2015 Election
So, the 2015 election is drawing to a close and it looks like the surprising result is that the Conservatives will have the majority. Even if they fail to get over the 325 seats needed (which isn't definite), they seem to have enough that not even everyone voting against them can stop them (if they're just under, the three missing MPs Sinn Fein refuses to send to Westminster really start to matter).
The real shame is watching the Lib Dems get wiped out. They didn't deserve that. They didn't deserve any of this level of hate from the electorate. On the other hand, I was part of that slump. I chose to vote Green instead. Why? Well, it's not that I'm angry at the Lib Dems going into coalition. I thought that was a good idea and I thought they'd do a lot of good. I thought they could help the country a lot.
I'm angry because they didn't, they failed. Although they moderated the Conservatives worst tendencies, they did very little to actually sort out the country's problems and they did very little that was liberal and just to add stupidity to the mix, they signed a pledge over tuition fees, went back on it and then had the new system turn out to be worse than if they stood by their pledges. A platform for moderating another party's worst instincts isn't really a platform to fire the soul and it would have been nice if the Lib Dems had actually chosen to do some things as opposed to signing on and agreeing with other policies.
Chiefly, I wanted the Lib Dems to sort out the financial and banking system. This is something the Lib Dems should have been good about. As liberals, they should have been committed to the ideals of freedom in the markets while not compromising on freedom in general, unlike either the Conservatives or Labour. As a result they could have fixed it (which the Conservatives would not be able to do) without destroying it (something Labour probably would do). The Lib Dems failed to show me the reason for their existence, why they are not the other two parties and, well, if I wanted a liberal right party, the Conservatives do it just so much better.
A Conservative functioning majority is an absolute shock and it is not something I'm looking forwards to living under. I can't see the cost of living crisis in London being fixed at all now. The plan to sell social housing is going to make it worse. In fact, if it carries on like this, unless I actually get a decent paying job, I think I can probably have a better quality of life if I move out. Even then, getting out might be the best approach. Where to, I don't know. Adding the welfare cuts, it's not going to be pretty for London. On the other hand, maybe that's what London needs. After all, it's been expanding like crazy and at some point it has to stop. If I'm living through that period, complaining about it isn't going to help. But it is depressing.
The real shame is watching the Lib Dems get wiped out. They didn't deserve that. They didn't deserve any of this level of hate from the electorate. On the other hand, I was part of that slump. I chose to vote Green instead. Why? Well, it's not that I'm angry at the Lib Dems going into coalition. I thought that was a good idea and I thought they'd do a lot of good. I thought they could help the country a lot.
I'm angry because they didn't, they failed. Although they moderated the Conservatives worst tendencies, they did very little to actually sort out the country's problems and they did very little that was liberal and just to add stupidity to the mix, they signed a pledge over tuition fees, went back on it and then had the new system turn out to be worse than if they stood by their pledges. A platform for moderating another party's worst instincts isn't really a platform to fire the soul and it would have been nice if the Lib Dems had actually chosen to do some things as opposed to signing on and agreeing with other policies.
Chiefly, I wanted the Lib Dems to sort out the financial and banking system. This is something the Lib Dems should have been good about. As liberals, they should have been committed to the ideals of freedom in the markets while not compromising on freedom in general, unlike either the Conservatives or Labour. As a result they could have fixed it (which the Conservatives would not be able to do) without destroying it (something Labour probably would do). The Lib Dems failed to show me the reason for their existence, why they are not the other two parties and, well, if I wanted a liberal right party, the Conservatives do it just so much better.
A Conservative functioning majority is an absolute shock and it is not something I'm looking forwards to living under. I can't see the cost of living crisis in London being fixed at all now. The plan to sell social housing is going to make it worse. In fact, if it carries on like this, unless I actually get a decent paying job, I think I can probably have a better quality of life if I move out. Even then, getting out might be the best approach. Where to, I don't know. Adding the welfare cuts, it's not going to be pretty for London. On the other hand, maybe that's what London needs. After all, it's been expanding like crazy and at some point it has to stop. If I'm living through that period, complaining about it isn't going to help. But it is depressing.