Well that was a crazy rollercoaster ride!

It seems that there are a lot more Conservative voters that the polls let us believe. Hats off to the Tory election machine they got it absolutely right, they put nothing into Scotland, save to say a Labour/SNP coalition would be a disaster and worked on winning the seats they could swing in the UK and pretty much wiped out the Lib Dems. They focussed on the economy and made sure people thought that the cuts were the fault of Labour, focussed on what they are good at and held their nerve that DC would deliver, and he did. On a professional level it was a thing of beauty and Dave is an excellent if not slightly shrill presenter. Eton pays!

In the case of the Lib Dems “be careful who you lie down with”, ruthlessly slain by their bedfellows, I am not sure where they go from here. Back to the drawing board. However I still believe we are about to see how much of a social conscience they were on the Tory right-wing, and they will be back when people realise what they did for us. I feel like it’s a little early for Nick Clegg to go, as he could make the case, as one of the few people left with a seat, he can tell the inside story of what they managed to stop happening.

For Labour, it seems like they backed the wrong brother. It’s a shame as Ed Miliband is clearly an intelligent and well-meaning man, but he just wasn’t saleable and could not think his way out of his presentation challenges. I have personally heard him speak and he was excellent. It’s a shame that “the teeth in your mouth are more important than the words that come out of it” (disposable heroes of hiphoprisy lyric) but we are here and it’s no surprise. Ed was elected because he rejected New Labour, but it would seem that this is the heartland of the British vote and that the world did not lurch to the left following the global financial crisis.

It would also seem that the public still blames the Labour party for the issues that arose following the crisis, and therefore the cuts, a clever piece of presentation by the Conservatives. The clip of Cameron holding the letter from Liam Byrne saying “there’s no money left” is going to haunt the Labour party for a while and seems to have stuck in the throat of the British public, and rightly so. If there is one thing we like in Britain, it’s a good loser, and Liam Byrne did not show that with his foolish action, his party are paying a heavy price for his arrogant behaviour. A quick google search shows numerous images of David Cameron holding up that letter which ‘he carries with him everywhere” no shit! The pen is truly mightier than the sword.

Labour need a big rethink, and perhaps the voting mechanism for electing a leader needs to rely less heavily on the union vote. This is effectively what got Ed in as leader, by a whisker, the rest of the party and membership clearly voted for his brother. This is now a moderate centrist country, who are not necessarily looking for radical change, but steady growth and simple ideas of fairness. Labour need to listen and not work so hard inventing ideas for presentation, they had to do this as Ed was not presentable. Pick someone not attached to the past, make sure they are presentable, reignite the New Labour doctrine and wait for the Tories to lurch to the right, it won’t be hard.

Without the Lib Dems to hold them back we all know what is about to happen, so we need a strong opposition to ensure that we ask the right questions and that the public appreciate what is happening so that we can get involved where appropriate. Whether you like Labour or not, this is the foundation of democracy and an important part of ensuring that we do not allow a government with a majority to steamroller through extravagant policies, like a War! I am saddened by the end of coalition politics, as I believe it is more representative of the views of voters and a more direct correlation of voter coverage, but it would seem I am in a minority.

There is no doubt that the economy is starting to recover, we could argue that there are other ways to do so, and that other countries are getting different results (better results) using different methods, but the Tories are in power and they are doing what they believe is right. My concern is that there is a dogmatic ideology driving them rather than practical and objective decision-making.

I am finding myself increasingly concerned that we are about to see a right-wing lurch in this country as all of the anti European, upper class, landed gentry within the Conservative party are unshackled from coalition politics, and start us down the road to a whole host of terrifying activities. There is already talk of bringing back fox hunting (why the hell would anyone want to do this?), scrapping the Human Rights Act (errrr who could support this?) and basically enabling all internet traffic to be snooped upon (imagine someone being able to read your letters). This is the stuff that terrifies me, and whilst we may see Europe as expensive, it does enable us to set a standard across our part of the world for these activities and protects us (Human Rights Act) from the more nefarious characters in the ruling classes, regardless of party.

Overall I am worried, not because we have a conservative government but that there seems to be a continuation of the idea there is a correlation between economic recovery and social reform. The reality is that educated, supported people will take personal responsibility for themselves, but that the playing field is not equal. Some people need help to move from one place to another because they don’t have the opportunities that others have been afforded.

An example of this is that at present we employ a French Company called ATOS to means test incapacity benefit by way of physical capabilities at the cost of £140m per annum to drive people off this benefit. So we are willing to pay a French business to stop British people getting benefits, I don’t care if it’s cost effective its insane. However, there are no doubt some people that don’t deserve these benefits, or that could find some kind of work. The key is that investment is needed to support that transition, and that simply cutting their benefits and saying the job is done is not enough. This is why we have nearly 500 food banks in the UK, up from about 25, 5 years ago. We need to help people off benefits and back into the economy but accept that this is an investment and initially not a cost saving. Working people, pay tax and buy goods, this is why Keynes suggested that you are better off paying people to dig and fill holes than let them get benefits, as there is an element of self worth in earning money for labour. But just cutting people off and saying that they are lazy if they don’t “get a job” is cruel and something I can’t support, more importantly than my opinion (as if this is possible!!!!!!) it doesnt work, it just creates poverty as people aren’t prepared or skilled for the change.

Let’s see what happens, I hope I am surprised by what Dave is about to do, but I’m not holding my breath. Expect cuts to go deep, and tax cuts to go high, expect privatisation behind the scenes and for there to be some European bashing. Personally I want to see a co-operative society, and I don’t see why this is at odds with an improvement in the welfare of all and the economy, which is the foundation of growth. So be careful what you wish for and if you wished for this government, get rich quick and make sure you don’t get ill anytime soon.

But remember we are what counts, how we feel about each other defines what actually happens in our daily lives, be kind, and be positive and remember you can make a difference.

Pay attention, your country could be at risk!