Today. Vote. Or dont. Whatever. Dont give me the theyre all the same mantra cos (a) even the subtlest difference can make all the difference (b) theyre not, some are worse for your interests. Some people seem to be treating these elections as general elections. Theyre not. But still... If you have local elections : youre stuck with any candidates for 4 years - so yknow, the money that is spent, or not spent, in your local community comes down to this. Dont vote out a hard-working councillor or vote in an unsavoury character just because of the colour of the rosette. Theres still time to do a little research. Voting because you disprove of the government and want to punish them doesnt actually punish them.... it punishes you if you end up with a bad/lazy councillor. Weve all got Euro elections. If you want a referendum, this isnt a vote for one. (even if it was, leaving the EU isnt necessarily a good deal as it seems) UKIPs position in Europe is simple, they sit at home collecting their salaries and claiming maximum expenses. On the occasion when they do bother to turn up in Brussels (which is in Belgium btw, given I saw an amusing post from a Kipper last night who couldnt decide if Brussels was in France or Germany : to think we let people that stupid breed and vote) its always to vote no or to abstain which isnt really standing up for Britain or British interests. They voted AGAINST assorted animal cruelty laws, against equality laws and even against proper auditing of the EU budget. If you think they are standing up for Britain they are not, if anything they are standing down and would accept anything the EU proposed to disadvantage Britain due to the fact theyre only interested in salary. Im not going to piecemeal by region, but the North-East of England receives millions in development money from the EU. This is money that has helped expand the metro, helped build the second Tyne Tunnel, helped with the infrastructure and building of business parks and developments and has created a lot of jobs. The current MEPs are planning on petitioning for funding for further Metro expansions and also to build and expand more business opportunities to help lower the excessively high unemployment rate in the area. So, if youre one of the people that wants to see more jobs for the region, that wants to see the metro expanded that wants to see improved highways, that wants to see more investment in renewable energies, that wants to see the region recover and grow - then its probably in your best interest to cast a vote for any of Labour, Lib Dem, Green, or even Tory : UKIP are not going to fight for you, theyre not even going to show up. Remember youre stuck with the MEP for FIVE years, so if you end up with someone who isnt going to fight for the region then its going to put the region back at least 5 years in terms of development. The good thing, I guess, about the EU elections is every vote counts due to PR, a party finishing third can gain a seat if enough people vote for them and even if you vote for a party that would have a seat *anyway* increasing their vote may give them 2 seats. I wont say there are no wasted votes, but theres certainly a lot less and also no real need for tactical voting. Anyway. Vote, or dont. Whatever. Vote for who you want, Id hope most of you make a rational choice as weve all got to live with the outcome :)
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 06:17:56 +0000