Major political parties are not the answer

What is the government’s job? To fight for the soul of the nation? Usher in an era of ‘patriotic renewal’? Or scapegoat minorities? You’d think so, given the noises of Westminster party HQs.

I’d prefer them to run the country well. That begs the question, run the country in whose interests?

The major political parties have no interest in fixing the UK’s real problems

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are quite clearly running the UK in the interests of Blackrock, Palantir, and the Tony Blair Institute (TBI). They also gave a £21.7bn subsidy to three oil giants, BP, Eni, and Equinor to extract more fossil fuels. Then greenwashed it as ‘carbon capture and storage’.

What about Kemi Badenoch? I’ve no idea. No one pays her any attention. Not even her own party.

Nigel Farage has no interest in fixing Britain, or even talking about it. The last thing he wants is Reform’s competence under the microscope. Its plan to slash public spending by an extra £50bn will destroy local government. Reform MPs voted against workers’ rights. Its manifesto proposed reducing job security.

But before you dismiss Reform voters as gullible, please admit that Labour voters were conned too. So were Tory voters who backed Boris’s “oven-ready Brexit” and plan to “level up the North”.

Yes, it was obvious to anyone who looked that £350m a week for the NHS was a jar of magic beans. But anyone shocked at the winter fuel allowance removal should have seen the warning signs when Keir Starmer abandoned his ten pledges.

No plan, other than to scapegoat marginalised communities

I keep hearing that hard times push people to vote for the far-right. What I don’t hear is an explanation of that mechanism. Austerity has been around since 2010. Millions of people have struggled since the financial crash in 2008. Foodbank Britain has been around for years. Why the 16-year delay?

Rational concerns about falling living standards are being turned into irrational fears about foreigners. Framing it as an issue of control is an incoherent position. But who’s out there being coherent? If your choice is Labour or Reform, who looks the most consistent? Frankly, neither of them makes much sense.

People feel insecure. They are worried about the future. ‘Growth, growth, growth’ is meaningless to parents unable to get their child a SEND appointment. Disabled people worry about having their support payments being cut. We currently live in a country where newly qualified GPs can’t get a job while people are screaming out for GP appointments.

We need honest, brave, and actually competent leaders

Patriotism is about pride. It’s about feeling your group is strong. In control of its destiny. And Starmer looks weak. Weak for accepting £2,000+ glasses and £15,000 suits. He looks weak for answering every question with word salad platitudes. He certainly looks weak for letting water companies walk all over us. And, weak for selling Britain to US tech-bros.

It is deep in human psychology to choose leaders who will fight to defend us. I’m not advocating international affairs be settled by single combat. Although as a 3rd dan blackbelt in jiu jitsu, I’d represent us well.

But given the choice between one with a backbone and one without, people will choose the leader who comes out swinging. Even if they know he’s a fraud, a la Farage.

British people want leaders they can be proud of. We’re not after perfection. Just honest, brave and competent. Is that too much to ask? In Majority, we’re building a progressive alliance to bring forward exactly those people for next year’s council elections. You’ll get training and support. Message us via the Majority website if you want to take a stand.

If the government want to show some patriotism, take water back into public ownership. It would cost nothing. Simply enforce the fines. Jail directors according to the law – two years for serious pollution. Share prices would drop to zero. And for once, the government would look like it has a backbone.

Featured image via the Canary