Voting for Change

This is going to be the most overtly-political blogpost I have done for quite a while, so if you’re not particularly interested in my thoughts (though this begs the question as to why you’re on my blog) then click away now.

There’s going to be a general election in the UK on May 6th, and many young people seem to want to vote for the Liberal Democrats, for some reason. I want to discuss briefly some areas in which I think voting for the Liberal Democrats is a bad idea, and also maybe highlight some of the hypocrisy the Liberal Democrats exhibit.

1. University Fees

The Lib Dems have a plan to axe university top-up fees. This is a great way to get students to vote for the Liberal Democrats, but I’m not so sure it’s a clever idea to get everyone to pay, through taxes, for the ultimate choice of people to go to university. I’m all in favour of free education for all, and I believe it’s a human right, if you choose to go to university, then you should also be expected to contribute toward the cost of your choice. Anyway , student loans are at an interest rate probably lower then any loan a person would ever take out, so surely asking for the money back, over a period of years once the graduate is earning a fair amount, isn’t too much to ask?

There needs to be a cut-off point for free state handouts; after 13 years of Labour giveaways, people are too accustomed to getting it all on a plate from the Government. It’s unaffordable and also immoral to take the taxpayer for such a ride.

2. Immigration

The Liberal Democrats also have a plan in their manifesto for a one-of amnesty on illegal immigrants who are living in the UK and have done for a significant while.

Basically, the message here would be: “The government gives up”. I don’t see why the UK should have an attitude that an illegal immigrant has evaded the system so long that the system should invite them to come along and be naturalised. This sets the country up as a soft target, and is another insult to taxpayers – these newly naturalised immigrants would become immediately eligible for state benefits, and can bring in one more spouse or partner to boot..

Is this a message we want to send out to all those in the wider world that we’re a soft touch? That if someone, who is hell-bent on coming to Britain for whatever reason, legally or illegally, can forgo the official process and just lie low for a while and reap the same rewards as those who are honest? Certainly not, I say.

3. Nuclear Deterrent

The Liberal Democrats want to eschew our independent nuclear deterrent, as it’s too expensive. I think this is a bad idea, especially with countries such as Iran or North Korea, whose regimes are far from stable, are actively persuing the atomic bomb. Again, this would send out an international message that the UK is a soft touch. In a world where, sadly, the international stage is becoming more dangerous, do we really want to give away our place on the UN Security Council? A nuclear deterrent is the ultimate deterrent, and in these times I think we need to keep it at least for the time being. World peace is not assured, and rogue states are hardly going to listen to a country that has no real clout, are they?

4. Europe

The Liberal Democrats see nothing wrong in allowing the EU to have even more of an impact on the UK’s domestic policy. The Liberal Democrats also, bizarrely, think we should throw our historic currency in the bin in favour of the Euro. Surely the crisis in Greece, which, for once, we will not be affected by, is proof enough that we should stay financially independent, and never have to face having to bail out another country whose economy is in ashes just because we share a currency? The whole system is built on a house of cards which is rapidly unravelling, and we need to avoid being a part of this.

5. Ending “Old Politics”

This is a joke. Firstly, the line from Nick Clegg that the “old politics” of Labour and Conservative needs to be done away with is hypocritical, as the Liberal Party is the oldest of the three main ones, and the “holier-than-thou” image the Liberals like to paint is a fantasy.  Nick Clegg has the highest expenses claims of the three party leaders, most of the donations to political parties reported late to the Electoral Commission – and therefore illegally – were to the Lib Dems, they fake photos on their election publicity… need I go on? It reeks of hypocrisy.

Don’t vote for the lying Liberal Democrats – vote for the only party that has any chance of offering change from what we have now: Vote Conservative