Manifesto draft 28.3.10

Chin up, old boy – Cotterill's Manifesto for Britain

In Britain, things have not being going wonderfully, of late. Not only has the economy realised, after thirty years of bravely keeping its eyes shut and praying, that it was standing on its own shoulders (try it, seriously), but all these unpleasant social problems that we've carelessly left brewing have come to the fore. Unemployment, uncaring, uncouth, unmotivated. An unattractive selection of malaises currently afflict us.  Our country has been systematically abused by a succession of partners; global capitalism, America, politicians – they've all come in late one night, reeking of beer and piss, to take a swing at poor old Britain.

No longer.

There are themes that unite Britons. Fair play, justice, respect for democracy. A knowledge that no matter where you start, you should damn well have the same chance at life as anyone else. The last three decades have seen a string of gits steering us away from these values.

“Sink or swim” - or, alternatively, kick a man when he's down. Twice. Really, is that a value you want to see nurtured in society? I damn well don't. I want to see a society where a hand up, not a look away is the norm. No one gets anywhere without other people helping them. So let's have a government that encourages co-operation, rather than jumping up and down on some poor sod's face.

“There's no such thing as society” - well then, who are those people in the pub, enjoying a refreshing pint and a laugh together? Who are those ladies selling cake in the village hall? Who are those two million men, women and children who marched against an unjust war? I tell you, they are our society. This is our society – the people you see every day, who probably annoy you every other day, but who you know will be around for support when you need it most, and share the same values and basic beliefs that give us the foundation for everything we know and love.

So, Britons, it's time. Time to take the final gallant swig of tea (or other preferred beverage), rediscover that stiff upper lip, make a few self depreciating remarks, then pace purposefully out of the door, to face our brave new world.

Fred Cotterill

Another Article

Hello chaps,


Sorry I haven't posted in a while. To be honest, I shouldn't be posting now, I should be revising. Oh well.


To make matters worse, I can't copy and paste text from Open Office to here. This is an utter pain, because both of the things I planned to post are now trapped forever more in the depths of my computer, having been written whilst my internet connection went off on a little jolly. Free, crowdsourced software like Open Office is really great, but the amount of stuff it doesn't combine with is somewhat irksome.


So I'll talk about something else. Seeing as it's so close, I feel the pending General Election might be good, especially as it's become so much more interesting recently - both with the issues raised and the failing Tory poll ratings.


Now, comparing this to other elections, I haven't got a lot to go on. Seeing as I was..eleven or so, in 2005. However, it does seem that the issues being talked about and in the public mind are so much bigger than last time. Oh, the same old ones come up - crime and immigration. But there's a certain ideological basis now, that was so lacking in 01/05 (or 97, tbh). The Tories want to privatise schools, Labour want to give power to communities, but keep the market out of it. Labour are talking about co-ops, whereas it's "easyCouncils" from the Blue Corner. Labour are aiming for legislation on climate change, a significant minority of Conservative MPs and PPCs don't actually think it exists. Finally, someone's talking about inheritance tax as a means to fund care for the elderly. Even constitutional reform, usually just left in a room to snooze (much like the Lords, actually) is a dividing issue, with Jack Straw wanting a proportionally elected "senate" and the possibility of Alternative Vote for the Commons.


Oh okay, so a lot of that only really excites someone who likes politics on a theoretical level. When the doorstep canvassing begins though, I actually think the general public might pick up on it a bit more. People care about who runs their school, how the council delivers services, who's going to look after them in retirement. Yes, the voting bit is more abstract, but there are so many progressives who want to vote Green without letting the Tories in, or eurosceptics who'd love to vote UKIP but can't face another term of Labour.


Which is why I'll be out on the streets, leafletting and knocking on doors for Labour. Blair's gone somewhere to get a perma-tan now, and it's time his influence began to fade within the Party. I believe the Labour Party can win this election on left wing values and policies, and so what if I'm only one activist at the bottom of a very large pile? So was Blair. So was Brown. It's a labour movement, after all.


What I'm trying to say, is that the last thirty years have been neoliberalism's glory days; inequality, privatisation, deprivation have reigned supreme. Now, at last, the left has cobbled together some sort of credible platform. In a break with tradition, I do actually mean Labour when I speak of the left. Mistakes have been made, and will continue to be - that's just life. But now we've got a vision. It's not about revolt and violence and Trotsky. It's about fairness, equality, keeping Britain green and full of the strange little villages and vibrant cities that make it glow.


I can't, and won't attempt to, deny the uselessness of our Labour government for the last ten years. What I ask, is that you look to the future.


Solidarity
RedFred