General Election Now

I’ve always been centre-left: I believe society is happier, healthier, more productive, saner, when it has a social welfare system as a safety net whenever we need it, (and we all need, whatever some people claim). The Health Service, first and foremost, should be free at the point of use, and should be given proper investment to make up for the shortfall from the last 13 years. The transport network should be brought back under state ownership and properly funded, as should the water supply, as should energy.

At the same time, I’ve worked in the private sector all my life. I’ve worked for small independents and global megacorps and PPPs, American and British, and I know there are some areas I don’t want the state shoving its nose into. Publishing, my field, would not benefit from government interference, except for committed funding for small presses and arts organisations so they can take their place in the ecosystem of arts provision. Which is a way of saying, I’m not anti-business. But as a society, we need to ensure business operates where it brings benefit to society. It shouldn’t be allowed to ride rough-shod over our humanity in order to make its quarterly numbers.

Though I’ve always been centre-left with a strong green streak, I’ve never been affiliated with any given political party. I’ve voted Labour in every general election, a mixture of Green and Labour in local elections, but no one has so embodied my views that I want to join them or campaign for them. I want a government that understands its resonsibility to build a strong economy based upon environmentally sustainable practices and a culture that reveres its citizens and its standing in the world. I need it to take a holistic view of the vast, vast problems that face us, and to offer up an approach that embraces all of it.

The current government is the opposite of that. It has proven to be feral, greedy, short-term, narrow-minded, and hypocritical. It is xenophobic, racist, bullying, nasty, and criminal. It supports policies that benefit Conservative Party’s donors, not policies that are good for society. These last thirteen years will be seen as the lowest ebb of a nation that has everything it needs to be wise, open, responsible, sane, but gets dragged into the gutter by press barons and politicians who are beholden to money.

I am for a complete reform of British governance. I’m for proportional representation and for a written constitution. I’m for nationalisation of our services, with significant investment so they are once again up with the best in the world. I’m for a law on ecocide, so companies that damage the planet should pay for its repair, and board members who sanction environmental harm should be jailed.

And the first step is to get the Tories out. They are a disgrace.