So, you might ask why it feels so personal. Well, for a start, it's the country I live in and I've watched it steadily decline over the past 14 years.
Furthermore, the hardship that my family and I have endured as a result of Tory policies makes it bloody personal.
I've spent almost 14 out of 15 years of my health journey dealing with extra delays and bureaucracy because of the Tory cuts to the NHS. Years waiting for referrals, 6 months or more for a scan. If I had the option of having health insurance through a job to cover me outside the NHS system, I would gladly do so. But I don't have that luxury. So, I am stuck in a broken system that is deliberately underfunded and under-resourced when it comes to complex health problems. The extra suffering I and many others have endured because of ideological decisions to screw the NHS has made this personal.
If I could just get on with my life and be passive and ignore the news and what's happening, I would be happy to do so. But like many millions of people, it's personal and impossible not to feel anger and rage at what's happened.
See the attached graph to see the data on NHS waiting lists that have continued to get worse under the Tories since being in government after Labour.
@luminous Thanks for your expansive overview of UK's political challenges. What is the chance that the UK will seriously reconsider EU membership?
When people accept it was a mistake and grow up. So at the moment? never.
I personally wish the Labour party would stop playing it safe and announce they are going to allow the UK a second referendum on rejoining the EU. But it is still incredibly divisive. The UK still isn't ready to heal its divisions on brexit until more people recognise it was based on lies. About 60% now recognise that, but with people like Farage, who still has a platform to lie and stir things up, there will always still be a lot of people who will still be seduced by his bs. Had the BBC and other media paltforms not allowed him to onto their political programs, he would never have been able to sell the idea of brexit.
This list I have attached is what the liberal and left side of our politics is up against media wise in the UK. Looking at that list, you can understand why the Tories have been in power for 14 years.
I found an old prediction I did during one of our group read the future meditations sometime around 2017 or 2018 in which I said that a lawsuit would shoot down Brexit on the grounds that it had been the result of lies. I will post it when I have time to search for it again.
I found an old prediction I did during one of our group read the future meditations sometime around 2017 or 2018 in which I said that a lawsuit would shoot down Brexit on the grounds that it had been the result of lies. I will post it when I have time to search for it again.
It's possible a Labour government, or a Lab-Lib coalition government, would do an inquiry into brexit, like the covid inquiry we have had here in the UK. But a brexit inquiry would never happen with the Tories in power. They also have a russian report that was done several years ago by uk intelligence agencies on russian electoral interference involving our elections and brexit, but the tories have never allowed the contents of that report to be published for the public to see. It's possible that this report is what exposes all that, or perhaps some other type of inquiry done in the future. Hopefully, if Labour win the general election, either by a majority or in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, then they will finally reveal the contents of that report.
It has been said for some time that if it were not for brexit, then there would be no Trump victory in 2016. Both, I believe, have links to Russia, with the goal of weakening and creating disunity in the West for Putin to invade Ukraine. Farage gloated his victory on brexit in speeches at Trump events during his 2016 campaign, selling the idea that americans could upset the establishment and change things. It is possible that the same facilitators of Farage are the same facilitators of Trump.
In my heart, the more I see what's happening here in the UK and in the future, with a climate crisis looming on the horizon, the more I feel I can't vote for either Labour or the Liberal Democrats. Their climate policies are too weak.
In fact, I've just read the Green Party manifesto and I agree with almost all their policies.
I may change my mind when the general election comes around, but I feel I can't in good conscience vote for a party that doesn't prioritise drastic action on climate change.
Maybe I'm naive in thinking that a more equal, fairer and climate-friendly society is achievable, but it's what my heart wants.
The Green Party may not have a chance of winning a general election against either Labour or the Conservatives at the moment, but maybe by voting for them I can help create an appetite for change, and maybe one day they will have a bigger political presence.
The Liberal Democrats were in government with the Conservatives from 2010-2015, during which time the UK underwent aggressive economic austerity. The NHS budget fell to its lowest annual increase in spending for over 30 years. With a growing elderly population and a reduction in the number of hospital beds, this was actually a big cut in funding for NHS services. Not to mention that it was the Liberal Democrats who decided to introduce controversial health reforms that messed up social care funding, which is in absolute chaos to this day. Not only that, but the Liberal Democrats have broken every single promise they were elected to deliver over those five years, and they have failed. Some people where I live refer to them as 'yellow Tories'.
Labour, on the other hand, have recently been pandering to Rupert Murdoch to get the support of his media empire and have also broken their promise of a Green New Deal. On top of that, their plans to improve NHS funding are a pittance compared to what the NHS actually needs to improve things.
So now you understand why I have come to my views on these two parties.
The Green Party is the only party that has a climate action plan, a plan for the NHS, a plan for schools and education, a plan to reduce poverty and tackle inequality, a plan to investigate and review Brexit, and they stand by their plans unashamedly and unafraid.
In my heart, the more I see what's happening here in the UK and in the future, with a climate crisis looming on the horizon, the more I feel I can't vote for either Labour or the Liberal Democrats. Their climate policies are too weak.
In fact, I've just read the Green Party manifesto and I agree with almost all their policies.
I may change my mind when the general election comes around, but I feel I can't in good conscience vote for a party that doesn't prioritise drastic action on climate change.
Maybe I'm naive in thinking that a more equal, fairer and climate-friendly society is achievable, but it's what my heart wants.
The Green Party may not have a chance of winning a general election against either Labour or the Conservatives at the moment, but maybe by voting for them I can help create an appetite for change, and maybe one day they will have a bigger political presence.
I understand with all my heart how you feel, and you must vote your conscience. BUT consider that a vote for a third party that can't possibly win is a vote for the Tories. The Tories are thrilled for their opponents' votes to be split up so the Tories win.
People who don't want the Tories in control need to band together to make sure the Tories aren't elected. You have numbers on your side, but not if you split up your votes.
I know we had posted some Royal Family predictions on the Predictions page. I wanted to update some news here. Princess Catherine has announced she has cancer:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68641441
Well, that's that then. The Labour party has launched quite possibly the most uninspired policies for their electoral campaign that I have ever seen.
The UK is crying out for investment in its public services after 14 years of cuts, but Labour has no plan to address this.
I am also not impressed by the Labour leader's arrogance of thinking he can coast into the job on the strength of the most uninspired policies and soundbites.
Labour is leading in the polls, and my biggest fear is that they are not going to provide the big changes the UK needs if they are elected.
I would prefer to see a hung parliament where there is a coalition government and they have to work with another party like the Liberal Democrats.
Looking the the poll data you might think a coalition is unlikely to happen given how much Labour is leading, but we are still 3 weeks away from the election, and anything could change.
@luminous I understand your concerns. Given that there is so much push for improved public services in the UK, what conservative forces are driving the strong Labour Party? What do they want?
Rupert Murdoch and a few others.
This isn't the Labour party I know. Even the one led by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown was less conservative than this.
The current leader, Keir Starmer, is not recognisable to me anymore. He has completely changed his political beliefs and the Labour party.
The Labour party is now a red version of the Conservative party (blue).
@luminous Boggles my mind why this Labour Party believes it works to under-serve the public health needs of its population. It's been going on for such a long time now, and it's sure to boomerang on them, sooner than later. Where is all the money going? Or, is this still about Brexit?
Labour wants to prove they are not a tax-and-spend political party and wants to place themselves in a similar position to the Conservatives politically based on economic growth and low taxes.
The problem with this plan is that the Conservatives tried it for 14 years, and it resulted in lower-funded public services and weak growth.
Labour wants to grow the economy to fund public services, but how can you do that when there is no guarantee growth will improve?
The elphant in the room, as you rightly point out, is Brexit. Brexit has caused a £40bn hole in tax receipts for our economy and has created so much red tape and barriers to our economic trade. According to one report I read, £500bn worth of investment in our economy has been lost because of Brexit.
The Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and the SNP are the only parties prepared to work towards rejoining the EU, and each of them has a comprehensive plan for taxing the wealthy and fossil fuel companies a little more to fund public services like the NHS.
The Conservatives and Labour are in denial.
@luminous Seems like Labour wants to win and will work with Conservatives voters to do so. Let me know if I have this wrong. I read a recent article about how other European elections were faring, and the pundits said that many of the moderate parties were incorporating conservative initiatives into their platform in order to gain the votes they need to stay in power. Is this the issue with the Labour Party? Is it sustainable?
Yes, they are.
But it's not helping to see off the far-right in the UK.
Nigel Farage's far-right populist party called Reform UK is surging in the polls and may overtake the Conservatives.
This adoption of conservative policy by Labour to appease right-wing voters has just further enabled the narrative of what Reform UK is offering people.
What Labour should be doing is fighting Reform UK and challenging that right-wing narrative.
This is why I have a lot of praise for the SNP, Green Party, and Liberal Democrats, because they have challenged Reform UK on their right-wing populism and have made attempts to deconstruct their arguments about migration being the cause of all the UK problems, for example.