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Labaik on a local level I am very happy with our MP, so cannot see why I should vote for someone I do not know who could be totally useless on local issues to make a point.
GG13; but isn't that just giving a message that you're happy with how things are at the moment?
I've always admired the Nordic countries for their social care systems etc.
BUT they all have very small populations , compared with ours. eg Norway 5,5 million in 2019.
UK nearly 68 million in 2019.
You can't compare apples with oranges.
I would welcome a democratic centre party but we haven't got one, couldn't vote for Labour under the present leaders and whilst momentum is still around.
Liberal Democrats are neither liberal or democratic.
So I shall vote for my exceptional constituency MP who just happens to be Conservative, with the hope that things will improve once Brexit is sorted out one way or another.
absthame did you read the post and the link? Could you explain exactly why you believe Corbyn is a Marxist and a Stalinist (there is a huge difference between the two you know)?
Could you post any communist policies which appear in the last Labour manifesto or which were agreed at the last Labor conference?
I don't know about Marxist Stalinist I only know Jeremy Corbyn and Labour have a progressive and transformative polices in their manifesto that would benefit he many.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/jeremy-corbyn-mainstream-scandinavian-social-democrat/
The prospects of a Labour Government I welcome with open arms.............. however the prospect of the Marxist Stalinist group that is fronted By Corbyn, I fear. That clique are as bad and wicked as the neo-fascists that now inhabit and it seems controls the Tory party.
A conundrum that has always in the past caused me problems and most Democratic Socialists find difficult to answer is: "what would you prefer A Communist government or a Fascist one." In my younger past I would have always said the Communist one as we would all be treated equally badly.......since then I've grown up and know both are equally bad for all.
The problem is that the Nordic countries are happy to pay realistic taxes.
We want everything for nothing.
?
If I were more inclined to conspiracy theories I might imagine that the very real alcohol, drugs and mental health issues which, along with a lack of NHS provision limit life expectancy for many England , are simply new ways of "decreasing the surplus population."
Meanwhile in Scotland (and to some extent in Wales) .................
Since Devolution there has been a left of centre Government in Holyrood. Firstly Labour with support from the Liberals, for the past 10 years SNP with support from the Greens. Although tied to a set budget the SG has managed to mitigate some of the worst excesses of Austerity eg the Bedroom Tax, while meantime introducing a whole range of Centre Left policies = Free Tuition, Free Prescriptions, (which turned out to be a cost neutral option once the costs involved in checking each prescription were removed), Free personal care for the elderly and disabled.
These changes, together with banning smoking in public places, minimum pricing of alcohol, etc are now bearing fruit in terms of a healthier population and therefore less strain on the Health budget. The influence of the Greens in Holyrood has led to giant strides in Climate Change issues. Scotland is now self sufficient in clean energy, is a world leader in the use of wind and tidal energy production, has protected its vast reserves of clean water by banning fracking, has initiated a tree planting programme, has set clear targets for reduction of emissions in response to Climate Change fears.
Also introduced many more left of centre policies (eg building lots of social housing, banning smacking of children) often with cross party support across the chamber. and now that the SG has power over SOME aspects of taxation, has eased the tax burden on the less well off by implementing a modest increase for the better off.
I know I will be accused of spouting SNP propaganda but I must stress that this divergence between Left wing Scotland and Right wing England has been on going ever since Devolution started and has been facilitated by the willingness of MSPs to work together on important issues across party lines.
We'll see how it goes ha grapefruitpip ha. I said what I wanted to say
OMG Grany, good luck with this one.
trisher Agree, I can't understand it either
I've long believed this Grany and have wondered at the posters on GN who have accused Corbyn of wanting to destroy this country. It is interesting to read about the Norway model for media and news. Left wing policies built the society we grew up in and I really do not understand those who would not want that for their children and their country.
jura2 Agree it's going from bad to worse
and the mixture is so weird and scary- the extreme Cons, the most privileged in society- linking up with the extreme right, like Brexit Party and then EDL and BF, Farage to Toni Robinson.
Not just politics but the the newspapers we read also add to it with mainly a right wing bias. For example in Norway there is a high-degree of media ownership fragmentation, they are sometimes owned by not-for-profit foundations and all receive state subsidies based on circulation, which in turn ensures a modicum of objectivity and plurality of opinion. Their British counterparts are often highly partisan and espouse a largely right-wing editorial agenda. In contrast, British media ownership is highly concentrated: 70% of national newspapers are owned by just three companies and a third are owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News UK.
It is probably not without reason that a recent report by the European Broadcasting Union found that the United Kingdom among all of the EU member-states (+Albania, FYROM & Turkey) scores the lowest in levels of trust in written media.
Conservatism was doing OK One Nation Conservatism as it was called. Until Thatcher with New Right neoliberalism which has got progressively and steadily worse putting the wealth into already 1% rich hands and forgetting everyone else. Public services now gone to pot with tax cuts to big corporations who should be paying their fair share instead, money into public services.
Now the Nordic countries are doing good they have social-democratic Labour polices
And this is not only the case in Norway, but has been integral to the social-democratic post-war consensus in all the Nordic countries. Judging by almost any measure of social indicators these policies have been a success, the Nordic region enjoys some of the world’s highest living standards and presumably should be a model to be emulated rather than avoided. Obviously the Nordic region is no earthly paradise and there are cultural, economic and historical differences between the UK and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, but if there is such a thing as a ‘best practice approach’ in public policy the Nordic model would probably be it and, at any measure, a useful benchmark for Britain to move towards.
So remember that neoliberalism is failed economics an ideology, austerity is not needed. All parties who follow this failed economic neoliberal model are moving in the wrong direction and is not good for the whole of this country.
This explains things a lot.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/jeremy-corbyn-mainstream-scandinavian-social-democrat/
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