Vote for me!

We’ve made it. Through the worst election campaign in memory with two of the most unelectable candidates in history. And, if you add in Jo Swinson, that might rise to three. She is the most respectable of them, if a little screechy. However the Lib Dems (I am a natural liberal) lost me when they went for a straight revoke A50. I am dead against

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We I might need a couple of these tonight …

Brexit – it’s fair to say I have never felt more strongly about anything – but I am a democrat. We need a second referendum, and Jo wasn’t having any of that. And I think the Lib Dems have paid for that decision.

If you add Nicola Sturgeon and Caroline Lucas into the mix, I do believe we have a couple of leaders who we can trust. But, alas, the SNP don’t really care about me. And, mark my words, The Green Party will be voted in when it’s too late to do anything about the planet.

So, it’s Johnson or Corbyn. Where do you start? Well, I think everyone’s come to the conclusion that we’re anti-voting. We’re voting to make sure we don’t get one of them. And for me that’s a clear choice.

I was picked on at school and it took me some time to realise that the only way to get through that was to stand up for myself. The Army honed that skill and, at the same time, enshrined in me a severe dislike for anyone who abuses power – at any level. Having worked abroad a bit, you can see that in spades. Mostly men, grabbing control and then bullying swathes of the population to hold onto it (and normally using religion as a banner under which to hide – another story).

Away from conflict, popularist politics has enabled the bully. You can see it in Trump – blatantly. And you can see it in Salvini and Bolsonaro. And you can see it in Johnson. When he’s under pressure. When his bluster fails him. When he realises he can’t get his way – the way he’s always been allowed to get because of innate privilege (which also frustrates me). Bullies don’t like confrontation they can’t control. They pick on softer targets. That’s why Johnson has avoided Channel 4  and Andrew Neil. Because they would have stood up to him.

And Corbyn? Well, he’s not my choice. And some of his background and far-left policies are anathema to me. But … and I have looked closely … I am warming to him as a man. You can say what you like but he has worked tirelessly for the disadvantaged over decades and decades. You might not like what he stands for, but at least you know what he stands for. Yes, none of us know which way he’d vote on Brexit, but I don’t think that’s a bad policy. Post a second referendum – if he’s in charge – he’ll need to try to manage a broken country … it’s called collegiate leadership. Johnson, on the other hand, is not a Brexiteer. His political history shows that. And yet … politically expediency and all that.

Finally. What of the climate? Who can you trust with that? Well, I don’t trust Johnson, in the same way I don’t trust Trump. And I don’t think any of his current team are up to a global challenge. And Corbyn? Well at least we know he cares about the planet.

So, on on this monumental day, what would do for me? A hung parliament, with a labour lead, reined in by moderates. A PR style of government which runs a second referendum and puts climate change at the top of the agenda next to the NHS.

Frankly, anything which doesn’t have Johnson in the title.

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Guildford Cathedral looking a bit spooky …

 

For the record we’ve just got back from Mary’s – it was her birthday and we had a party!