Election stance

The country's election campaign has come halfway and is all anyone can talk about. Being a local authority, we have strict rules and regulations about talking politics and projecting views that may be contrary to how we are supposed to be represented. The idea is to take a completely neutral stance and work arms-length from political thought.

This is pretty difficult when all people are talking about is the forthcoming election and whether Labour will actually secure a third term, comfortable or otherwise. I think its a tough one myself. People are generally disillusioned with the Labour govt., especially after the whole Iraq experience. And Labour used to be very left-wing, almost Socialist before they became 'New Labour' in 1997. Now they are slowly but surely edging to the right. I think they might actually be more Conservative than the Conservatives are...

On the other hand, we have an unrealistic manifesto produced by the Conservatives, which seems to be putting more money into public spending but gaining less money in taxes. Tax less, more public spending. Great... but where is all the money being spent on public services coming from...? The figures don't add up well. I'm guessing they hope to bring money in from property ownership, since their roots are essentially from the middle and upper class landowners.

The Liberal Democrats are a different story. They seem to be perfectly balanced on the fence between the Conservatives and Labour, but are perhaps a little more right-wing than they want to appear. Most of their campaigning is going into social services and help for the elderly and students, the two areas where they gain the most votes. It's certainly a nice comeback for the Lib Dems in any case, having gained a good following to almost the heights that they had before the downfall of Gladstone's Home Rule policy*.

I honestly have no idea who I'm going to be voting for. I think I need to read the BBC Election Guide a bit more...

* An afterthought for those dusty on their British politics! This policy designed for Northern Ireland split the party in 1886 and created the Liberal Unionists. Later, they joined the Conservatives to boost Parliamentary pulling power, thus making the Tories what they are today - the Conservative and Unionist Party. And to think I thought History A level was a waste of time!!