If I Were In Charge.......

The election was a difficult time, obviously the result didn't go the way I expected or many people expected this was swiftly followed by colds and stresses around work. Hence the lack of action on the keyboard. I'm back though and I thought a nice idea might be to discuss how you might run the country if you were in charge.

Naturally I don't agree with how things are being run at the moment, I won't go in to detail but asking for economical growth while choking supply and magically producing money for the NHS and other election promises aren't my idea of good government. If I were PM I would have three priorities, education, wealth distribution and a reminder of how democracy works.

How Democracy Works

I want to start with my last point first because I think this is where the country has disappointed me most with this election result. Democracy should be about supporting one another, in the form of the NHS, Welfare state and pensions, this is what we pay taxes for. I believe that the wealthiest should share the biggest burden and show empathy and support for those unfortunate people striving to get on. Jeremy Corbyn put it perfectly recently, "From each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs."

The first 5 years of Conservative led Government exemplified anything but this, removal of safety nets for those struggling to make ends meet, disabled, young people and unemployed. George the Poet in 'Search Party' put it eloquently, "I don't believe the unemployed are nul-en-void." While those at the bottom and the squeezed middle have been almost punished, those at the top have gotten richer and have benefitted from tax evasion, zero hour contracts and asset sell off from George Osborne. This government has encouraged greed, selfishness and uncaring attitudes, which is why I felt so disappointed in the election result reflecting this in society.

Therefore, if I were Prime Minister, I would almost re-educate in how democracy should work and promote a happier, more equal and supportive society.

Wealth Distribution

This area follows on nicely from my previous, I feel there is a growing inequality not only in Britain but in the world and this has only been widened, in the UK, by this Conservative government. This area of inequality is why I remain such a big supporter of Ed Miliband, he seems the only politician aware of this growing problem. Immigrants are escaping dire poverty in Middle Eastern and African countries, risking theirs lives to reach Europe. More than a million people use food banks in the UK. Greece is being punished by austerity with over 60% youth unemployment. The world needs to look at itself and ask if it is happy with things.

This links to the ethos this country is showing at the moment, greed appears to be thriving, Osborne looks set to take more from the poor to give to the rich in the next Budget. Instead of crushing more from the impossibly squeezed welfare and public state, we should be spending to get people out of poverty and rescue children who come to school without a breakfast. Foreign aid should be increased and spent effectively so that people there don't feel desperate to escape to a "better life" in Europe. This money should come from those who have the wealth, "from each according to their abilities."

Education

Education cuts to the root of both the issues above. Give children a relatable, useful and creative education which would allow future generations to recognise these issues and slowly target them. Teach children proper skills so that they can make a decent living wage and bring more out of poverty. Teach children the need to build a world together, not just make what they can for themselves and neglect others.

Once again I don't feel this is being done by the current government. Assessment of children has been botched in the new curriculum, schools are free to make up their own assessment gauge and children are being tested more than ever. This testing leads to purely memorising of facts, information to pass a test, information that does not serve a purpose for life outside or after school. Creativity is being slowly supressed within education, targets, results and work is more important.

There is a lot I would change about the country but I think these three issues are the keys. Give children a decent education, to make a decent wage, to lower the amount of people in poverty and to truly appreciate the responsibilities of being in a democracy. I don't see any of this on the horizon sadly.

What would your priorities be if you were Prime Minister?

Politics in the Media

Under a week to go until the nation goes to the voting booth. I noted in my previous post what I feel the choice is facing people in this election and this hasn't changed. What has changed and built during the campaign is my disappointment with the media in this country.

Firstly you should understand I was once obsessed with the media, I wanted to work within it and found it a fascinating, powerful and interesting profession. I was taught that the media was the fourth estate, its very purpose was to represent the general public and hold its politicians, businesses and councillors to account. I felt it stood for an important part of a democracy. This has changed with the way the campaign has gone. I don't want to say that it undermines our democracy but we are simply not being given the facts.

Rupert Murdoch is the main antagonist in this story. Owner of almost half of the nations biggest newspapers, it used to be widely accepted that what he reported had a big say in how elections went, this is why we have seen consecutive Conservative and Labour governments pander to his wants. This has changed, or at least partially, given the outcome of the Leveson inquiry and social media. Mr. Murdoch is scared of losing his monopoly.

On the Cusp of Change

Now I say this has changed only partially because there is only one person in this election willing to see this change in the landscape. Ed Miliband is the first leading politician to stand up to this monopoly of the media and has earned so much respect from me for doing so. Ed has committed to fulfilling the Leveson recommendations and has said that plurality of ownership is vital, signalling to Murdoch his newspapers won't all last. Ed clearly also much sense that newspapers are losing their power and public sway to social media, in particular I feel to twitter, which has allowed Ed to have this chance to 'have a go' at Murdoch.

His actions have seen Ed become 'Red Ed' 'inept' 'backstabber' and 'irresponsible' because of this stance. The Tory party, who have courted Rebecca Brookes, Andy Coulson and Rupert himself, have benefitted and remain in the pocket of those rich media 'moguls'. David Cameron has unsurprisingly ignored the Leveson inquiry, employed the convicted phone tapper Andy Coulson and had numerous dinners with Rebecca Brookes, all so that he can remain the slick, well oiled, media luvvy.

The Treatment of Ed

This has consequently led to massively biased and basically falsified reports about policies or polls. It has led to the under-reporting of falsified letters of support from businesses, identity fraud by the Conservative chairman, Labour poll leads and the ridiculing of Labour policies no matter the support in public or in respected circles. It is massively skewing the public view of politics, not giving the public all the facts and I hesitate to say it but letting democracy down.

It is to Ed's credit that he has poll leads, despite fighting against this massive media bias. The debates have been massively successful, allowing the public to see the real person and not the media perception of him. I wonder whether the polls we see, might just be for the first time unreliable, given the importance of social media which might arguably be more representative of the nation that the newspapers. A sorry sentence to say.

The media used to be my dream job but this election has really shown, not just to me I must add, the flaws and disgraces of our media system. Only time will tell if we see real change in this issue and many others by electing a Labour government and a leader who stands up to people rather than uses them for selfish reasons.

To my right is a video from Newsnight when the Daily Mail claimed Ed Miliband's father HATED Britain. No better example of what I am talking about.



P.S. I am a huge fan of George The Poet, he is backing an idea of posting your own 15 second manifesto to show the most important issue or issues affecting you this election. I would love to hear what your views are.

Why I'm Voting Labour

The past five years have been an eventful few years. Politically I believe the last five years can be summed up with two words, competition and fear. I am convinced this is how the Conservative government have ruled and it cuts to heart of their vision for the country. This plays to the main reason I am voting Labour in just over two weeks and it is a stark choice in how the country should be built. Giving those at the bottom of society and working people a foundation, making the country work for them or making money for the top of society which we hope will trickle down to help the rest of us.

Competition

This government has introduced the bedroom tax, top down reorganisation of the NHS, a new curriculum in to schools, extreme cuts to most areas of government and of course a reduced top level of tax. What has all of this done to our country? It has promoted a sense of competition between colleagues, classes and professions. We were told of mythical benefit scroungers across the country while those at the top enjoyed a tax cut. The classes were pitted against each other.

In education a new curriculum was introduced which had a distinct lack of assessment, leaving schools and councils to figure that part out themselves or in essence encouraging competition between schools and councils. There was also a slow introduction of competitive pay for teachers, paying your best teachers more, once again competition was introduced between colleagues for the best pay based on grades and results. Incidentally results that have been basically left for schools to work out for themselves.

Finally we come to the NHS. A top down organisation was introduced which laid the foundations for competition, to allow services to be provided by other (for profit) companies, in the process breaking a promise made in the 2010 election. We already have outside companies running some NHS services and GP practices, competing with each other, competing with our lives in order to make money. Profit before patients.

Fear

As you can see competition has been steadily introduced to every part of life. This in turn brings fear, fear of losing your job through extreme cuts, fear of being paid less due to a bad set of results or fear that your money is being given to the undeserving. Immigration was another chance for the Conservatives and in particular UKIP to use fear to their advantage, I don't think I need to explain how.

We can see the fear tactic in play during the current election campaign. Conservatives praying on fear, claiming the chaos of anyone but them in government, claiming SNP demands could leave England in danger. The fear that a Labour government was responsible for a GLOBAL economic crash, forgetting the influence and irresponsibility of two major global banks. It is important we see through these fear strategies and aren't ruled by the tactics of a Putin-light. The video below illustrates these fear tactics in play..... 

Why Labour?

So this brings me to why I'm voting Labour. Repealing the health and social care act that brought in one element of competition, repealing the bedroom tax which set the course for class struggle and reducing the extreme regime of cuts. I listen to Ed Miliband and believe in the vision he has for the country, that works from the bottom up and reduces the gap from bottom to top, an economy built on growing expendable income of the majority, larger contributions from the elite to help rebuild a proper safety net with the NHS, increased minimum wage and less extreme welfare cuts.

I come back to my initial thought, my vote depends on how I believe this country should be run. We are a democracy that pays taxes to spend on public services and a safety net for the unluckiest of society. Those who earn more, contribute more simply because they can afford it and recognise their responsibility to society. This has not been happening for the past 5 years and it would not happen under a Conservative government, instead of spending on public services money has been cut, instead of the elite giving more they have built a cash reserve and don't intend to lose it.

I'm voting Labour because I believe Ed Miliband can produce this sort of country. A man who has already stood up to Rupert Murdoch, the energy companies and the USA over Syria, can level the playing field. I believe the mansion tax, increase in top rate of tax and bankers levies will produce extra funds better distributed by a Labour government. Call it socialist if you like but this is what I feel this country needs to not only clear the debt but become a fairer, more equal society.

I leave you with an, I believe, quite accurate video of what this government thinks.....