The infrequency with which I write about politics does not to justice to how important I think it is. The last few weeks have been fairly tumuluous politically and today I got to vote in the European elections so maybe it’s time to reflect a little on things.
Where I stand
Before you get carried away – I’m NOT standing in the European elections. Phew!
But I did a little political orientation test night and came out as slightly “left” and slightly “libertarian”, somewhere near Ghandi I think.
I place a large amount of value in honesty and trustworhtiness, and I dislike party politics and the bickering we so often see that, as far as I’m concerned, wastes time and money and gets in the way of government of our country.
I like my leaders to be good at making decisions about things and sticking to those decisions once made, but I also believe that it’s OK to get things wrong and that humility, apologies and a desire to learn from mistakes and put things right counts for much too.
Expenses
So from that you can probably guess that I’m not hugely impressed with the expenses scandal. On two fronts:
- The system is bloody awful. Any commercial organisation would have a strict policy on what is and isn’t allowed, expenses-wise, backed up by a bunch of people who check expenses about that policy. Repeated breach of policy results in disciplinary action…and so on. What’s so hard? Why is our government not run like a business? We can’t see money leaking away like this!
- The MPs, at least those who’ve been caught being naughty, are dishonest and untrustworthy. They’ve manipulated the system for personal gain. If I did this with my expenses I’d be fired! But more than that, I wouldn’t do that with my expenses because it’s WRONG! But worse than that, it shows how out of touch politicians are. There are people that can’t afford their rent or mortgage, yet alone for gardeners, cleaners, or huge amounts of expensive food. It is, frankly, unjust.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve worked on customer site for months at a time. It’s tough leading a double life in two different places and having somewhere nice to live makes it much nicer. But there are limits.
Our PM
As I write, James Purnell has just resigned from government and called for Gordon Brown to step down, and I’ve no doubt that our Prime Minister will not last the weekend in his post.
I actually like Gordon Brown, I think he has potential to be a good PM. But I find that he’s useless at making decisions. He seems to sway between opinions and not make his mind up, or make his mind up too late. In contrast, David Cameron is quick, sharp, decisive. I’m not sure either has enough well-defined policies for me to want to vote for them. Despite being a leftie, if given the choice I think I’d vote Cameron!
So who to vote for
But, no…I can’t bring myself to vote Tory. The expenses stuff has just reinforced that they’re mostly rich people who don’t have a clue about the real world.
I probably should vote Labour, but I think the party is in disarray and I can’t bring myself to do that either.
BNP and UKIP are definite no-go areas. So of the well-known parties I’m left with Lib Dems and Greens.
Both of which are quite appealing!
So…
Of course, I’m not saying what I decided. I DID vote though, I think it’s hugely important to be a part of the political process. I shall be making sure my elected representatives do represent me too by writing and expressing my views.
And I shall be praying. Our leaders need any help they can get right now!