Stephanie Flanders blog for the BBC 9th April “Irish lessons for the UK” was excellent and really helped me get a much better understanding of what might be in store after the election.
In many ways it elegantly showed the basis for both the conservative and labour propositions and highlighted, using the Irish economy as an example, why it may be that somewhere between the two propositions is the least risky choice. It seems certain we here in the UK are all going to be tightening our belts in the next 5 years but if it’s any comfort not so much as the Irish have had to. That said it feels to me like the choice is going to be typically, much more subtle than the rhetoric pretends.
So even here on the brink of an election I find it difficult to get even mildly emotional about the debate. Instinctively that feels wrong to me because shouldn’t I be engaged and vocal about the issues and hold strong opinions about them? Well I come to the conclusion that no I shouldn’t, not at least until I am told what exactly they propose to do and since that isn’t going to happen before the election then there is no strong basis for the argument.
Like most people I am willing to take my share of the pain so long as its shared out fairly but I know fairness looks different depending on where you stand. Squeezing the public sector plays to my prejudice about big government and in the absence of any other real information no doubt that will carry the day.
What do I really want from the next government well in my perfect world I would like them to keep us from falling into this hole again and that would be worth getting excited about!
