You May As Well Vote For Meeeeee!! (Your Ideal Political Party Policies)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Your Ideal Political Party Policies
Date:	06/05/07 (162 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Changes I'd propose

Disadvantages: I may not know what I'm on about

The truth is, I’m a bit of an old cynic when it comes to politics. It was interesting to see the drubbing the Labourites got at the recent local elections and yet this is no firm indicator that they won’t win the next General Election, such is the curious nature of the electoral system in this country. Often local elections turn out to be a protest vote and the general population show their true colours when it comes to the big one. And so big Gordon may succeed the not so big Tony into Number 10. Cue another four years of tax exploitation, spin and pragmatic politics designed to win at all costs. Shamefully, I never made it to the polling station this time although I did run past it and, despite my fellow sweaty running buddy's imploring, I simply refused to vote in my running gear. I’d have to admit that my track record for voting is pretty chequered. I suppose it’s an apathy born of seeing successive political parties run the country like a broken down Wheel Tappers and Shunters Working Man’s Club over the years. Basically, if you ran a business like the politicians supposedly run the country then UK PLC would have gone bust quite a few years ago. Still, you have to accept that’s it’s our hard fought right to exercise a vote and, allegedly, choose between parties that stand for different things. After all, it would be disrespectful to forget those brave ladies of the Suffragettes, chaining themselves to railings and all those other things that they did to win women the right to vote as well as providing inspiration for a thousand stag weekends after that. However, when you dig more deeply into just how different the various parties are, then you begin to realise just what a gravy train the whole thing really is. Then again, maybe I’ve read too much Orwell.

So I’ve decided to rise about my malaise and take in interest in political policies, accepting that the world’s biggest superpower isn’t run by the same people all the time and that the choice of Democrats and Republicans isn’t really just a sleight of hand that’s been suckering the American population for decades. First of all, devolvement. It’s hard to ignore the message sent out by the electorate in Scotland and wanting more and more independence from London and with separate assemblies in Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland getting closer and closer to a political solution then this seems to be an irreversible process. That 1707 Act of Union seems to be under threat and, who knows, maybe one day our monarchy will no longer reign sovereign over the Union States of England and Scotland. As a precaution, extra guard corgis have put on patrol in the grounds of Balmoral should someone try to take The Queen‘s Scottish crown from her. Personally, I can’t see the problem and if separate states/countries crave their independence then so be it. After all, Hadrian’s Wall is still there and we could always make it bigger if those blue wode, face painted raiding parties started up again from North of the border.

As far as the economy goes, I’d love to see a massive simplification of the taxation system. Apparently, just one level of taxation simply wouldn’t work as opposed to the labyrinthine system of direct and indirect taxes we have now. Each budget seems to pile more complexity on top of existing complexity and the overall tax burden creeps up as the accountants find yet more ingenious ways to make us pay more money. Holiday flights, cigarettes, alcohol and petrol are all fair game as well as all those other loopholes exploited like pension funds, ISA limits and so on. Despite the backlash that followed, especially through the introduction of the notorious Poll Tax, Maggie Thatcher did have a point in trying to run the economy like a household budget and trying to pay off any debt whilst getting the general finances in order. Maybe she was just too advanced for her time but with a system of checks and balances that means income exceeds or is at least equal to expenditure simply *must* make sense. In which case, let’s stop messing around, arrive at a sensible level of income tax, stop fiddling the National Insurance limits so that folks don’t notice and scrap lots of the indirect taxes so that people don’t feel the sting when they buy goods in rip-off UK or create a vortex of goods coming into the country from abroad because they can be acquired so much cheaper. Yikes, I never thought I’d praise Margaret Thatcher and don’t read too much into that, eh?

As far as crime goes, things seem to be in a bit of mess don’t they? Gun crime, folks getting stabbed on their doorstep and hoodies selling in droves spawned by a gang sub-culture reminiscent of down town LA. With a perception that there’s hardly no coppers on the streets and those that are out and about are perched on a motorway bridge, aiming a speed gun at recalcitrant speedsters then it all looks a tad out of balance. Quite frankly, we need a huge reduction in paperwork or at least someone to do it for the poor old boys (and girls) in blue and more police on the beat and visible to the public. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a happy episode of The Bill where everyone’s out on the beat, patrolling their manor and catching the crooks. “You’re nicked san” as they say on the sink estates of Sarf Landon Taaaan.

Things don’t seem that bad as far as education policy goes. OK, there’s a furor over a mega-school in Peterborough being built without a playground but have the folks that are complaining about it never seen Biff the bully and pals roaming around, confiscating dinner money from the vulnerable saps at lunchtime? My teenage daughter doesn’t bother with break time and stuff and finds loads of other things to occupy her. I know teachers complain about league tables, government interference and the like but we do seem to have things close to being right as far as education goes and I know that my two children seem to get a lot more support than I ever did at school.

Last but not least, national security, immigration and asylum. Well, things have never been as nervous as they have been over the last few years. There must be a huge link between national security and our foreign policy. Our continued perceived, hostile occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq makes us a target for further retribution and you would have hoped by now that some kind of strategic withdrawal could have been possible from the Middle East. Our troops aren’t welcome and we should do something about it. I’m sure that this is also linked with our chaotic approach to immigration and asylum and the litigious nature of our culture that allows just about anybody to launch a legal appeal about just about anything regardless of their dodgy background. Quite clearly, the immigration policy in the country is in a mess and we have to deal with the affects of that on infrastructure, local services and stuff. Basically, it’s back to the drawing board on this one and needs someone to come up with a coherent strategy that allows a balanced approach to asylum (for which we have legal obligations) and immigration (for which we have moral obligations).

Ho hum, there you have it, my dangerous political ramblings. No doubt I’ll be tracked down by a raving Scotsman with an Iraqi background and a penchant for wanting to pay out all of his income in taxes to support the vulnerable and needy. So if you never hear from me again……

Thanks

Mara

Summary: Politics maaaan