OliverJamesOpinion lefty political opinion, reviews, ramblings etc Skip to content Why I Am Cancelling My Labour Party Membership Posted on June 5, 2013 by olivergjames92 Today I decided I will be cancelling my Labour Party membership, as will many other current members that I know of. I’ll explain the reasons why I no longer want to support Labour, but would first like to say that these reasons don’t apply to all of the Labour members, councillors or MPs. Most of the councillors and members that I know feel broadly the same way that I do and see Labour moving in the wrong direction. I believe the Labour leadership is the reason why people are feeling more and more disassociated with the Party and consider them well on the road to offering no alternative to the Tory Party. I’ve supported Labour since as early as I thought I understood politics, so it has taken a good while to lose confidence in them. Firstly, Ed Miliband announced today that he will be keeping the Welfare ‘reforms’ that I wrote about in my last piece. After just about bringing themselves to oppose the Tory Welfare reforms that have upset so many of the most vulnerable in Britain, Labour has finally decided that they actually agree with them. This was bad enough, but for Ed to not even have the courage to admit that he has the same beliefs as the Tories, he squirms his way around it, once again, by using the weak argument of the cost it would incur. If Ed is willing to use this weak reasoning to keep these Welfare reforms, I am pretty sure he will use the same argument when it comes to the much hated ‘Bedroom Tax’. Ed has already avoided the question of removing it when he comes to power, saying he doesn’t know what the finances of the country will be like in 2015, once again another weak argument from a Party that is unfortunately looking weaker every day. Further, the Labour Party that once stood for transparency and democracy has decided to ignore the wishes of the British people, and will refuse to offer an EU referendum. Ed has spoken about how he wants to regain the peoples’ trust in the Labour Party, however, ignoring the 25% of voters that chose UKIP in the Council Elections immediately loses votes for the Labour Party. Even worse this dismissal of public opinion shows the leadership’s belief that politicians know better than the public – this is not regaining trust. Whether you’re anti-EU or pro-EU, it’s only fair that the people should have a decision on our membership after a reasoned and careful debate, also, offering a referendum now means that Labour don’t have to fight the next election on the Tories’ terms, they can focus on the failures of this government instead of the EU – Labour has already failed on this part. Ed Balls’ plan to undo the universal benefits for elderly people this week has painted Labour another shade bluer, a trend is being set with this. At the same time as claiming that the Labour Party is the Party of the people and they care about the ordinary members of society – Ed took to the Google conference and firmly positioned himself and his Party in opposition to any form of re-nationalisation. This, to me, shows a complete lack of understanding by the leadership. Ed cannot claim to care about the poorest in society and also agree that these rip-off utility and railway companies are the right way forward. These companies that Ed Miliband now supports are increasing their tariffs at a rate of 9% above inflation while ordinary members of society have to make a choice between heating their house and buying food for their family. It seems that Ed now has a complete lack of understanding of the figures, as the latest research shows that the only nationalised railway company in the UK has cheaper fares, runs more efficiently, costs the taxpayer less and has a higher satisfaction rate. I cannot support any Party that thinks this is a bad thing for the people they are supposed to represent. I struggle to understand why Labour constantly sends me and its other members emails highlighting the failures of the Tory Party, telling us how upset we should be with them, but at the same time offering literally no alternative policies or even any ideas that would separate them from the current government. To make it even worse, after hundreds of emails opposing the Tory actions, Labour admits they will not reverse these changes if they win in 2015. As Labour workers and members are scratching their heads wondering why they are struggling to run away in the polls as this government ruins the economy and public sector, they fail to realise it is because of their own policies. People are looking for an alternative to the cruel Tory government we currently have, Labour supporters want a Left Wing response, one that cares for the people – we want a real Labour Party of the people, not another Tory-Lite Party. You can follow me at twitter/oliverjamesuk
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 23:53:30 +0000
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