By Press Release
What feels like the longest election campaign in history seems to be under way, but I want to know which politician has a vision for the future?
Sir Keir’s strategy is Tory-lite, repeating the trick Tony Blair pulled off. This time, Labour has even more fantastical spending plans, apparently all paid for by windfall taxes. in 1997 Blair said: “We were elected as new Daz, and we’ll govern as new Persil,” – or was it the other way around? Tony promised to march yobs and criminals to the nearest cashpoint to pay instant fines. Unsurprisingly, that didn’t happen, and it certainly can’t now they’ve closed all the banks!
In those days, the socialists thought calling the party ‘New Labour’ was just a ruse to get elected. Once in power, they thought everything would be fixed in a jiffy, including trade union legislation and renationalising utilities. They got very cross when Tone did none of that boring Old Labour stuff and went to war in Iraq instead. Despite it being ruinously expensive, Blair and Brown were PFI enthusiasts too. Back then it was ‘schools ‘n’ ‘ospitals’ – and don’t get me started on our crumbling highways!
The Cameron and Clegg love-in that followed Brown’s terrible tenure was a flop too. Theresa May was a waste of everyone’s time, and Boris only ‘sort of’ got Brexit done. I blinked and missed Liz Truss, but she still had time to crash what was left of our economy.
Over 13 years, the Tories seem to have made a complete Horlicks of everything. Don’t they realise normal people need GPs and hospital treatment? It’s easy to tell who has money these days; they still have teeth because they can pay dentists. Even Bob Seely has finally noticed the dentist shortage; last week he wrote to the Health Secretary about it. Don’t hold your breath…
If you do urgently need a dentist, don’t use the ‘find an NHS dentist’ website – nobody’s taking on patients. I bet there’s one working in Parkhurst Prison though. I reckon that’s why no-one gets jailed anymore; they don’t want to overwhelm the poor bloke.
As polling day nears, the Tories will point to Rishi, saying, “We have a proper sensible leader now; give us another go.” Sorry, I don’t think I can, even if they have finally stopped people crossing the Channel. What a shame they got it the wrong way around; I thought they promised to stop people coming from Calais in dinghies, not coaches leaving Dover.
MP Bob always seems smug, and his pointless photo-ops and outlandish claims are a constant irritation. Bob takes credit for anything that happens here; last week he hijacked an IW Council meeting with the Treasury at Westminster. It was their meeting, not his, and despite him bounding in with a Tiggerish intervention, the council leader and her officials left empty-handed, just like they always do!
His recent TV appearances are infuriating because he gets agitated and fidgets when people disagree with him. Petulantly, ‘Trumpian’ Bob described Boris’s Privileges Committee inquisition as ‘old news’ and a ‘witch hunt’ – possibly hoping we feel the same way about his infamous Seaview barbecue misdemeanour.
The top issue for me will be Britain’s planning system. Why don’t they just build more genuinely affordable homes? The rents would easily service the construction costs. Britain’s young people need hope and long-term housing security. Leaving it to ‘the market’ is just plain wrong. Even when it ‘sort-of’ worked, landlords were using tenants’ rent money to pay off their mortgages. As the value of property rose, most increased the rent to get a better ‘return on their ‘investment’.
When polling day arrives, whoever offers a real solution to Britain’s housing crisis deserves your vote.