Comparing the parties...
The BBC have done a really good summary of Labour, Tory and Liberal policies ahead of the next general election (May 2005?).
It makes for interesting reading and does a lot to dispell the myth that it's impossible to tell the difference between parties and politicians.
For example, on the subject of tax and the economy the policies are:
Labour: Takes credit for low mortgage rates, more jobs; would reform the "unsustainable" council tax; say spending plans affordable without tax rises; tax reliefs for "hard working families".
Conservatives: Would prevent "Labour third term tax rises"; will use £4bn to cut taxes although not saying which yet - however say inheritance tax, council tax and stamp duty are unfair.
Liberal Democrat: Would replace council tax with a local income tax; new 50% tax rate on earnings over £100,000 a year; no new business regulations without impact assessment.
Anyone who says that all parties are just the same never watches the news or reads a paper.
It makes for interesting reading and does a lot to dispell the myth that it's impossible to tell the difference between parties and politicians.
For example, on the subject of tax and the economy the policies are:
Labour: Takes credit for low mortgage rates, more jobs; would reform the "unsustainable" council tax; say spending plans affordable without tax rises; tax reliefs for "hard working families".
Conservatives: Would prevent "Labour third term tax rises"; will use £4bn to cut taxes although not saying which yet - however say inheritance tax, council tax and stamp duty are unfair.
Liberal Democrat: Would replace council tax with a local income tax; new 50% tax rate on earnings over £100,000 a year; no new business regulations without impact assessment.
Anyone who says that all parties are just the same never watches the news or reads a paper.
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1 Comments:
Well, of course the parties aren't *exactly* the same, because that would be silly. But surely you have to admit that they are both on basically the same part of the political spectrum, with differences over nuance rather than massive issues of principle?
i.e. none of them are going to renationalise anything, they all support the creeping privatisation of our public services (PFI etc), Labour/Conservative support ID cards, the war in Iraq and so on, they all think that increasing free trade under the aegis of the WTO is a good thing, none of them are going to do anything radical about the environment, and they all take massive donations from corporations.
Your analysis reminds me of the mainstream media in America - 'the NYT and Wall Street Journal disagree on some issues, so they must be radically different' - despite basically reporting the same stuff with a slightly different slant of opinion.
There's a reason that people are so disillusioned with politics, and I don't think denying that there is a problem helps very much. As someone apparently on the left of Labour, surely you must agree that Labour could be very very much more different from the Tories than they are?
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