We need to stop voting tactically-and vote for people we actually want as MPs
Ladies and gentlemen, there have been two recent and important news stories about Labour.
One is that Labour has ruled out renationalisation of railways and other public transport even if it wins the next general election, and the second is that loyal left-wing Labour MP Dennis Skinner, aka the Beast of Bolsover, has been voted off Labour's National Executive Committee, apparently because he 'irritated Ed Miliband's office' (although there is no evidence for that rumour). They are just the latest in a long line of articles confirming that Labour under Ed Miliband is still New Labour and will just continue down the failed road of neoliberalism and privatisation that the Conservatives under Thatcher and Major, Labour under Blair and Brown, and the Con-Dems under Cameron and Clegg have been following despite overwhelming evidence having been demonstrated several times that for the good of humanity, neoliberalism must end and a new consensus-hopefully the green consensus-must come about.
In spite of this, Lord Ashcroft polls in Labour-Liberal Democrat marginal seats like Norwich South and Manchester Withington show that tactical voting (just to unseat the Liberal Democrat MPs who hold these seats, Simon Wright and John Leech respectively) will still come into play even though the Labour candidates who will try to win these seats next year will almost certainly not be much different from the Lib Dem MPs they are trying to replace. The same tactical voting issue, and the issue of MPs who won based on tactical votes not being likely to be a real change from before, will hold true in Liberal-Conservative marginals like Solihull and St Ives, or Labour-Conservative marginals like Lancaster & Fleetwood and Hampstead & Kliburn.
The six seats I have mentioned also show good Green potential, especially in the case of Norwich South which I hope we can win next year. The important point is this-tactical voting will achieve nothing useful in next year's general election, because the evidence is clear that all three major parties are clearly the same on so many levels-welded to neoliberalism, not committed to major reform in the EU, and not that interested in major electoral reform or decentralising of powers. On the other hand, Green Party MPs, who support policies that the British people actually want (as has been shown consistently by polls over the last year at least), and who are honest and committed to change where change is necessary, are a clear alternative, as is the Green Party itself. We have now reached 17,000 members, in a nation which has one of the lowest political party membership rates per capita in the whole of Europe, and we are providing a useful safe haven for progressive politics within the UK.
I ask you,therefore, as has been said before, do not vote tactically when the next general election comes around-vote for someone who promotes what you actually believe in and what you actually want. This way, there is at least a chance that you will elect a progressive and properly representative MP in your constituency, rather than just tired old pro-Establishment deadwood.
Alan.
One is that Labour has ruled out renationalisation of railways and other public transport even if it wins the next general election, and the second is that loyal left-wing Labour MP Dennis Skinner, aka the Beast of Bolsover, has been voted off Labour's National Executive Committee, apparently because he 'irritated Ed Miliband's office' (although there is no evidence for that rumour). They are just the latest in a long line of articles confirming that Labour under Ed Miliband is still New Labour and will just continue down the failed road of neoliberalism and privatisation that the Conservatives under Thatcher and Major, Labour under Blair and Brown, and the Con-Dems under Cameron and Clegg have been following despite overwhelming evidence having been demonstrated several times that for the good of humanity, neoliberalism must end and a new consensus-hopefully the green consensus-must come about.
In spite of this, Lord Ashcroft polls in Labour-Liberal Democrat marginal seats like Norwich South and Manchester Withington show that tactical voting (just to unseat the Liberal Democrat MPs who hold these seats, Simon Wright and John Leech respectively) will still come into play even though the Labour candidates who will try to win these seats next year will almost certainly not be much different from the Lib Dem MPs they are trying to replace. The same tactical voting issue, and the issue of MPs who won based on tactical votes not being likely to be a real change from before, will hold true in Liberal-Conservative marginals like Solihull and St Ives, or Labour-Conservative marginals like Lancaster & Fleetwood and Hampstead & Kliburn.
The six seats I have mentioned also show good Green potential, especially in the case of Norwich South which I hope we can win next year. The important point is this-tactical voting will achieve nothing useful in next year's general election, because the evidence is clear that all three major parties are clearly the same on so many levels-welded to neoliberalism, not committed to major reform in the EU, and not that interested in major electoral reform or decentralising of powers. On the other hand, Green Party MPs, who support policies that the British people actually want (as has been shown consistently by polls over the last year at least), and who are honest and committed to change where change is necessary, are a clear alternative, as is the Green Party itself. We have now reached 17,000 members, in a nation which has one of the lowest political party membership rates per capita in the whole of Europe, and we are providing a useful safe haven for progressive politics within the UK.
I ask you,therefore, as has been said before, do not vote tactically when the next general election comes around-vote for someone who promotes what you actually believe in and what you actually want. This way, there is at least a chance that you will elect a progressive and properly representative MP in your constituency, rather than just tired old pro-Establishment deadwood.
Alan.
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