FMS-Blog : The Wildly Whimsical, Mostly Musical WebLog
Monday, September 25, 2006
PM Gordon Brown
After the events of the last few years I haven't been able to bring myself to vote Labour, even though placing my cross against any other party representative's name meant risking a return to Tory power. It's been pretty simple, really : I've felt that Tony Blair could not be trusted to deliver a truly left-wing mandate and, although his policies have mostly led to greater prosperity in Great Britain, the Prime Minister seems to have turned his back on many of the basic principles of the Labour movement, shifting to a more central, populist position in order to remain in power and retain governance over the country. Labour MP or not, I simply could not support a man who would blindly take us to war on a pro-USA agenda at great cost to our own country's safety, to say nothing of the financial implications.
I had, in fact, almost lost hope altogether of ever being able to support Labour again, becoming increasingly concerned that we would very soon see a return to Tory leadership of the Commons as a result of a divided left-wing majority of the electorate, some sticking to their guns with Blair in the hope that things will get better and others spoiling ballot papers, not bothering to turn out to vote or just voting-and-hoping for the alternative (true) left such as the Liberal Democrats or the Green Party.
And then came along Gordon Brown's speech to the Labour Party conference this lunchtime. Listening live while driving up the M6 motorway, I found myself with a new-found respect for our current Chancellor, and I was left with an optimistic air as I thought that we might finally be lead again by a proper 'lefty'. Brown's speech demonstrated a real sense of awareness about the current public mood surrounding our political present and (until now) increasingly gloomy future. He talked of how important it was for the people to be active in their communities and in shaping their own landscape through positive politics. He spoke of the importance of the continuing growth of our public services so that they can keep being funded by the tax-payer, free to those who need them and dished out according to need rather than ability to pay. And, most importantly, he reiterated how crucial education is to our country's future. Other than his remarks on terrorism, in fact, I thought that this man's views fairly well reflected my own more realistic but hopeful ideals for the coming years in the UK and beyond.
See below for a few choice extracts from Brown's speech of this afternoon :
I had, in fact, almost lost hope altogether of ever being able to support Labour again, becoming increasingly concerned that we would very soon see a return to Tory leadership of the Commons as a result of a divided left-wing majority of the electorate, some sticking to their guns with Blair in the hope that things will get better and others spoiling ballot papers, not bothering to turn out to vote or just voting-and-hoping for the alternative (true) left such as the Liberal Democrats or the Green Party.
And then came along Gordon Brown's speech to the Labour Party conference this lunchtime. Listening live while driving up the M6 motorway, I found myself with a new-found respect for our current Chancellor, and I was left with an optimistic air as I thought that we might finally be lead again by a proper 'lefty'. Brown's speech demonstrated a real sense of awareness about the current public mood surrounding our political present and (until now) increasingly gloomy future. He talked of how important it was for the people to be active in their communities and in shaping their own landscape through positive politics. He spoke of the importance of the continuing growth of our public services so that they can keep being funded by the tax-payer, free to those who need them and dished out according to need rather than ability to pay. And, most importantly, he reiterated how crucial education is to our country's future. Other than his remarks on terrorism, in fact, I thought that this man's views fairly well reflected my own more realistic but hopeful ideals for the coming years in the UK and beyond.
See below for a few choice extracts from Brown's speech of this afternoon :
...our starting point must be the concerns, the struggles and the hopes and ambitions of families in every part of our country. I think of the young couple I talked to who work all the hours of the day and yet cannot afford their first home. The grandmother who's come out of hospital desperate to stay in her home who doesn't have the support to make it possible. The mothers I met in Broadwater Farm, trying not just to build a children's centre but to rebuild a whole community. The young people I met on the streets who said they would not be there if they had somewhere to meet. The employee who wants to branch out and start up her own business but doesn't feel she has enough support to make it happen. All of them know how they want to live their lives - but want a government on their side to enable them to make the changes they need.
Most of all my parents taught me that each of us should live by a moral compass. It was a simple faith with a fundamental optimism. That each and every one of us has a talent. Each of us a duty to use that talent. And each of us should have the chance to develop that talent.
...we cannot tolerate second best investment in our schools. And, step by step, we will raise investment in state school pupils... And I make this challenge to all parties - if you believe, like us, in equal opportunities in education, support my priority for the future: invest in education first. I want a Britain not just of excellence in education but a Britain of full employment and an end to the dole as we know it. So let us also remove one by one Britain's biggest educational and employment handicaps.
...as individual citizens of Britain we must act upon the responsibilities we owe to each other as well as our rights. Here is the deal for the next decade we must offer: no matter your class, colour or creed, the equal opportunity to use your talents. In return we expect and demand responsibility: an acceptance there are common standards of citizenship and common rules.
...we will not only raise the minimum wage next month but enforce the minimum wage and as we legislate an offence of corporate manslaughter, stage by stage eliminate second class citizenship in the workplace.
Let us expose and banish once and for all a doctrine of race based exclusivity that is the wholly unacceptable message of the BNP.
But we should also do more to encourage and recognise the vast majority of young people who abide by the values of our community. So let us in every area of the country champion youth councils and youth budgets, young people deciding for themselves the shape of youth facilities in their communities.
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No No No No No!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dont want Brown as PM, but then again I would soon change my mind if Prescott was the only other option.lol
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