Politicians aren’t all the same

“I’m not interested in politics”. “There’s nothing to choose between any of them”. “It doesn’t matter who wins, nothing ever changes”. Three common views on the forthcoming General Election which are completely understandable. After all, in recent years we have seen politicians from all parties making outrageous expenses claims at our expense, we have been taken to wars on false pretexts and politicians have regularly broken promises. In the words of Loyd Grossman, let’s look at the evidence:

“We have absolutely no plans to raise VAT. Our first budget is all about recognising we need to get spending under control rather than putting up tax.” – David Cameron 2010. Result? VAT raised from 17.5% to 20% within weeks of election.

“Labour and the Conservatives have been trying to keep tuition fees out of this election campaign. Despite the huge financial strain fees already place on Britain’s young people, it is clear both Labour and the Conservatives want to lift the cap on fees . . .

The Liberal Democrats are different. Not only will we oppose any raising of the cap, we will scrap tuition fees for good, including for part-time students . . . Students can make the difference in countless seats in this election. Use your vote to block those unfair tuition fees and get them scrapped once and for all.” – Nick Clegg 2010. Result? Tuition fees tripled within months.

“Yes, we back Sure Start. It’s a disgrace that Gordon Brown has been trying to frighten people about this.” – Cameron again in 2010. Result? 566 Sure Start Centres closed since Cameron was not elected in 2010.

Believe me, there are plenty more examples like this. And when it comes to expenses, let me make it crystal clear there were a good many Labour politicians with their snouts in the trough too. But no one comes close to the brass neck of right wing Lib Dem minister (aren’t they all right wing Lib Dem ministers?) David Laws who falsely claimed over £40,000 in rent from the taxpayer and paid it to his boyfriend whose property he was sharing and renting it from. I have not the least concern about Laws’ sexuality – it’s his business, not mine – but if he was making a claim to Housing Benefit in respect of rent to a landlord who happened to be his partner, he would be committing benefit fraud, he would be prosecuted and, quite possibly, sent to prison. And what happened to multimillionaire Laws? When he was caught out, he repaid the money, resigned from the Cabinet only to be later rewarded with another ministerial job. My view is that every single MP who made a dodgy expenses claim should have been booted out of the Commons but that’s water under the bridge now. The scandal has tainted all politicians but even allowing for that, politicians aren’t all the same.

There is now clear water between the Conservatives and Labour, as Cameron takes the Tories to the right to fight the Ukip threat and because that’s his politics anyway. The philosophies of Labour who founded the NHS and the Tories who opposed it are, as Andy Williams sang, “wider than a mile” although no one knows which way the Lib Dems will be facing if they get another opportunity to sit in a government for five long years, allowing the majority party to do whatever they want.

There are good politicians in Parliament. For every slippery opportunist like Cameron and Osborne, there is a principled Tory like David Davis and Charles Walker. Most of them are there for the right reason.

My politics are Labour and they always will be. I was a member of the Party all my life until Blair took us into Iraq in 2003 and speaking personally, I have never forgiven Blair for that, nor have I forgiven both main parties for invading Afghanistan and now pretending that this futile invasion and occupation achieved anything other than a huge loss of life and a cost, including the invasion of Iraq, totalling in excess of £30 billion.

The most important thing is that you do actually vote. Most of us support Remembrance Day but some of us forget the lessons it brings. In my personal opinion (what other kind of opinion could I have?), we ignore the reason previous generations fought and died by not voting, or worse still, we vote for the kind of parties previous generations fought against, like the BNP and, I have to say, Ukip.

It is a myth that all political parties are the same but it suits the agenda of some on the right to allow you think that they are. But whether you vote Labour, Conservative/Lib Dem or Green or whoever, just vote.