Rupert Murdoch admits Cameron is his only hope…

The Sun Headline today.

Cameron is The Sun’s ‘only hope’-Britain says NOPE!

1 in 4 voters undecided, the day before an election Murdoch might not be able to buy. Ha!

Fuck you Rupert Murdoch.

Lisa Mitchell on why she is voting Labour.

I have always found it rather easy to articulate my views on why I am a Labour party supporter and why I shall be voting for them in this general election, however I would like to first of all make it clear that I am under no illusion about the scale of cuts, rise in taxes and generally nasty things coming in the next few years no matter which party is in charge. I certainly do not see the Labour party through rose tinted glasses, nor do I see them as a sort of saviour for our country like some other labour members I have had the pleasure to speak with throughout this general election campaign. However, I do feel a certain attachment to the Labour party and its policies, and a revulsion with the Conservative party, therefore Labour has always been my choice at the polling station and will be in this coming election.

I’ll be honest with you, when I first started coming into politics I was drawn to the Labour party by three things. A little controversially the heyday of Tony Blair, his charismatic smile, the fact that his constituency was in the North East where I am from and my general love of him as a politician. Less controversially I inherited my political views from my grandfather an ex -miner who I respect and love, who has been a Labour man all his life, and who I can remember getting lectures on how Thatcher was the devil from a very young age. Thirdly however these two influence made me go and investigate Labour policies and values and I found that everything I believed in seemed to be articulated in these policies, from the introduction of a minimum wage, to increased funding to state schools. I saw Labours current slogan ‘A Future fair for all’ all around me. I have seen how people including me can flourish with a little help from their government, some people cannot just be left to do some things by themselves because it saves us money.

This I suppose leads me to another reason to vote Labour, which is my revulsion with the Conservative party. One of my main problems this time round is Cameron’s insistence on calling Britain broken. The kind of people he points at when he tries to prove this point , the divorced, the unemployed, the working class, they are members of my family. But if he came and took a closer look he would see that we are anything but broken, the things that we have been through have made us strong, and I want a government that will help us translate this strength into aspiration and mobility. I believe that out of all of the parties Labour can do this, because it has with me and many others like me already. Which is why I feel it is so important to vote tomorrow, and more so it is important to vote for Labour.

Lisa Mitchell

You can follow Lisa on twitter

…and on May 6th I brought down the government… which was nice. by Phil Ruse

On May 6th I’m going to bring down the government. Here are a few reasons why.

Labour deregulated the banks, failed to protect the economy, widened the gap between rich and poor, appointed a partisan leader of the house, repeatedly infringed our civil liberties and took spin to a level that made their predecessors look like amateurs. Dare to criticise the government in public and like the Women’s Institute you were likely to find yourself the recipient of a hatchet job a few days later. Criticise the NHS and you were accused of being unpatriotic. Granted the minimum wage worked better than expected and they are to be commended for the Freedom of information legislation but over thirteen years it has been a pitiful return.

However, lest my socialist friends – yes I do have them – worry too much about the possible result on Thursday, may I offer some consoling words? There are worse things than losing a General Election; such as winning a General Election for example.  Seriously, who in their right minds would want to take on the economy in such a state? Mervyn King, governor of The Bank of England, reportedly commented that the next government would be forced to measures so austere it could make them unelectable for a generation. It may have been tongue-in-cheek but with one think tank suggesting up to half a million job losses in the public sector one can understand this point of view.

“The problem with socialists…” someone (it’s best I don’t say who) once commented “…is that eventually they run out of other people’s money”. I have to confess I didn’t expect it to happen quite so soon.

It’s a grubby topic – money – but one that allows for the subjects we do like to talk about; schools, hospitals and the care of those less fortunate than ourselves. To suggest that one party cares more than another is both churlish and unimaginative. The real argument has always been how we best create and distribute the wealth of this country. Though how we enable our dreams becomes a moot point when thanks to a lack of governance over the last ten years we no longer have the means.

You can read Phil’s blog or follow him on twitter!

Why I will be voting Labour tomorrow by Rachel S Roberts.

When I was little, the Conservatives were in power. I lived in Reading, 30 miles from London, and I remember Miners wives coming all the way from the Welsh Valleys with their children, to beg. People would do their food shopping in Tesco,then go outside and give those women tins of food and talk to them about their struggles. Unbelievable to think that was just 30 years ago -women begging for food for their families on the streets, in the UK. It’s sometimes referred to in the media, and is an image people think of as a cliche or myth nowadays. It’s neither. I saw it.

In 1997, Labour finally won. My parents and grandparents, lifelong Labour voters, whooped with delight when Portillo lost his seat – then cried with joy at the result. Like millions of other families they saw that the bad old days were done with, and perhaps now, the working man had a government that would help him. Then after the honeyymoon, it all turned bittersweet – the Iraq war, David Kelly, the reclassification of cannabis, the lack of affordable housing in southern England meaning my sister and I have to live hundreds of miles from our families,and the absolute arse made of pensions. Those were the unforgivable sins. Over the last year, my angry and disillusioned parents, and grandparents, decided once and for all that they were going to vote Lib Dem or Green in the next election. Cleggmania hit, and combined with Vince Cable’s impressive commentry on the recession,it was a sound combination. I flirted with Nick Clegg, and he nearly had me.

But then, I woke up. I realised that many of us are sitting here having come through our teens and early adulthood under Labour and we completely take it all for granted. On a personal level -the minimum wage and tax credits enable my family to have some disposable income. Paid paternity leave meant my husband could be there in the early weeks with our new babies. The sure start centre down the road gives me accessible health clinics, cheap childcare so I can go back to university this year, and helps women in deprived areas learn about nurturing their children, and not just repeating the behaviors of their own mothers. I have personally seen 2 women saved from domestic violence by their outreach workers – a year on, both have a safe home with their children, one in back in education and one is working. Because of Sure start. When I have used A and E with my brood, it’s been a quick, efficient visit – none of the 6 hours bored stiff waits that we endured as children. Same goes for schools – my children’s school is new, and equipped with interactive whiteboards and laptops, a sign of the times perhaps – but a far cry from the shabby facilities and leaking roof of the school I attended in the 1980’s. Free nursery for every 3 yr old, educating and easing childcare bills. Free entry to museums and galleries. Civil partnerships. Record numbers of people applying to university – because despite tuition fees, it is still an affordable ambition even for those on the lowest incomes. I should know, because I am one! My grandparents get free bus travel, and the winter fuel allowance – and they cannot believe how much better off young families are these days.

So when my Grandad let slip the other day that he’d been to the betting office and placed a bet on a Labour win, a complete turnaround on his opinions of the last few years – I knew I was justified in going back to the Labour party. Because people will see (the floating voters I hope most of all will see) that they are the only party trying to ‘do the right thing’ by EVERYONE in society. They may have got some things very wrong, I’d never dare to deny that – but what they have got right has changed the lives of the people in my section of society for the better as I see it everyday, and that is wonderful. They should be allowed to continue doing that. Which is why I will vote Labour tomorrow.

You can follow her on twitter at twitter.com/rachrahs.