Britain faces one of the most important weeks in its history as millions of voters up and down the country go to the polls to vote for their local and national representatives – choosing their Local Council and the next Government.
After 13 years of a wasteful Labour government that has lost control of both our economy and our borders whilst ensuring that the gap between rich and poor is greater than at any time in the post-war period, the British people have an opportunity to elect a new, dynamic and compassionate team with the energy and vision to return this once great country to its former glory.
The Labour Party, under Gordon Brown, are a tired, broken and much diminished politic force that inherited the strongest economy in Europe and – three parliaments later – have created one of the weakest and most debt-ridden in the world.
However, it is not just economic growth that has stalled under Labour; our society has become weaker as the rise in anti-social behaviour has been matched by an unprecedented erosion of civil liberties as the increasingly-totalitarian government seeks to control more aspects of people’s lives:
Whether it was Labour’s desire to detain people without charge for 32 days, the planned introduction of unnecessary ID cards or the draconian usage of DNA recording of innocent civilians, this government has shown complete disregard for people’s rights – and that they are no longer fit to govern.
In recent times, the people’s faith in politicians has been shaken by the Expenses Scandal, and there were fears of voter apathy and low turnout, but the introduction of televised Leaders’ Debates seems to have reignited the electorate’s interest in politics and the Election – and to have elevated the Liberal Democrats to the top table of politics.
Although this does represent an opportunity for change, it also represents a real risk to our democracy and stability; we cannot afford the months of uncertainty that a hung parliament or a minority government could lead to – we need a strong team with a mandate to make tough decisions and to take action on our nation’s problems.
If many people choose to support the Liberals, we run the risk of Labour being the largest party in a hung-parliament on the smallest share of the vote – even a 28% share of the vote nationally could make Labour the largest party.
In this situation, whilst it would be the right of Gordon Brown to attempt to form a government with the support of the Liberals, this would be incredibly bad for democracy and call into question the validity of the First Past the Post system in a three-party system.
This is a risk that Britain simply cannot take.
Our country needs a new direction and that requires a new Government under strong leadership, and David Cameron is the best person to lead our nation through this period of great economic uncertainty and to rebuild our broken society – he has the intellect, the energy and the team to make it happen.
