UK Government elections are coming up in a few weeks time (May first week). This election is a face-off between the Labour Party, who have been in power for the last 12 years, and the Conservative Party, who are sensing a real chance to form the government this time. There is a third party – the Liberal Democrats, dream of becoming king-makers and in reality can seriously affect the base of the two established parties.
One issue which, according to those who claim to be the ‘experts’, is going to dominate the voter’s minds is the economic crisis that gripped UK last year.
I believe that in politics your point of view is decided not by logic or analysis but by the political party that you belong to. Keeping this in mind, the fact that the UK economy has just about limped clear of the recession can be seen from three different prespectives.
The Labour view is that they have taken some ‘very difficult’ decisions through some of the ‘toughest times’ seen by ‘world’ economy and have guided the UK economy out of the battlefield. According to the Labour government the economic crisis was not of their creation but something external in which the UK economy got dragged into.
The Conservatives have the view that Labour was responsible for the country facing such difficult times. That if they had been in power they could have helped UK sustain the storm better.
The Lib-Dems do not have a clear view of things. They keep changing their views depending on what the two major parties are saying.
There is one thing though, that all three of them agree on: they have to take some ‘very difficult’ decisions and some of the ‘toughest times’ are still ahead for the country.
All three are saying there have to be big cuts in Government spending to reduce the deficit. But what exactly should be cut and how the resulting gaps will be filled, changes with the party. Great fear is also being generated regarding cuts in frontline services (e.g. Police and NHS).
What no one is willing to admit is the fact that the road ahead is not full of options. The steps that can be taken are limited. Yet the voters are being fooled into believing that there are multiple roads out of the mess and that each party holds the map to a different route.
Looking at these things from a temporary resident’s point of view I can say if frontline services like NHS and Police are cut then it will surely make the country less attractive for skilled workers. Free healthcare and a safety are two major requirements especially when it comes to people with families.
Immigration is the second point where these parties will clash. Again there are not that many options out. Already immigrations laws are very strict. Apart from closing the Tier 2 (Work Permit) and Tier 1 (Migrant Worker) schemes to South Asians (which will damage the UK economy and push work out of the country) they really can’t do anything.
To clamp down on illegal immigration will require increased government spending (for better border security and tougher enforcement) but the question remains: where will the money come from? Also the government will never admit this but illegal immigrants contribute a lot to the UK economy. They do the kinds of job which the locals will not do. Illegal immigrants, in fact, help the UK economy by providing cheap labour. They don’t pay any tax but even if they were legal the amount they earn would keep them well below the tax bracket.
In my view this election is going to be about whichever party screams the loudest and is able to convince the UK voter that yes indeed they can pull rabbits out of hats and pennies out of thin air!
Fish Eye View 