I'm voting Labour because I remember previous conservative (Tory) governments and I don't want to live under that kind of regime ever again;-
Death of British Industry
The Thatcher regime ('79-'90) presided over the near total destruction of British Manufacturing Industry. Driven by the dog eat dog ideology of uncontrolled competition the government let British industry be savaged by low wage, low tech economies elsewhere in the world. They peddled the myth that a managed re-orientation / re-tooling for a high skill, high tech economy wasn't possible and the result was (at least) 3 million unemployed, tens of thousands of companies closed and the creation of huge industrial waste lands all around the country. British Industry died and we became of nation of financial services consultants, credit controllers and call customer care operatives.
War on Education
Thatcher hated the (mostly) egalitarian British education system and especially teachers, who were allegedly all part of a left wing conspiracy. Money was deliberately diverted from education, school buildings got into a terrible state, there were daily news stories of leaking roofs and classes held in unheated rooms and portacabins. The underfunding got so bad that parents were asked to buy basic teaching material and even children books. Thatcher wanted a vocational based education system that simply trained monkeys / people to work in call answering centers (and the like) and did not educate people beyond strict necessity. Learning for it own sake was anathema and Tory rhetoric against teachers reached Stalinist mantra heights.
End the NHSIn Thatcher Newspeak (Orwell 1984) 'The NHS is safe in our hands' - but the truth was very very different. Thatcher had an ideological hatred of a universal health care system as intrinsically socialistic; so the race was on to bring the NHS to it's knees whilst extolling the virtues of the private health care sector. Waiting lists grew, wards and sometimes whole hospitals closed, NHS employees were vilified (especially nurses) and all the while plush private wards and services prospered at the expenses of the NHS. The poor literally paid for the private health care of the rich, it was Robin Hood in reverse. The lowest point came when tax breaks for private health care were proposed; everyone was asked to pay for the private health care of the rich, unbelievable!
Get on your bike
Who can forget the Tory Employment Secretary, Norman Tebbit, telling the 3 million unemployed to get on their bikes and look for work? Whole areas of the country were in economic meltdown and unemployed people faced a lifetime without work, there was a tangible atmosphere in some towns of complete despair. Benefits for the unemployed were cut, and cut again and the unemployed were blamed for being lazy and not having a job;- the victim was blamed for the crime ! Tory spin doctors spread the story that Thatcher was 'upset' that people thought her (and the government) uncaring !
Tell Sid He Was Robbed
Any kind of business or enterprise that was owned by the people was up for sale on the cheap, partly to disguise underlying economic failure. When your gas bill is enormous, the gas company's profits equally enormous and most ordinary people no longer own shares in the energy companies you have the Tories to thank for that. When the banking system almost collapsed and British de-mutualised building societies were at the heart of the British crisis, you have the Tories (and the carpet baggers) to thank for that. This was always about big business getting it's hands on the peoples assets and never about creating a sharing owning democracy. As Harold Macmillan told us you can only sell the family silver once;- in our case it was sold cheaply, and we are still paying the price with every overpriced electricity, gas, water, train, and telephone bill. We were robbed.
War on ordinary peopleDuring the last Tory government there was an unending list of different people / groups to be singled out and vilified in the press, legislated against and blamed for all the ills of the country. One month it was single parents, then gays and lesbians, then miners, then teachers, then the unemployed, then immigrants, then trades unionists, then Argentineans .... Strangely enough Old Etonians, stock brokers, company directors and the rich seemed immune from the latest group to be publically reviled and given a good spanking, funny that !
Poll Tax RiotsI watched the police clash with thousands of rioters in Trafalgar Square with open mouthed disbelief. I knew it was bad in Britain under the Tories and I knew the Poll Tax was both unfair (un-progressive) and unpopular, but I couldn't quite believe I was watching the nearest thing to a full revolution unfold on the TV news. Ordinary people were on the street along side the usual political activists and were angry at the arrogance of the Tory government's proposed poll tax. It was obvious evidence that the government just didn't care about the plight of ordinary people, it was driven by ideology and the interests of a tiny minority of rich people with high local council tax bills.
An Alternative Universe
At times during 79-97 I thought I wondered into an alternative universe where black was white, truth a lie and up was down. It was a truly surreal period;- almost like a conscious re-enactment of Orwell's 1984;- we were told we were getting better health care, better education, better transport, creating a share owning democracy, the economy was thriving and the 'Great' was being put back into Britain ! But we experienced the exact opposite every day.
The Tories Look After Their Own
You could sum up the last Tory government with the aphorism 'the rich got richer and the poor got poorer'. The interests of big business and multi-national companies were very well looked after with any kind of regulation, safeguard or law that hindered rampant profiteering immediately withdrawn. Entrepreneurs, 'Loads of Money' Stockbrokers and Merchant Bankers were hailed as national heroes. Make no mistake the Tories are backed by the rich and big business for a simple reason;- they look after their interests and place them before you and your welfare, every single time.
Cameron Isn't Different
Frankly I cringe when I hear Cameron saying the 'new' Tory party is now friendly to gays and lesbians because I remember clause 28 and government inspired campaigns of hate in the newspapers. I know that the 'Big Society' Tory manifesto theme is newspeak for massive cuts in government / social expenditure. You only need to look at those pictures of Cameron, Johnson and Osborne as members of the Bullingdon Club whilst at Oxford University to know that the Tory party stands for government by the elite in the interests of the few.
Labour's Record
I know that Labour have made some serious mistakes, in my opinion mostly by not being radical enough. However;- the NHS has new hospitals and wards, waiting lists are greatly reduced, patients have rights under the NHS charter, pay for NHS workers is better, new schools have been built, class rooms refurbished, teachers pay has increased, formerly publically owned businesses are at least regulated, unemployment is still too high but people also still receive benefits whilst trying to find a new job, single parents still received benefits, child benefit is still paid, old people get a winter fuel allowance and state pensions have increased. The Labour party isn't perfect, far from it, but it's a whole lot better than the Tory alternative.
I'm Thatcher's Child
If the tone and passion of what I've said surprises you; it shouldn't because I'm Thatcher's child. I lived through the 18 years of conservative government, it politicised and motivated me; I joined the Labour party, I worked hard day and night for a Labour victory in the 1997 election, I've organised elections for the Labour party and stood as a candidate. Thatcher made me a conviction member of the Labour Party for life. And when you look at the polls and can't understand why, with Labour being allegedly so unpopular, the Tories still can't win, there's a simple reason;- there is a whole generation of people, exactly like me, who remember what it was like to live under a Tory government and who consequently will never, never, ever vote conservative.
Posts
