Election and power

“One of the reasons people hate politics is that truth is rarely a politician’s objective.

Election and power are.”

Cal Thomas

I have – you may have noticed – throughout the past five weeks refrained from making any mention whatsoever of the UK General Election.

There are three reasons for this:

1. Though I may on occasion feel moved to venture an opinion on a political theme, this is not the
   raison d’être of this blog and I would prefer not thus to abuse the casual reader.
2. The standard of the political fare on offer this time round has been so dire that I can scarce summon the will to dignify it with commentary.
3. For the first time that I can recall since reaching the age of majority I have myself been struggling to work out to whom I should give my precious vote. Now – if ever – is the time that we need a ‘None of the above‘ box on the ballot paper!

However….

Today we enjoy the opportunity to exercise our democratic right. I strongly feel that we should so do.

These two vital but little discussed issues will inform my eventual decision:

1. Inequality: The gulf between the richest and the poorest has been growing steadily since the late 1970s. There is no sign that this tide is about to turn. The party that wants my vote must address this issue.
2. Europe: The Tories have given in cravenly to demands from the far right for a referendum on continued membership of the EC. The right believes fervently that such a referendum would inevitably lead to the UK exiting the community, and they are quite probably correct in so doing. In this case I fear that I cannot accept that the ‘democratic will of the people’ should hold sway. I would do so could I believe that the majority of the populace had reached such a judgement after careful consideration and with reasoned thought, rather than merely as the result of simple knee-jerk xenophobia. We would do well – in this era of the anniversaries of the cataclysms that engulfed Europe across the twentieth century – to remember the origins of and the rationale behind the European project… before it is too late!

I entreat you – should you have a vote in this election – to think deeply and to use your vote well.