed’, now that could bring in some real money. Oh dear, I reckon I could go on and on and on, but as for that question ‘for whom to vote?’, dare I say it, “I may just stay at home”.
I have no time for the wish lists dressed as policies that we hear from the main parties. They will renege on them if they get into government and only UKIP seem to have a cogent plan to finance their plans.
For that reason, and because I think we can govern ourselves better than a bunch of remote foreigners ensconced in Brussels, I will vote UKIP.
Not perfect but the best of a bad bunch & perhaps a bit different from the parties that repeatedly fail us.
Superb article. Brave and articulate. Let’s hope the comment section is not now deluged by hysterical knee-jerk reaction which always follows refreshing departure from the mainstream.
Oh, how much has been sacrificed in this country in the name of ‘kewl’ and fashionable social, State, media (meeja), (and, dare I say, also ‘State broadcaster’) sanctioned opinion.
Great website, keep up the great work!
Thank you for your feedback. One day to go and we are still unsure!