In the local elections in parts of the UK and in the elections for the European 'parliament', the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) is expected to do well and gain lots of seats.
The main parties - Conservatives and Labour (surely the Lib Dems are disappearing so fast that they can no longer be considered 'major'?) are tying to portray the surge in support for UKIP as some kind of protest.
In some ways it is, but not in the way that they think it is (or at least publicly state it is).
UKIP has tapped in to three main interlinked issues. Disillusionment with Europe and concern about immigration are two of them and they are linked by the third - disengagement. That is, the political elite have become dis-engaged or detached if you will, from the people of Britain. All of the main parties (yes, including the Lib Dems) adopt a socialist 'we know best' approach. They mostly exist in a Westminster bubble and do not understand and cannot even try to comprehend what affects and concerns ordinary people. That is, people outside of that 'bubble'. This elite is only really exposed to each other and so the lack of comprehension is entirely understandable (though not forgivable).
Ed Miliband and the Labour Party have been prattling on about a 'cost of living crisis' for months. Trying to make this a theme in the run-up to the 2015 General Election. Then Miliband was asked what was the price of certain goods and he didn't have a clue! I am not making this up! For months, Labour have ranted about how people are suffering from high and increasing prices but they are so out of touch, they don't know what that actually means.
The Conservatives think that they can just demonstrate good stewardship of the economy and people will re-elect them. Thing is, when you are in the Westminster bubble, the economy does look good. The price of houses in London (some even funded by the taxpayer, through allowances paid to MPs!!) are rising at a high rate. Leave aside, for a moment, any concerns about a housing bubble, just understand that all this demonstrates is that for some the economy has turned around. For the many though, times remain tough.
I am talking here of people that have to work for a living. They don't really feel the benefits of this economic growth. These people see, and have to pay for, local councils, which are dominated by public sector unions, continuing to impose local taxes upon them. These people had to 'tighten their belts' during the economic crisis, but they see that national and local government really didn't do too much in the way of cutting the deficit or debt. These people know that their generation and that of their parents have built up un-sustainably high levels of national debt for their children and grandchildren. Debt which will hobble the UK economy, long into the future. They also know that they want politicians to represent them ( hope that is not too radical a thought, over your morning cuppa!) They want politicians to know something of what they have to live through and to understand some of the guilt that they feel at shackling their children with such levels of debt. They simply are not getting that from most of the Westminster politicians. (I won't even mention how out of touch are the Euro MPs!!)
So don't think it's a protest vote. It is a 'wake-up Westminster and town hall' vote. It's a 'sit-up and take notice of me and start to do what is right for the country not what is comfortable in the polls' vote. It's a 'we all need to start thinking of the future' vote.
If anything, it is a 'guilt' vote but please don't dismiss this as a protest vote!
The main parties - Conservatives and Labour (surely the Lib Dems are disappearing so fast that they can no longer be considered 'major'?) are tying to portray the surge in support for UKIP as some kind of protest.
In some ways it is, but not in the way that they think it is (or at least publicly state it is).
UKIP has tapped in to three main interlinked issues. Disillusionment with Europe and concern about immigration are two of them and they are linked by the third - disengagement. That is, the political elite have become dis-engaged or detached if you will, from the people of Britain. All of the main parties (yes, including the Lib Dems) adopt a socialist 'we know best' approach. They mostly exist in a Westminster bubble and do not understand and cannot even try to comprehend what affects and concerns ordinary people. That is, people outside of that 'bubble'. This elite is only really exposed to each other and so the lack of comprehension is entirely understandable (though not forgivable).
Ed Miliband and the Labour Party have been prattling on about a 'cost of living crisis' for months. Trying to make this a theme in the run-up to the 2015 General Election. Then Miliband was asked what was the price of certain goods and he didn't have a clue! I am not making this up! For months, Labour have ranted about how people are suffering from high and increasing prices but they are so out of touch, they don't know what that actually means.
The Conservatives think that they can just demonstrate good stewardship of the economy and people will re-elect them. Thing is, when you are in the Westminster bubble, the economy does look good. The price of houses in London (some even funded by the taxpayer, through allowances paid to MPs!!) are rising at a high rate. Leave aside, for a moment, any concerns about a housing bubble, just understand that all this demonstrates is that for some the economy has turned around. For the many though, times remain tough.
I am talking here of people that have to work for a living. They don't really feel the benefits of this economic growth. These people see, and have to pay for, local councils, which are dominated by public sector unions, continuing to impose local taxes upon them. These people had to 'tighten their belts' during the economic crisis, but they see that national and local government really didn't do too much in the way of cutting the deficit or debt. These people know that their generation and that of their parents have built up un-sustainably high levels of national debt for their children and grandchildren. Debt which will hobble the UK economy, long into the future. They also know that they want politicians to represent them ( hope that is not too radical a thought, over your morning cuppa!) They want politicians to know something of what they have to live through and to understand some of the guilt that they feel at shackling their children with such levels of debt. They simply are not getting that from most of the Westminster politicians. (I won't even mention how out of touch are the Euro MPs!!)
So don't think it's a protest vote. It is a 'wake-up Westminster and town hall' vote. It's a 'sit-up and take notice of me and start to do what is right for the country not what is comfortable in the polls' vote. It's a 'we all need to start thinking of the future' vote.
If anything, it is a 'guilt' vote but please don't dismiss this as a protest vote!
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