Politics today Election 2001
The UK held elections in June 2001 and only approximately 50% of those eligible to vote bothered to turn up to the poling booth. Low turn outs are not only confined to England but are common also in Europe and the US. What were the messages the political parties were using to persuade the English people to vote either to the right (Tory) for the centre (New Labour) or the centre left (Liberal).

In general a right wing party will cut taxes, reduce the control of business by government, cut health and education but increase defence or at least make sure the army , navy and airforce can defend the country and defend other countries who may ask for our help.

A Left wing or socialist party will advocate higher taxes to ensure the poor and needy are well looked after. This is in effect taxing the rich and middle income groups and giving free hand outs to the poor with out jobs and who need health care.(Called redistribution of wealth) Those of the left may well advocate disarming or at least getting rid of Nuclear Weapons which might open the country up to invasion by a foreign aggressor. The Left Wing in other words are more compassionate but perhaps can be called a little to soft in a world full of potential Hitlers. A right wing party would advocate a rapid retaliation on an aggressor for a quick and decisive victory. This could be a violent reaction as with right wing Tory Lady Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher when the Argentineans invaded the English Falklands Islands. Or as in the case of the left wing Prime Minister in the 1970s Mr Harold Wilson who did nothing when Turkey invaded the English protectorate Cyprus. As a result Cyprus in now a divided country with the Muslim Turks occupying the north and the Orthodox Christian Greek Cypriots the south and a united nations army patrolling the boarder.

The centre ground allows the party to choose a bit from both sides and come up with a balanced set of rules for the country. Most western countries are now run by centre parties and true to form the winner of the June 2001 UK election was the centrist Labour party headed by Tony Blair.

(It is interesting to note that as the voters were going to the poles in the UK so too were the Iranians (Persians) where a new reformism candidate has increased his majority but is unable to put his reformist ideas into practice because of a powerful un-elected religious Muslim hierarchy. In Kenya on the African East coast they have a dictator who physically suppresses the opposition. In Ireland also holding a European referendum on European enlargement at this time, the voters democratically turned the idea (Nice ratification agreement) down!)

The main issues debated by the party leaders in the UK 2001 election were; Health; (how to make the "free" National Health Service better, in fact it is paid for from taxes) Education; (how to make the "free" education for all better; about 50% paid for from central taxes and 50% from local "council" taxes) The slightly left of centre New Labour party won the election by promising to make them both better without putting up taxes, the extra money coming out of the currently buoyant economy. At the same time they maintained their historically huge swing from the right wing Tories gained in the 1997 election.

The fairly right wing Tory party lost the election with the following ticket (policies) Keep Britain out of the European common currency the Euro. Keep immigrants out of Britain unless they can prove they are refuges. The remainder much the same as the other parties. The most left centre party, the Liberals gained more seats than ever before by concentrating on:
Health
Education
But saying that taxes must be raised to achieve the improved standards required. And not mentioning their normal favourite concept of moving to a "fairer" electoral system to be achieved by proportional representation.

Many felt two other issues were equally important and should have been discussed;
Should Britain adopt the Euro and hence surrender some domestic control of the economy to the European Central Bank in return for some domestic economic gains which should flow from being more fully economically integrated with Europe. Following the farming "Foot and Mouth" epidemic, what should be the plans for the British farming industry. Foot and Mouth which effects animals with cloven hoofs, (sheep, cattle, deer) and bankrupted many farmers has been blamed on poor husbandry in the farming industry together with over grazing on the moorlands and generally over intensive farming.

These were not discussed during the election on the basis that they were not election winning issues.

The Euro issue particularly is a Pandora's box where the main European continental leaders lead their countries by the nose into sacrificing their domestic currencies (like the powerful German Mark) for the new Euro which must be adversely effected by the weaker currencies like the Greek Drachma. In addition to this such a huge number of differing cultures and economies cannot long term all move at the same pace so how can local economic corrections be made. Labour movement is one answer as happens in the US. This also happens in Europe but can it be so effective when there are so many different languages spoken? Perhaps this shows up a major difference between the English and our continental neighbours. They can be lead by the nose (Viz. Hitler and Germany) the English are more difficult and want to argue.

Leadership qualities
A good leader can take the country along unpopular paths if he or she can sound plausible, has a will of iron and is a good orator. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1980s) is the best recent example. Famous for two things Breaking the stranglehold the Trades Unions had over British Industry to the extent that factories were over manned and were therefore uncompetitive and there was unwillingness for a carpenter to do a simple plumbers job when there was no plumber available. (Job demarcation) She achieved this by changing the rules on strikes. Also she sold the government controlled industries, which were inefficient and hence were continuously subsidised by taxpayers money, to the private sector where market forces would make them either go bust or start making money. (Be self financing) Both succeeded and Britain is now an economic success. The other famous leader of the last century was Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Just listen to his war time speeches! How do the current political leaders compare. Badly!? Both Thatcher and Churchill were wonderful orators. (Perhaps Thatcher was rather like a school mistress but everybody understood what she was talking about. She used the principle of making a maximum of three points at a time and saying those points three times) The current leaders viz. messrs Blair, Haig, Kennedy, Brown, Portillo etc all suffer from the same inability of clarity of debate. (Perhaps the debate on the Euro will bring out the best of them)