Quote:
Originally Posted by Hugh
Questions for CF-ers, who have said they will never vote Labour.
(this being asked by a 66 year old who has never voted Labour).
A) considering that the Labour Party have only been in power for 13 out of the last 50 years, what did they do in that time* that makes you feel that way?
B) What do you think the Labour Party will do if they get elected, that would make you not vote for them?
C) What could persuade you to vote for them?
*not including the farrago that was the Iraq War (which was also supported by the Conservatives)
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Right, so I’ll have a go at the question now, rather than having a go at the question
I am going to vote Labour next year. The reality is I would have to have voted for them no matter what because they are the only viable opposition to the SNP in the constituency I moved into last year. My last home was in a constituency that has been Tory, Labour and SNP in the last 15 years giving me a genuine three-way choice few people anywhere in the UK enjoy.
However, I will not really be holding my nose to vote for them …. Well, not much anyway. I think we need a change and Labour’s the only national opposition. Evicting the Conservative Party from government means voting for the Labour Party and that’s all there is to it. Maybe that’s a negative choice but it’s the choice I have (over and above the imperative of getting the Nat out).
My hesitancy in voting Labour however isn’t the centrists who are presently in charge. Starmer was DPP so is bound to be a competent manager at least. I actually quite like the likes of Yvette Cooper, who is quite thoughtful, and Angela Rayner, who is a proper Commons bruiser of the sort our political system needs in order to function well.
My hesitancy is, and has always been, who the lunatic fringe are. Now I’m not saying only Labour has fringe nutters, of course very movement has them. But I fear that Labour’s hard left is always likely to do more lasting damage to the fabric of society than the Tory far right. Think Diane Abbott. Richard Burgon. John McDonnell. Most of the ones who served in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet basically. If/when Labour gets in, it is likely to be in power for at least 2 terms, which is more than enough time for the political pendulum within the parliamentary party to veer back to the left. And that worries me.