Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Labour voters badly let down by the ethics, economics and ecology of Brown and Darling

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The two individuals in the Labour Govt people need to have trust in more than anyone are PM and former Chancellor Gordon Brown and current Chancellor Alistair Darling. Great power over us is vested in them. However, to put it mildly they are letting us all down very badly. Labour voters in very large numbers feel particularly let down and many are transferring their vote to the Greens, a natural home for the progressive centre/left (see here). I sense significant denial, the unconscious defense mechanism characterized by refusal to acknowledge painful realities, thoughts, or feelings, in Mr Brown and Mr Darlings ethics, economics and ecology (along with many other MPs and political parties in fact).

Alistair Darling's ethics have been seriously questioned. He is under fire for claiming expenses to cover accountancy advice. He has 'flipped' his Edinburgh/London properties four times in four years to great financial gain. The latest is that the far from right and honorable Mr Darling is to repay around £700 of wrongly claimed expenses, despite denying he had claimed for two properties at the same time!! This man is supposed to be in politics for social justice reasons for goodness sake!

Its not just Alistair Darling's ethical credentials that are under question. His economic and environmental credentials are under fire too. He has, along with Gordon Brown, presided over virtually unprecedented economic chaos and failed to put in place what is needed to give people secure, stable and sustainable livelihoods. Increasing numbers of voters, progressive [now former] Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters in particular, are looking to plans such as the Green New Deal as the best option (one million jobs for starters, and kick-starting a green industrial revolution involving: wind-turbine and solar panel manufacture; more trains, trams and buses; jobs-rich sustainable waste management systems; a revolution in UK agricultural output...).

The Aviation White Paper which laid the foundation for massive air travel and airport expansion, is apparently one of Alistair Darling's key 'achievements' during his period, before becoming Chancellor, as Minister for Transport. His work, that of Gordon Brown, and work done under their direction assumed: an optimistic outlook for the UK and the global economy; an ongoing rosy picture for the aviation industry; stable and fairly low oil prices...the exact reverse has happened! Neither Darling or Brown have environmental credentials to speak of, not least because the exploration of and planning for aviation expansion on their watch took little or no account of carbon emissions targets and the socio-economic consequences of climate change.
There are many further examples of the work of Brown and Darling I could detail such as plans to build hundreds of miles of roads and expanding the number of coal-fired power stations whilst simultaneously saying that climate change is the most serious threat we face...

With such 'leadership' its no wonder that half the public feel that half our MPs are corrupt and very large numbers want a general election before the year is out (see survey details here).

Greens overtake Lib Dems and battle UKIP for third place - new poll

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The polls are pretty volatile at present but even so this latest one shows excellent and growing support for the Greens (see comment direct from the Green Party below). At this level of support Ricky Knight would become the first Green MEP for the South West and many other Greens would be elected and re-elected across the UK.

Greens on 15% overtake LibDems

Big vote predicted for "a million green jobs to tackle recession and climate crisis at same time"

A poll to be published the day before the European elections suggests the battle for third place will be between the Green Party, the LibDems and UKIP.

In the new poll, conducted by ComRes (1), the Greens have overtaken the LibDems for the first time since 1989. The poll suggests the Greens may be about to match their historic 1989 Euro-election vote of 15%.

The poll shows support for the different parties as follows:

Conservative: 24%
Labour: 22%
UKIP: 17%
Green: 15%
Lib Dems: 14%
BNP 2%

If the poll proves accurate, the Greens will probably win seats in the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands, East Midlands, South West and Eastern regions plus Scotland, as well as holding existing seats in London and the South East. The Greens may even scoop up a second seat in the South East, with Brighton councillor Keith Taylor joining party leader Caroline Lucas, who was first elected in 1999.

Last Sunday's Telegraph/ICM poll showed the Greens on 11%, ahead of UKIP nationally for the first time in the campaign. The Sunday Telegraph suggested that "the resurgent Greens" might win eight seats.

And in an earlier Green Party/YouGov poll, 34% of respondents said they would either definitely vote Green or consider voting Green if they knew more about the party.

A party spokesperson said: "It's not all protest vote. I think our manifesto for a million jobs, aimed at tackling the recession and the climate crisis at the same time, has probably struck a chord with a lot of people.

"In the last few days of the campaign we need to work hard to mobilise the Green vote, because in a proportional election every vote counts. A 15% Green vote would mean a half-dozen or more extra Green MEPs to go and fight for those million jobs in the Green New Deal."


Note:


1. Poll commissioned by the Green Party. Fieldwork carried out 29-31 May 2009. Sample size 1,005 GB adults, polled by telephone.