Will it be Independents’ Day? Or Green day? Or Galloway day? Or hold-your-nose-and-vote-Labour day?
It has to be Get the Tories Out Day.
Some people are determined to vote Labour, and are saying we all need to get behind Starmer to get the Tories out. You won’t change those people, and that’s most likely what will happen.
Other people – particularly people who’ve been involved in Labour in the last few years, and seen how utterly corrupt the party is, particularly Starmer’s end of it, would rather die than vote Labour. You won’t change those people – but we all want to get the Tories out, and the last thing we need is to fall out with each other.
Yet other people seem absolutely certain that the Green Party, or the George Galloway party, or some other brand new project, is the answer. You won’t change them, so what’s the point in even campaigning just now? I think it’s never been more important than it is just now. Here’s why…
Seeing Sunak sodden and bereft, calling an early election was a wonderful experience…
…until it dawned on us that, as the richest man in the world, with as many minions as he could wish for at his beck and call, there is no reason on earth why he should ever be caught in the rain with no-one to hold a brolly for him. So he did that on purpose.
Sunak wants Starmer to win this election, and the election announcement was his contribution to Starmer’s campaign and, even as the election waggon was being rolled out, 50 or more Tory MPs were putting the finishing touches to a vote-of-no-confidence in Sunak – so even the Tories are trying to get the Tories out.
That’s added to the reasons why I really, really don’t want to vote Labour but, like most people, I will do whatever will get the Tories out so, I have two messages: one for people who have an independent or small-party candidate standing in their town, and are happy to support them, one for those who are going to vote Labour regardless (I don’t know what to say to those who think the pro-austerity, pro-genocide parties are wonderful, except that I hope they learn quickly).
If you are voting Labour…
I struck lucky – I was just going to explain why that’s okay, but on its own, it’s not enough, when along came Ben Bruges, who’d just done exactly that on Facebook…
If you are not voting Labour…
Please do vote. However dispirited you are, however sure you are that our politics is beyond hopeless, there are some good people standing as indies – and if you’ve not got much hope, you’ve got nothing to lose by trying an independent candidate and let’s face it, some of those independents are going to get some of those corrupt politicians OUT, but perhaps not that many – here’s a useful analysis for lefties…
If you’ve got an independent you do like in your town, please remember they probably don’t have well-funded party machines and armies of activists to campaign for them the way Labour and Tory candidates have. Your help could really make a difference – promote them online, put posters up for them, go along to events and hustings and speak up for them – drop a fiver or two in their crowdfunders.
If you are voting Green
In some places the Greens do currently look like the best way to get the Tories out but please don’t just assume they’re socialists – or even democrats. It’s time we all took a good, hard look at who and what the Green Party really are.
Whatever way you go about it – please join in – let’s all get together and GET THE TORIES OUT but however it pans out, we need to be aware that voting alone is not going to change much.
Let’s not waste time and energy telling each other how to vote, or cursing people who make different decisions – the vast majority of us really are trying to get the Tories out, and we will — but please keep telling everyone, voting is not enough. We need far, far more people learning about politics, watching our politicians, holding them to account, and joining in both local and national conversations about what people actually want, because precious few politicians are interested in what people want unless it’s regularly and loudly forced upon them.
See you on the street soon, or in a People’s Assembly meeting, or whatever we decide to invent next…
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Dear Reader,
Times are hard, and so the articles on this site are freely available but if you are able to support my work by making a donation, I am very grateful.
Cheers,
Kay
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Kay Green 