UK Election 2019 – Who To Vote For?
The Labour statement "It's time for Real Change" is true but who can deliver a change that will take the UK forwards?
The past few years have been shadowed by Brexit which we all have to remember that it was the UK public that voted to leave the EU. There is no deal officially today in writing as I write this so I question, what did we all vote for because we voted to leave not knowing how it can actually happen.
Theresa May set out to be in politics and served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She was well and truly dropped in it by David Cameron and at the time of the Brexit vote which was 3 years ago now the political parties simply all confused the UK public and after the vote to leave nearly all the politicians changed and showed how two-faced they can be and many played a huge part in the confusion before the vote.
Nigel Farage and Jeremy Corbyn played a huge part in this confusion and this was 2016, today in 2019 senior figures on the front bench which include Diane Abbott, Keir Starmer and Emily Thornberry state that they would campaign for remain in the event of a second referendum.
Mr Corbyn has been less than enthusiastic about the EU. In 2015, Reuters reported that he voted against Britain’s membership of the trade bloc’s forerunner, the European Economic Community and this was when the Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson put the question to a public ballot back in 1975.
In 2009 when the Ireland referendum was taking place he was vocal about the Lisbon Treaty and said in relation to the EU’s ties with NATO: “We are creating for ourselves here one massive great Frankenstein that will damage all of us in the long run.”
The immediate reaction to the Brexit vote on the day after the referendum the confusion continued with Mr Corbyn stating that his party would “accept the vote and move on” which would have been in my mind working to help support the UK's vote and if all the political parties came together to work out the best plan to leave and become united which is what the UK needed, we would not be in the mess we are in 2019 and I am sure the European Union and the global leaders across the globe would look at the UK as a solid sustainable country to work with.
Instead of this Mr Corbyn a few weeks later after the vote to leave, explicitly ruled out a second referendum, saying “you have to respect the decision people made.” and then builds a campaign to block all sensible talks to move forwards and Mr Corbyn moved to become an active pro-Brexit campaigner fully in March 2017, instructing Labour MPs to vote to trigger Article 50 using the strongest tool that he had at his disposal, a three-line whip.
As things became even more complicated and problematic, the UK people are now even more confused than ever and Theresa May had become a scapegoat for blame by so many which was sending a message to the European Union that the UK simply is in a total mess.
Mr Corbyn then in January 2018, asserted that Labour was “not supporting or calling for a second referendum.” which confused everything further and then in September 2018 he told the Labour party faithful that “if Parliament votes down a Tory deal or the government fails to reach any deal at all we would press for a General Election." which lead to the Labour conference motion which was an overwhelming majority of delegates, compelling the party to “support all options".
Then the change again in April 2019 when Mr Corbyn takes further steps towards a second ballot, whipping MPs to support a motion requiring a “confirmatory” referendum on any Brexit deal.
11th September 2019, Mr Corbyn said “Labour will do everything to stop a no-deal Brexit, that is our priority.
On 11th September 2019, Mr Corbyn said “Labour will do everything to stop a no-deal Brexit, that is our priority." and then on 17th September 2019, he stated that “a Labour government would secure a sensible deal” so which is it?
It is now November 2019 and it is stated that Labour will try to negotiate a withdrawal agreement with the EU. On question time 22nd November 2019 when questioned Mr Corbyn now states he is Neutral on this situation!
As we go into the election in December 2019 the message has to be clear and he needs to be solid and provide real answers and stick to them.
What are the plans for the UK under a Labour government and can we trust them to stick to what is agreed going forward should they get in power?
Real Change Labour Manifesto 2019
Having now read the Labour Manifesto, it all reads great and taking all the major problems we have, then putting words to each issue that make it sound like a simple fix.
The issue I personally have with this is the fact that being a business owner who lives in the real world with my eyes fully open and seeing things from all angles, I understand that a change for example to state "Lower Energy Bills" and then, on the other hand, stating that we need huge investment to change the current infrastructure and build new systems to reduce our carbon footprint. Then to tax the energy companies to get more money off the profiting energy companies going on to state for example 7,000 new offshore wind turbines, 2,000 new onshore wind turbines, Enough solar panels to cover 22,000 football pitches and New nuclear power needed for energy security.
This is no doubt needed and we all need to support and get behind this. but the reality is taxing the energy companies and then trying to reduce energy bills and getting investment into moving forwards simply do not gell together or make business sense and the key should be to support energy companies to achieve change and working to make a sensible path for the next decade. You cannot spend and spend then ask for a cheaper bill for households.
Working with businesses that need the support of government we see first hand how difficult things are made for businesses to add value and do great things for the UK public. No matter what anyone thinks supporting businesses to grow and employ more people is the key to the UK success and as a result of this business owners need a reason to work hard to achieve this. The Labour statement about taking from the rich will hit everyone not just the top percentage of earners and has anyone stopped to think if it wasn't for people who build businesses up that are successful we would not have the technology we have today and employment would be far less. We need to look at what real business owners are doing and support them to grow and this will result in more money being available to increase pay and prevent the UK getting into even more of a mess.
In 2019 there appears to be an expected right to earn more money
The big issue in 2019 is the feeling that there is an expected right to earn more and more money without having to work for it or even look at how paying more money can be achieved.
The problem with the UK workforce is it is becoming lazy and people want to do less for more money and have the right to do what they want at work and if the company decides this doesn't work then take action and the company is taken to a tribunal with nothing to lose.
Things have gone too far the wrong way and the issue is getting worse year on year.
In my business circle, I deal with small one-man bands to large Bluechip companies and the problem is widespread and frustrating to all business owners.
Reading in the Manifesto:-
As well as large-scale national and regional projects, smaller loans will be available through our new Post Bank based in Post Office branches, enabling thousands of bottom-up transformational changes by start-ups, small businesses, local co-operatives and community projects in towns and villages up and down the country.
This is great and empowering people to grow is needed and the key to future success. Helping business startups is something I have been involved with since 2001 and people enter business thinking it is easy, but to be successful you have to work damn hard and it's not a 9 to 5 commitment.
I love seeing success and with my business playing a huge part of this success on many levels and talking to the business owners from the beginning journey and then along the way to success puts me in a position to understand the bigger picture.
I am 43 years old now and I grew up at a time when school children would be asked the question "what do you want to do for a career" and the answer was Engineer, Fireman, Pilot, etc.
Today if you ask school children a high percentage want to be YouTubers and earn millions driving round in Lamborghini's because this is what they are growing up to see. This disconnect of reality has to be understood. I left school and completed a 4-year mech / elec apprenticeship and worked damn hard to be a qualified engineer. And at the time my friends were doing on the job training in YTS schemes and the pay was terrible, but allowed and expected because companies were investing the future of the young people training them. This training comes at a cost the value the young people add when starting is not generating funds to grow profits.
I personally had a paper round, worked with the local milkman and created a computer building business at 14 years old. So I started off working hard and putting the effort to earn whatever money I could. Today I employee people supporting their lives, mortgages, family holiday's, new cars and so on. I am the first one in the office and the last one to leave, working hard every day of the year, even Christmas Day and this is never seen by the staff or understood.
My staff work hard to grow other businesses and slowly the ethos of helping grow clients and getting a buzz from the success is paying off and I am proud that my business supports other businesses to grow and become successful and this means that looking at the bigger picture I am now supporting even more lives and this makes me proud.
I am not a high earner because I choose not to be and invest money back in the company and the workforce. For the efforts I put in and the huge amount of lives I support, never having a day off, I feel I deserve to be looked after in some way for this. However, reading the Labour plans I feel that I if did pay myself more money I would end up being taxed heavily and paying more than someone who puts zero effort in and does not help to grow the UK economy and I really would love people to understand this sentiment.
Quality Care for All
A Labour government will invest in the NHS to give patients the modern, well-resourced services they need. We will increase expenditure across the health sector by an average 4.3% a year.
We will stabilise our overstretched A&E departments.
This all sounds great but reading the Manifesto, how? and having links into the NHS I understand the problems clearly within the NHS and these are not mentioned here.
For example the large amounts of NHS staff off sick puts a strain on the already stretched system. The need for people to want to work within the NHS by making the benefits more attractive for attendance would really help.
This high rate of absenteeism on full pay plays a huge part of the issue and this needs to be addressed which will save the NHS more money than I would like to guess. The right staff in place and actually being at work supporting the amazing people who work so hard would move things forward in the right direction.
Housing development has most definitely risen but with this local doctors surgeries to cope with more people in the local community doesn't appear to grow at the same rate and as a result a strain on the local doctors.
The huge problem that people who have full-time jobs can no longer get appointments and people who do not have jobs are able to use the current broken system is a real frustration for all employed.
The huge problem with people wasting the time of Doctors and also the people turning up to AE with nothing wrong needs to be looked at and systems put in place to allow the genuinely ill people to get the support needed.