People's Democracy

From Nagendra

In London

BY the time this issue of People’s Democracy reaches the readers, the British electorate, according to all available trends, would have voted Tony Blair’s Labour Party for the second term in office.

As the election day --- June 7 --- approaches, it is becoming clear that the Tories are in for one of their worst performances in the last two decades.

Amidst predictions of a Labour landslide, the only point to be watched is the majority with which the Labour will come back to office for a rare second consecutive term.

Tony Blair is appealing to "one nation" Conservatives to vote Labour. Even as Conservative prime ministerial candidate William Hague continues to harp on the Save Pound theory, signaling a paucity of issues for the Tories.

Putting up a brave front, Hague has described the opinion polls as "liberal lapdogs," which are out to please the Labour. "Well, we are going to teach them a lesson on Thursday," he said, despite opinion polls pointing to a large Labour majority.

The Tory leader also outlined "20 immediate steps" that his government would take, if elected. These include appointing fewer ministers and special advisers, announcing a public inquiry into the outbreak of the foot and mouth disease and beginning "a crusade for genuine reform in the EU."

But all this and even the racial riots do not seem to help the Conservatives this time. Tony Blair began a final push to get out the vote amid fears that complacency could cost his party many seats. Labour remains well ahead in the opinion polls, but strategists believe that Labour supporters will be less inclined to turn out because they think that victory is a foregone conclusion.

"I say to the British people ‘the Tories may not want your vote, but schools and hospitals first is a cause worth voting for; opportunity for all is a cause worth voting for; but none of what we plan will happen unless people come out and vote for it.’ So I urge people to go out and vote, and vote Labour on Thursday," Blair said in an election meeting recently.

In the meantime, in a carefully orchestrated move, Anthony Nelson, a former Tory minister, announced that he has defected to Labour.

Nelson, Conservative MP for Chichester for 23 years until he withdrew from the 1997 election, said that he was switching party because of Blair’s leadership and the Labour’s policy on Europe. "I have been a Conservative all my life but as this election approaches it is clear that only Tony Blair offers the leadership and vision this country needs," Nelson, now an investment banker, said.

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, meanwhile, was campaigning on the economy, highlighting his pledge to increase the spending on schools, hospitals, pensioners and the police. Kennedy also ruled out the possibility of forming a coalition with Labour following the election, and said that there was nothing wrong with tactical voting.

Though it is clear that the Labour would win, the serious thing is that the victory may well be due to the weakness of the main opposition and not due to the Blair government’s policies.

In fact Britain has been facing a crisis of sort when it comes to the issues concerning the common man. Health, education, farming and basic amenities present an alarming picture. The common man is angry due to the regular problems facing him in daily life.

Tony Blair has been losing the support of young voters, according to one of the surveys. Higher education is becoming costly in the country and this is being seen as one of the key issues.

The issue of National Health Service (NHS) privatisation also figured during the election debate. There is no doubt that the hospitals are facing overcrowding; in some cases the citizens have had to wait for more than a year to get an appointment even for small ailments.

Prime minister Blair had to face hostile questioning, during one of the live TV shows, from the people on NHS privatisation and on the shoddy handling of the foot and mouth disease which has cost the British farmers dearly. (More than half a million cattle had to be slaughtered.)

Public transport has by far been the most important election issue for Londoners, way ahead of crime, the economy and even health. People were fairly evenly split on the issue of Europe --- 38 per cent of the respondents said they wanted to join the Euro, 46 per cent said they did not, and 17 per cent were undecided.

Therefore, it is the main opposition’s incompetence to put the regime in the dock, which would be the single most beneficial factor for the Labour Party.

The main concern is the deviation of the Labour from the basic issues concerning the working people.

The British middle class sees the Labour as the party which is to decide whether to become a part of the common European currency --- the Euro.

But the issues concerning the common man would be the real test for Tony Blair when he returns to office for the second time. The frequent strikes by underground train staff in London and the recent postal union strikes do not show an encouraging sign for the NEW LABOUR.