Yes it is true Labour have done some good things in their time in power however they have produced and implemented some of the most draconian and ill thought-out policies.
Economy –Under New Labour the UKs mixed economy disappeared, they focused entirely on the financial district in the city of London ignoring the rural and industrial economy. Under Labour we have become a nation of consumers rather than producers leading to large personal debt. The UK was the worst placed western economy when the global banking crisis hit, we had all our eggs in one basket. The financial economy collapsed and national debt shot up to 69% of GDP with the rate of the deficit at 11.5% the UK will be bankrupt in three years time. Labour and Conservative just talk about halving the rate we are going to debt acting as a smokescreen to the very real problem of UK national debt.
Crime and Justice- The 2001 terrorism act suspended civil liberties to anyone the state perceives as a threat. There are numerous cases of the miss use of these powers and the damage they have caused. The police can search you, your property and your car with no warrant and no reasonable suspicion. The Jury trial has been suspended in cases deemed serious. You can be imprisoned without trial, your property taken off you with no reason. The shoot to kill policy is another crazy measure. British police are meant to be nothing more than citizens in uniform yet they have increasing powers and are increasingly armed something the Robert Peal said would never happen.
Yes crime has gone down, but should we be proud of the fact we have the prison population of 84875 (2010) or that we hold the record by far for the highest proportion of people in prison with the harshest sentences compared to are European counter parts (44% higher than Germany and 52% higher than France).
Foreign policy – Iraq was a conflict that mobilized the masses a scene never having occurred at any other time in my living memory. The British public did not want the conflict to occur, the EU did not want the conflict to occur and neither did the United Nations. In a democracy should the masses not control what the state can and cannot do? As the USA and Russia are reducing their nuclear arsenal why does new Labour wish to renew Trident? Could it be because it would pump money into areas where Labour voters are? We do not need nuclear missiles once one nation launches them the world is essentially over why bother keeping them if the only time we will use them is when the UK its self is already destroyed. Is it not better to disarm and work for toward peace and stop wasting billions of pounds on weapons we don’t need.
Social Mobility – The poor have gotten poorer and the rich richer, New Labour are a very strange kind of socialists. The number of millionaires in the UK has risen as the number of those in relative poverty has. Electoral Reform – How is it that a party that only received 35% of the popular vote gets 346 seats and the Liberal democrats with 22% of the popular vote only receive 62 seats this is not true democracy in anyway. Civil Liberties – The UK has the most CCTV cameras in per population in the world. Labour wants to introduce biometric ID cards and want DNA of every single person in the UK on a database. Using the fear factor stating that it will solve crime and stop terrorism. Does the death penalty stop murders from happening? Does increasing punishment decrease crime? Leading criminologists would tell you no. The people without an ID card or their DNA on a database will be able comit crime and acts of terrorism and the state would be no closer to catching them. It is those whom do not submit to the power of the state that commit crime not the average person these draconian measures will affect. It essentially criminalises everyone to catch a minority that probably won’t be on the database anyway. I am sure is the BNP ever came into power they would find the DNA database very useful or a eugenics movement identifying people whom are likely to commit crime or be prone to disease. If that information was available to employers we would have a class of people whom could never get employed and create a self fulfilling prophecy. DNA and biometrics are owned by the individual not the state and therefore the state has no right to them.
Conclusion – Labour has had some success but have a plethora of ill thought-out policy that wastes money and takes away fundamental human rights. They have shown in the face of public criticism that they do not listen to the electorate. Don’t vote labour they don’t actually listen to you! They are self serving and self righteous and seek to remain in power not for the good of the British electorate but for the good of Labour.
• The Lib Dems have a feasible plan to reduce our national debt that we have outlined exactly what we will do unlike the labservatives. Vince Cable is well renowned for being the best person to run the British economy by all parties, the civil service and the public.
• The Lib Dems are against the erosion of civil liberties and the immense power we have given to the British police • Lib Dems voted against the war in Iraq and are against the renewal of Trident
• Lib Dem Policy is built upon a fair start for all children, fair taxes and a fair economy creating a more equal prosperous economy encouraging social mobility.
• Lib Dems have constantly campaigned for electoral reform to make politics more fair and democratic.
• The Lib Dems want to scrap ID card and scrap the mass rollout of the DNA database.
For a politics that is progressive, for a politics that is fair, a politics that works for you, vote Lib Dem.
