I barely care about the UK General Election
Given that I'm British and a politics obsessive, people might find that strange. I'm also a member of the party (Labour) that is set to win. I'm not heavily invested in this at all.
One reason is that the result is virtually a foregone conclusion. Ever since the short (but disastrous) Liz Truss premiership, Labour has had a twenty-point lead in the polls and there is no sign of this shifting. After thirteen years of Tory rule, the British public has had enough anyway and it the sentiment you hear everywhere is that its time to give someone else a go. I can't see any way that Sunak loses by less than ten points. Farage's reform party will not win any seats but they will spit the rightwing vote and make even some semi-marginal constituencies flit to Labour. Stamer will win a big majority, albeit in a low-turnout election.
The other reason is that there is such little difference between the two main party platforms. Labour has accepted the Conservative's tax, spending and borrowing limits and has very few distinct policies at all. In effect, the Conservatives have won even in the act of losing because the leadership of both parties is essentially centre-right.
As a Corbyn stan and outright leftwinger, I am going to get accused of ideological purity. For me, its just about having some minimal standards and being able to point to something and say that it is definitely better than something else. On domestic and foreign policy (yes Gaza) there is a paper-thin difference. A lot of less involved people are hoping for the best from a Starmer Labour government that explicitly harks back to the Blair years (minus Iraq presumably). They will be disappointed.
Blair presided over a period of economic growth when a de-regulated City of London (remember how that turned out) produced a surplus that you could use to fund some things while not raising income tax or borrowing much. Now we live in times of permanent slow growth and no such thing is possible. If anyone thinks that Starmer will fix any of Britain's long-term problems like housing shortage, the NHS or crumbling infrastructure, I have some magic beans to sell you.
The experience of a Stamer government is going to be like Cameron and Osborne. Austerity and choosing to prioritise the rich and upper-middle class over everyone else. I wish I was wrong but I'm not.
One reason is that the result is virtually a foregone conclusion. Ever since the short (but disastrous) Liz Truss premiership, Labour has had a twenty-point lead in the polls and there is no sign of this shifting. After thirteen years of Tory rule, the British public has had enough anyway and it the sentiment you hear everywhere is that its time to give someone else a go. I can't see any way that Sunak loses by less than ten points. Farage's reform party will not win any seats but they will spit the rightwing vote and make even some semi-marginal constituencies flit to Labour. Stamer will win a big majority, albeit in a low-turnout election.
The other reason is that there is such little difference between the two main party platforms. Labour has accepted the Conservative's tax, spending and borrowing limits and has very few distinct policies at all. In effect, the Conservatives have won even in the act of losing because the leadership of both parties is essentially centre-right.
As a Corbyn stan and outright leftwinger, I am going to get accused of ideological purity. For me, its just about having some minimal standards and being able to point to something and say that it is definitely better than something else. On domestic and foreign policy (yes Gaza) there is a paper-thin difference. A lot of less involved people are hoping for the best from a Starmer Labour government that explicitly harks back to the Blair years (minus Iraq presumably). They will be disappointed.
Blair presided over a period of economic growth when a de-regulated City of London (remember how that turned out) produced a surplus that you could use to fund some things while not raising income tax or borrowing much. Now we live in times of permanent slow growth and no such thing is possible. If anyone thinks that Starmer will fix any of Britain's long-term problems like housing shortage, the NHS or crumbling infrastructure, I have some magic beans to sell you.
The experience of a Stamer government is going to be like Cameron and Osborne. Austerity and choosing to prioritise the rich and upper-middle class over everyone else. I wish I was wrong but I'm not.
41-45, M
