Odd Cog Blog

So I’ve made my decision on who to vote for and just thought you might be interested to know who I’ve picked and why.

Right off the bat I’m going to say that the leaders debates have proven to be most thought provoking for me (I am really looking forward to Mr Dimbleby and the Beeb showing ITV and Sky how it should be done though). I’ll be honest and say that I was concerned about these debates originally, specifically because:

1. Not all of the leaders of the UK political parties were getting to take part: This concern was fully justified, lots of talk about immigration from outside of the EU, but no debate about immigration within the EU. I don’t think they could have gotten away with this if UKIP were involved. Also, the Lib Dems position on Trident would have been challenged. “We won’t replace Trident!”, sounds good and it’s what the Lib Dems were shouting, but “We won’t replace Trident directly, but might get something else similar.” doesn’t sound as good. My biggest beef in this area was the fact that the Digital Economy Bill didn’t get mentioned once!
2. I was worried that there wouldn’t be any real debate, just lots of reading of prepared statements: I was delighted to see that this was not the case.
3. I was worried that 2 would mean that Darth Cameron would be thriving whilst Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg drowned: Erm yeah, I needn’t gave worried. First round: Nick wins, GB was on the ropes, Darth Cameron was on the canvas. Second round: Nick wins on points, despite Dave getting one of Murdoch’s Minions to tag team with him (GB did much better too).

The debates were not the only source from which I drew my information. I have had an array of pamphlets, leaflets (what is the difference between a pamphlet and a leaflet?) and other “stuff” deposited through my letterbox recently and I have read all of it. The Greens and the Tories did quite a good job here, Labour did a terrible job and here’s why:

1. As I have previously noted here I was annoyed by the leaflets that presented the 2005 election results as evidence for the Greens being unable to take the Brighton Pavilion seat. I’m not stupid, do not treat me like I am.
2. They addressed everything to me *and* my brother!?! We are two separate people who are so far apart in our beliefs that you wouldn’t believe we were raised by the same parents, or on the same planet even. He does not care about politics, in fact it scares me that people as ignorant as him get a vote at all, please treat us as individuals. I’m not saying send two letters, but maybe just address it to me.

Still, at least Labour tried. When I receive the Lib Dem end of term report card I will be entering “Could try harder.” in the general comments box; not a single piece of Lib Dem propaganda was received.

I was quite convinced I was going to vote Green until the Green manifesto came out. If the Conservative spending cuts will risk the recovery from recession, then the Greens policies will certainly kill it. Just picking on one point, how can doubling the price of petrol be even a remotely sensible idea? I applaud the desire to protect the environment but you have to have the infrastructure to support mass migration to public transport before you stop the average family from being able to afford a car. What happens when nobody is buying petrol? How will the public transport be funded then? With huge taxes?

I was seriously wavering. I don’t dislike any of the PPCs in Brighton Pavilion, they all seem like nice people (I follow them all on Twitter) and then I sat down and really thought about it.

I cannot vote for Labour. Labour have had 13 years in power and have achieved some great things (like the minimum wage), but they have also made some major mistakes, worse still, they plan on making some more:

1. University fees.
2. ID cards.
3. Digital economy bill.
4. Unprecedented levels of debt (no more boom and bust eh Gordon?).
5. Misleading everyone about the evidence to support going to war in Iraq.
6. My current Labour MP has been an epic fail. I wrote to him about the DE Bill, I only ever got a response saying “I got your letter” and he didn’t bother with the main debate (maybe if it had effected Cyprus).

I cannot vote for the Conservatives, Darth Cameron might be a Sith, but I assure you that his light sabre is blue. Anyone who thinks that in a period where “tough decisions need to be made” to reduce levels of debt that an inheritance tax break for properties worth £2000000.00 is important is either high on crack or a Conservative. The only proof I needed of Dave’s intentions was to watch a guy from Varndean School ask him about fox hunting, the question was not about whether the law was well written, or whether people were flouting it, or whether the police were failing to enforce it properly, or if it was taking up to much of their time, but these were the answers he gave. We don’t need time in parliament for a free vote on this issue, we’ve done it already. If the law needs to be improved to make things easier for the police then discuss those changes, but of course he doesn’t want to do that because he is completely in favour of hunting foxes, badgers, otters and probably people on welfare too (OK, I made that last one up).

I cannot vote for the Liberal Democrats. I am not amongst the number of people noticing the Lib Dems for the first time during the debates. It’s like the Ewoks emerging from the forest, they might be Ewoks, and Ewoks are immensely cool, but they do not have a chance of winning the seat of Brighton Pavilion and my vote would be wasted if lavished upon them, allowing Labour and the Conservatives a better chance of winning it.

I cannot vote for Labour, the Conservatives or the Lib Dems because they were all engaged in the expenses scandal and none of you are sorry for what you did, just sorry you got caught.

Back to the Greens. Caroline Lucas will never (or at least not in the coming parliament) be in a position to put the more extreme aspects of the Green manifesto in to place, but she won’t ever be whipped and will be able to promote fairness (proportional representation ftw), consideration of the environment, animal rights and civil liberties in a sort of Jiminy Cricket like role and so she gets my vote, but she didn’t win it, everyone else lost it.

Every time one of the ‘major’ parties does/says/announces something it usually just helps to remind me how out of touch they are. I received a letter from Nancy Platts today (Nancy is the Labour PPC for Brighton Pavilion), the basic jist of which was that if I voted Green I risked letting in the Tories (this fact was in big bold letters at the bottom of the page).

1. The voting figures from the last General Election are ancient. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, including a set of European elections that at worst suggest that the Greens have made significant gains.
2. No I wouldn’t support Labour’s plan to change the voting system. Why switch one flawed system with another? Do it properly and give us proportional representation where every single vote counts, or don’t bother at all.
3. Would I prefer a Labour or Conservative government? Well, that’s like asking me if I’d rather be poked in the eye, or kicked in the nuts… I’m not that crazy about either option.

Bottom line, this letter did nothing to dissuade me from voting Green, in fact, in strengthened my resolve even more. Epic. Fail.

I last updated you on the political goings-on in Brighton Pavilion back in June, so for those of you that are interested (and lets face it, you’re still reading) today is update day.

Last time out my post received a comment from Andrew Falconer, the then Lib Dem candidate for Brighton Pavilion. Have you spotted the important piece of information in that last sentence… yep… I said the *then* Lib Dem candidate, as in, he isn’t now. I have absolutely no idea what happened to Mr Falconer, maybe I was right and he doesn’t exist at all, but the Lib Dems have decided to choose his replacement from an all female shortlist. Positive discrimination is a misnomer IMO, as discrimination of any kind is never positive, indeed I am fairly certain that an “all white male” shortlist would be rounded on rather rapidly! Still, the Lib Dem shuffle is not the only change to the list of Brighton Pavilion parliamentary candidates, nope it’s like Whac-A-Mole down here, as the Conservatives have finally chosen David Bulls replacement in Charlotte Vere. A rather rather polished website/twitter feed combo makes a pleasant change from some of the others “websites” I have battled against in my quest to make an informed decision in 2010, but both are lacking when it comes to explaining what Miss Vere stands for and to differentiating her from Darth Cameron. This distinction is a real problem for me as since Dave changed his no policies policy I find myself liking him less and less, for sure Gordon Brown was foolish to attempt to start a class war, but if repealing the ban on fox hunting is a priority for the Tories then they are just as foolish (and Gordon Brown is right!?!).

So what of Nancy Platts, the Labour candidate? Well she has a nice new website too, although it is not quite as polished as Charlotte Vere’s (I read the same sentence in three places within three clicks), and hang on… wait a minute… some bollocks about how voting Green will mean a Tory MP for Brighton. How can the voting figures from 2005 be the best source of information when the last time we got to have our say was in European elections where the Greens romped home? I also take exception to the Q&A section about greed, prosperity and Thatcher. In case you haven’t noticed, Labour haven’t done a bad job of emulating Thatcher’s Britain, we have unemployment, disputes with Unions, there are plenty of people losing their homes and you can chalk up two for greed – between the bankers,  the fiddling MPs and the spending patterns of Gordon Brown it’s a wonder we have anything left (it reminds me of the Sheriff of Nottingham knocking the coins out of the dogs plaster cast in the Disney version of Robin Hood). I absolutely want to nix Trident and ID cards and use the money for something better, but I simply don’t trust Labour to do it because I don’t trust them to deliver on anything, plus I still don’t think they appreciate how out of touch they are.

So once again readers the only remaining option (hope?) is Caroline Lucas, who incidentally declared her intention to run as MP for Brighton back in ’07 and has stayed true to her word, meaning that the only really interesting development is that the 2010 election will be the first time that all of the main parties will have put forward female candidates for a constituency*, which isn’t really of any significance at all.

In summary, Labour still don’t get it, the Conservatives do but are more worried about fox hunting and the Lib Dems are trying to work out which one of them may or may not bet getting it! Frustration and exasperation reign supreme!

*According to Wikipedia, which instantly makes it as true as the gospel ;)