Both Patrick Wintour of the Guardian, and Steve
Richards of the Independent have both recently written respectively, that the
"Labour poll lead seems to be defying gravity". (One year to go, and there is
still all to play for,06/05/14) and that it is a mystery "why the Conservatives
are not well ahead in the polls", when "the economy is growing" and Miliband has
to endure a "media onslaught".(Cameron will lose the battle of ideas firing
1979`s bullets,28/07/14)
The truth is, of course, that there is no
mystery: people know that this Tory dominated government`s claims about the
economy`s resurgence and there being more people in work than ever before are
spurious, especially when so many jobs are part-time, with zero hours contracts
and low pay, and increasingly desperate people resorting to their "last refuge",
self-employment. New research is actually indicating that real earnings,by May
next year, will have declined by 2.3% since the start of the coalition`s
administration, the biggest fall since the 1874-80 government; irony of ironies,
that was the government of Disraeli, the PM who coined the term, "One
Nation"!
Do the voters being polled need reminding that
the same government is responsible not only for the destruction of the welfare
state, with a declared intention to take the state`s role back to 1948 levels,
but the running down of the NHS, leading inevitably to its future privatisation,
the selling off of the country`s assets at knockdown prices, the obscene tax
benefits for the rich and the 28th position in the equality league table Britain
now holds, the taking of education back to the 1950s, the ending of the
Education Maintenance Allowance, and decreasing social mobility? Have the banks
been regulated, have bonuses been stopped, is there a housing bubble, are
private rents out of control? People are clearly
afraid of what a Tory government might do if it were given a free rein for
another five years.
How can respected political analysts like
Wintour write that "logic suggests Cameron must win" the election when it is
far more plausible to believe that if Labour`s propaganda machine gets its act
together, and reminds the electorate of the cruel and grossly
unfair policies adopted since 2010, Miliband
should be a shoo-in! With Tories like Letwin hinting that a flat rate of tax
might be an option in the future, and Osborne preferring a further reduction in
the top rate to 40%, Labour only has to demonstrate clearly how both ideas
favour the rich, to score further political points. A Tory-dominated government
bribing the well-off in the build-up to an election will hardly come as a
surprise!
It can also remind the electorate of the promises made by Tories in
the build-up to the 2010 election; "no frontline cuts","no top-down
reorganisation of the NHS", and "no VAT rise" spring to mind, whilst there was
no mention of tax cuts for the very wealthy, or the privatisation of parts of
the health service or of Royal Mail. We were not told how state schools would be
forced to accept academisation or face financial difficulties, or that
university fees would be trebled. We were informed that tax avoidance was
"morally repugnant", but not that Tory funds would be boosted by donations from
the CEOs of companies like Vitol, which paid 2.6% tax on profits of $846m last
year. Suddenly we are expected to believe that Tories are really concerned about
the economic future of the north, that gender equality, despite the
preponderance of multi-millionaire males in the cabinet, is one of their
priorities, that fracking will not be allowed in national parks and areas of
outstanding natural beauty, and that their so-called "tough regulation" of the
banks will see a culture-change! According to Luke Hildyard, deputy director of
the High Pay Centre, most people will be amazed that rules clawing back "bonuses
for cheating, conniving and reckless speculation" have not been put in place
years ago.; talk about "locking the stable door after a very large pig has
bolted"!
Tories will continue with the nonsense about Miliband`s "weirdness",
even though their leader is Cameron, and until a few weeks ago, Gove was being
touted as a possible future party leader.
No, Messrs Wintour, Richards and co. there is nothing logical about a
Tory win in the 2015 election; far from it, but a well organised and carefully
planned propaganda programme, reminding voters of Tory, lies, failures, and
duplicity as well as Labour`s proposals for a fair and just society, must be a
priority.
Bernie Evans
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