Having looked at the political parties it is time to take a look at how Britain works, and the fundamental problems that all parties fail to address.  A successful nation needs a motivated workforce but in the U.K. today business is all about the CEO and their big fat bonus, low costs, big profits –  that is why so many people are on zero hour contracts. The trade unions have lost most of their power and since the crash people have put their faith in a Tory government (God only knows why) that has systematically worked to take as much money from you as it can without actually tackling the deficit at all. The shame is that none of the parties are strong, but at least morally speaking labour has some ground to stand on. So let’s consider the vote.  If you vote UKIP you are voting for the business elite (because that is what Farage and most of his goons are, he used to be one of the very men who facilitated the collapse, a stock broker)  to do what they want and to look down at the rest of us, like the commodities they believe we are. Consider their recorded views “We don’t believe in multi-culturism” “We will abolish our human rights”  “We will decide what Britishness is and you will be put in prison you if we don’t met our targets”  “We want out of the E.U. because we can be even more unregulated – so the elite can do what they like, to whom they like – that is what UKIP are, a party of businessmen wanting more money for themselves at the expense of us. The Tories are not much better if you vote for them you have probably been fortunate enough to be born into a wealthy family and therefore the rule is “sod everyone else”  because they have never been hungry, never seen poverty and have no real idea how  15 million people in the U.K. live or feel. You are basically saying you have no empathy for others in anyway, if you vote Labour at least you have the morally sound basis, you believe in a more united country, you believe in everyone getting a go and you believe in the value of community, social cohesion (who do I recall sais’ there is no thing as society, oh yes Thatcher”) And as a community we need to help the less fortunate, that’s it. Fair play, a safety net for decent people – exactly what people voted for after WW2 – the loved Churchill during the war but after the war the British people wanted change, a better life for all – health, work, education and a decent standard of living – so they voted for it.  If you vote Plaid or SNP then all you are really saying is that” I am for divisiveness, separatism and I believe my small part of our nation is more important than all of you and we should get a bigger say for no real reason.” And if you vote for the socialists/ trade union party then you are saying  ”I have no real understanding of economy or history and believe we should all be completely the same and denied the opportunity to forge ahead” but that denies innovation; some are more creative, faster and smarter and that is OK to recognise but all of us have the right to live a decent life.   So that is it in a nutshell – what you’re voting for is: UKIP = racist dangers and elitism, Conservatives = narcissism and an absence of empathy, Labour = moral compass at the core, nationalistic parties = separatism, selfish intent and the far left = a naive view of the world.   All the rhetoric, but it just boils down to this.

As you probably realise by now, I will have voted Labour today, a decision that was arrived at from really thinking about it, looking at what each party says and seeing how that connects to my beliefs.  No party is every going to get it all right and I am not supporting Labour as if they were a football team, it is a considered decision.  And, having cast my vote, I have given some thought about what I would do if I was in government, and it has made me think about the difficulty of bringing about change.

My plan would be that I would run it like a dictatorship (What? I hear you say but bear with me – there is a logic) Firstly the deficit is a big deal and our children shouldn’t have to pay it off because some crazy bankers wanted to make a buck, I shouldn’t have to pay it off for god’s sake, so first things first i would go after some key figures in the banking industry and take them for everything they have and throw them in jail for treason or something of that notion (they attacked the nation in my eyes) and use that ‘asset stripping’ to bring the deficit down. Then I would turn to the universities and make them free. To do this I would strip the Dean’s salaries and bring them in to line with  Head teachers and force lecturers to be trained as teacher – as so many lecturers are useless and don’t actually teach anything. I would then establish firm links with universities and relevant business so students should all get on the job training from history student having to work in museums or archives for a year to business student shadowing people in business, and so on.  Next we need to look at the state and benefits. For this one there is one question to ask, why does this need to be a money based system, it makes no sense. Benefits are a safety blanket to catch people, quite rightly so, therefore, just like after the war benefits will be no longer money oriented but they could be a voucher based system that the recipient would be  able to use at large super markets or a state run market that buys all the food from wholesalers  – with greater emphasis on good and healthy food so we can altar people diets as well as feeding and clothing people and keeping them alive and living while they look for work.  This way there wouldn’t be money to spend on going to the pub but the welfare system was never meant to provide a full way of living, just to ensure people have a roof over their heads and don’t starve – a blanket, not a way of life. For those who cannot seek work then disability checks would be done and those would have monetary payments, as would pensions.

To protect our health service I would take into state ownership the largest medical research and production company and use them to make and sell mediation to the NHS for what it cost to make the actually drug, not for profit, saving the NHS billions. To create income I would  enable them to sell the drugs abroad, still undercutting the competition which would still bring in a healthy profit, bringing billions back for the British tax chest which would predominately go back into medical research and development for new treatments and cover costs ( an area that has been hugely damaged in the U.K.) This would save billions for the nation resulting in less tax but also a lower global market price on drugs helping other nations. The military will be re-evaluated and assessed so as they become generally better trained and more highly educated then current with a equal split between humanitarian work and any hostile engagement – so that they are proactive all year round, working for the UN and Britain and become better ambassadors for our nation. The Royal Navy would have a drive so that Britain can maintain at least one carrier group at all time, trident would be reduced saving us billions which will be placed in to the war chest, we will keep a few because, well you never know, although if we ever have to use them it’s game over anyway. Instead of giving billions in tax breaks to oil, gas and shale we will create a new state owned company that puts a small wind turbine and solar panel on every house in the U.K., dropping our overall energy need by 40-50% the rest will we nationalize and bring under state ownership – the few hydro dams and wind farms should give us enough energy, if not then we will drill deep underground, using super heated water caught from the rain to create steam to turn turbines-  the aim is to drastically cut energy bills by as much as 70-80% – the tech is there, we just need to do it.

Cycle paths and green transport will be heavily adopted, with roads being reduced in towns and cities to just having trams and bikes, much like Amsterdam, with peripheral car parks for people visiting. The rail network will be owned by the state, just the tracks. Running the trains and the logistics will be owned by companies, similar to airports. We will also abolish road speeds on main roads, creating auto bounds so people can get around the country faster. There will be speed limits for back roads, residential areas but not these major highways. Banks and all companies of a certain size will have to set up a young entrepreneur system where the company will help local small and medium size business to provide better pay and welfare for their employees. Regulation of the big companies and banks will be monitored by the government, through a new department to make sure the big companies and banks are not artificially raising their stock price and CEO’s  will only get a bonus if their employees believe they have done a good job, alongside their 5 year growth report  which they would have to submit to the government watchdog. This would mean that responsible and strong growth and good practice would be the norm instead of how it is now.  The  loan companies like ‘Wonga’ would be banned and there would be no need for them as local branches of banks would be reopened and staffed with area managers who work a certain number of the population, as M.P.’s do, and they would have to show that they are contributing to their community’s growth.  Another change would be that every town would have its own jail, where people will be sent and the inmates will work for the state, for free (or board and lodgings!) doing menial jobs that help the locality. They will not get the vote or an allowance but they would have weekly meeting and checks to help their rehabilitation plans and all prison will be state owned and  smaller. The large prisons will be for repeat offenders, hardened criminals and they would experience a harsh regime, harsher than the first offender would experience.

The state will pay for layers if you cannot as everyone is in titled for representation, the top 1% of earners will pay higher taxes of 47% with the lowest band being 5% for people over 14000 ever one else will be in-between.

Bedroom tax would be abolished, instead it will all just be under how much you earn and we will divide it up. So there you go, in my fictitious party we would pay off the deficit in years as well as improving our society. For some it would be similar to how it is now, except you can drive your car faster and it want cost the kid’s inheritance to warm the dining room, but it would have a massive benefit to the needy who would have a better standard of living with a few solutions to problems thrown in.  That’s my manifesto!  Anyway that it for this week as we come to the end of my look at the parties and sharing my view on the political scene – tonight’s the night for decision making and, as the polls close I do hope you voted and you did so on what would help us all, not just some – they say a country gets the government it deserves – I do hope so, as we do deserve better.   Have a good week.