First Post

Right, I’ve had it. I’m fed up of the rubbish I keep reading in the press; Fed up of the incredible bias on the BBC; Fed up of our useless politicians. No-one seems to represent the views of the general public any more. So I’ve decided to start my own blog to express my own views and hopefully stimulate some discussion on some of the key issues our politicians shy away from. This is something I have been considering doing for a while, primarily through frustration at the ever diminishing differences between the three ‘Main Parties’ whose policy boundaries are now so blurred that the only choice between them at the forthcoming election is which of the leaders is going to cause the least damage to this country.

The thing that has angered me into finally putting pen to paper though (or fingers to keyboard) is not just the complete lack of understanding of the public mood from the main parties but from the mainstream media as well. I can now no longer read a newspaper without being angered by the fact that not a single one cares about this merging of the political parties. On the one hand you have The Guardian moaning about the Conservatives and arguing the case for Labour and on the other you have The Telegraph continually stressing how the country cannot survive five more years of Brown and Labour. None seem to realise that Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems are one and the same. None understand the true reasons behind the public hatred of politicians, who bleat on about such things as the Expenses Scandal as the reason for their downfall.

Voter turnout has been decreasing since a relative high of 77.7% at the 1992 General Election to a low of 59.4% in the 2001 election. A recent Ipsos/Mori poll predicted that turnout for the upcoming election could be as low as 53%. This trend shows that public apathy to politics is no new phenomenon, and while it has been exacerbated by the recent scandals, had already been on the increase. The political ‘Elite’ fail to see the real reasons the public are disillusioned with politicians. Why bother turning out to vote when every candidate is proposing the same thing?

In my despair at the lack of comment on this subject I have started this blog. I will use it to comment on what I believe to be the important issues of the day and endeavour to give a refreshingly different take than that offered by the mainstream media. I encourage criticism and debate, something that our current crop of politicians seem keen to stifle!