Forthcoming election

I have to admit I have not really used my democratic right to vote over the now 10 years I've been entitled to use it. Indeed I have only used it once, and it wasn't back in 97 at the general election that year. that might come as something of a surprise, youthful enthusiasm and all that not to mention eighteen years or so of Conservative rule you would think I would have been gagging to vote. Certainly I wouldn't have imagined just how much of a disappointment New Labour would be. I consider Blair a war criminal for fuck sake, with blood of thousands on his hands.

No at the end of the day I was living in a safe Labour seat and well I always have done, it really is true you could have a monkey with a red rosette on and it would get in, in fact I think in Frank Roy they have. That has certainly always been a demotivating factor whatever I've felt about issues of the day at any given time.

However I have just become so disgusted by current government that whether or not my vote is of no consequence it is immoral not to vote against them. I would not like to see the Conservatives back in power at the next general election, but New Labour is no decent alternative. So at the last one I voted for the Lib Dems and low and behold despite finishing 3rd in my constituency you could still add up all the votes of every other party and it still wouldn't have been enough to equal what the Labou monkey got.

Scottish parliament however we do have list MP's and the like and the SNP are more in the mix so I think it's definatley worth voting in. I have never been a hardened nationalist and whilst I am planning on voting for the SNP it isn't because I feel won over by their argument I just have a deep deep desire for change. It has always rankled that during the 80's and first half ofthe 90's we were stuck with a Tory government when people of Scotland had voted consistantly Labour. If Scotland were to leave the Union it would surely be a huge blow to Lavour party down south, lets face it thats a good few guaranteed seats right out the window.

But how would it change our political landscape? Well it's hard to say but I would like to think that given majority of Scotland agrees on one thing we'd rather not have the Tories it might just free us from the sheep like mentality of voting Labour. A Labour party that went back to something like its roots might be worth voting for but ideally it would have to earn our votes rather than get them by default, there are a lot of ifs and buts and anyone who says that this and that would happen with any certainty is either a liar of deluded.

I don't go for the scare stories of how bad things would be if Scotland were independant, sure the 70's might have been a better era at the start of oil wealth but you look at Sweden and they seem to have a decent standard of living. Independance could potentialy be a great thing, get rid of the chip on the shoulder and inferiority complex that seems to haunt the Scottish psyche and take control of our own destiny. Don't get me wrong I don't think we're any better or worse than English or Welsh or whoever and despite having a lot in common I think we've got a distinct enough cultural identity that we should be governing our own affairs.

So come this next election I would encourage anyone to vote against Labour and for our own Independance, parliaments already built might as well use it properly rather than the nonsense we have now.