Warning: this is a political post. I don’t do these very often but sometimes the importance of a situation cannot be ignored. This is one of those situations.
Spoiler: I want a Labour Government and I want Jeremy Corbyn to be Prime Minister. If you are a Tory then this probably isn’t the post for you.
This time tomorrow we’ll be counting down until the polls close on General Election Day. After that, we’ll have up to five years of the elected Government ahead of us. A lot can happen in five years and plenty of it could be irreversible, which is why voting is so important tomorrow.
In many ways this has been an incredible campaign. Jeremy Corbyn has defied the media and become a cult hero. He’s on the cover of music magazines, grime artists are putting on benefits for him and people are queuing for hours to see him speak. None of that will win you an election, of course, but what cannot be disputed is that Corbyn has won a lot of people over, including some of his critics. Day after day the press, primarily owned by billionaires whose finances would be under far greater scrutiny under a Labour Government, has smeared Corbyn in the hope that people will believe their lies. Day after day, more and more people have supported him. That’s a victory in itself, but it’s not the one that Corbyn wants, nor indeed the one that I want.
The real victory would be stopping the hapless Theresa May and her Tory cronies tomorrow. I know this still seems a huge stretch – hell, it IS a huge stretch – but the only way of doing it is all of us working damn hard to achieve it. There are different ways to do that: if you have time and can help get the vote out then contact Labour and get out there – and if you can get to a marginal seat all the better. If you have to work or go to college then just do everything you can to get your friends and family to vote. Most of all get yourself out there and cast your vote: it really does make a difference; the higher the turn out, especially amongst young voters, the more seats Labour will win. If you are registered to vote and haven’t yet had a polling card then you can still vote and you can find out where your polling station is here.
I know there are still people out there, including Labour voters, who don’t like Jeremy Corbyn, and I know there are people who will never change their minds on that, but if you’re one of them then just ask yourself one simple question: “Do I dislike Jeremy Corbyn more than I would dislike another five years of a Tory Government?” If the answer is “no” then there is only one thing for you to do, and that’s to grit your teeth and vote Labour. Not doing so will have an impact, of that there is no doubt.
And to those people who have yet to make their minds up I ask this:
- Do you value the NHS and want it to continue with the funding that it desperately needs?
- Do you want schools to have the resources to buy supplies, to have the teachers they need and class sizes that mean children can all learn?
- Do you want the most vulnerable in society – pensioners and those who are disabled, mentally ill, homeless – to have the help that they need and deserve?
- Do you want to see an increase in social housing and rent security for private renters?
- Do you want more police on the streets?
- Do you want students to be able to go through university without fear of leaving with an enormous debt?
- Do you want a fair taxation system and a genuine commitment to eradicating tax avoidance?
- Do you want a deal for exiting the EU that benefits the whole country as much as possible, negotiated by people who respect European politicians and will earn respect in return?
- Do you want national infrastructure investment?
I could go on, but if you have answered yet to some or all of these questions then aLabour government will deliver what you want to see. Want to know more? The manifesto is here.
The importance of tomorrow cannot be emphasised enough. It will dictate our way of life for a long time to come. Get out there, cast your vote wisely and encourage as many people as you can to do the same.
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