Big picture, not local issues!

The Independent`s recent election review series reveals what matters to many voters is having an MP who has a "reputation for turning up at events and dealing with local issues", like Jeremy Browne, the Lib Dem  representing Taunton Deane. (Why it`s harder than it looks to evict a Liberal Democrat MP,07/05/14) Isn`t such an attitude rather selfish, when the whole country has been subjected to cruel and grossly unfair policies, all going on to the statute book because of Lib Dems` complicity. Browne`s Tory opponent may describe him as "Nick Clegg`s man", but whose man has Nick Clegg been for the last four years?

   The electorate needs to think of the destruction of the welfare state in the country as a whole, the running down of the NHS leading inevitably to its privatisation, the selling off of the country`s assets at knockdown prices, the obscene tax benefits for the rich and the country`s 28th position in the equality league table, Gove`s mishandling of the education system, the ending of the Education Maintenance Allowance, the decreasing social mobility, and so on. Are voters happy with the continued profiteering of banks and energy companies, do they agree with the obscene bonuses, or the way private landlords exploit their tenants to maximise their profits? Is enough being done by this coalition to reduce tax avoidance and evasion? Many"local issues", like the eviction of long-standing tenants in west Somerset by the Crown Estate, might not have seen the light of day if voters had thought more of the bigger picture!