Her Imperial Majesty, the Sovereign Monarch of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, delivered today her annual address to the UK’s houses of parliament.
Her speech touched on every issue that is close to the hearts of every responsible citizen of the commonwealth; because indeed her speech, which outlined the program of her government for the year ahead; does affect every responsible citizen of the commonwealth.
In questioning the details of the program, the conservatives chose to attack her majesty’s government on their capacity to act as the government and skirted over their own lack of policy direction.
In response, the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, proceeded to wipe David Cameron’s credibility as a political analyst off the floor completely. Joined by the Scottish National Party, the Liberal Democrats questioned aspects of the Labour Party’s position; responding to which the Prime Minister illustrated that the Labour Party was more in control of and informed of the actual mandate of the citizenry; with respect to both of the issues raised by the SNP and the LibDems, being the issue of “English Votes for English Issues” and “Affordable Housing” respectively.
Apart from the obvious idea that this opening of parliament may have been simply a platform for vote trading, in preparation for a General Election; it was clear that when dealing with the issues of “British Jobs for British Workers” and “The Meaning of British Citizenship”; the Labour Party is committed to an Open Society and the Rights of the Individual.
By being committed to making employment available to all people working in Britain, and not just restricting employment to English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish peoples, the British Government has complied with the labour regulations of the EU.
The accusations of the conservatives, that the position of the Labour Party in this regard, is in fact sourced from the National Front and the British National Party (both extremely conservative parties), were satisfactorily disproved by the Labour Party.
It is clear then that the Labour Party, having learned its “new polity” from its historical coalition with the LibDems, have been able to proficiently hijack the agenda, rhetoric and policies of the LibDems now that they (the Labour Party) are in government. This is proved by Gordon Brown’s determination, that the drive to define the “Britishness of British Citizenship” will not impinge on the rights of individuals, and in particular on the rights of minorities.
David Cameron’s sole claim to a “new British voter” is apart from his youthfulness; a self driven commitment to the personal aggrandisement of “mediated personality politics”. This is not real and, sooner that we think, the average voter; particularly disadvantaged voters, will disregard his offering altogether.
As it stands the SNP and its reciprocal parties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; do not have the support of their “own people” to form a cohesive Union government in whatever form. Further while it will be argued that the UK Parliament is also the Parliament of England, it is clear that there will be no separate “Regional House” created for England; replete with its own “First Minister of England”.
So by ruling out the offerings of the Conservatives (who created most of the world’s wars and colonial disasters) and the earnest but unsupported intentions of the Regionalists (e.g. SNP etc); the British voters are left with only two realistic electoral options; being either the Labour Party or the Liberal Democrats.
The Labour Party has proven its resilience, and its capacity in government. It is undoubtedly motivated and mandated by the desire to make socio-economic development opportunities accessible to all people. However its role in the badly focussed “war against terror” and its continued involvement in Afghanistan; without a concomitant decrease in the rate of drug addiction (specifically heroin addiction); will certainly count against them, in an election fuelled by the uncertainty of unemployment and opportunity.
The Liberal Democrats on the other hand have sound policies, which may seem unaffordable, but are nonetheless sustainable and accessible to all people. Further the consolidation of a burgeoning “Youth Freedom” vote and the disdain that people generally feel for the “reactionary” position of the conservatives as well as the “patchwork” method of the labour party; means that the Liberal Democrats have an opportunity at this forthcoming general election to grow their support base.
By targeting marginal conservative constituencies and minority constituencies, the LibDems will take votes off the Conservative Party. By tackling constituencies with high incidences of council housing, high levels of unemployment, anti-social behaviour and general despair, the LibDems will take votes off the Labour Party.
But most importantly, by campaigning in Labour Strongholds, the Liberal Democrats will win the respect and admiration, albeit not the votes of Labour supporters, for demonstrating that they, the LibDems have no fear. It is this misperception of the LibDems as being “soft on defence” and the other “hard” issues that has precluded them from securing the support of people who have served their “Queen and Country” with honour.
Gordon Brown’s trump card going into this election is the sentiment attached to the notion that the “Greys, Argyles, Black Watch etc” are the hardest fighting men in the world; and that while the Americans might have caused and started this war with the terrorists, “Her Majesty’s Own Guardsmen” are the only ones who can finish it. This sentiment is the reason that the SNP&Co cannot and will not prevail in their quest for Regionalism; because this sentiment is one of commonwealth rather than regional pride.
The LibDems must transcend this hurdle, where there is honour in “service and sacrifice above self” if they are to make serious inroads into the Labour support base. Supporting the SNP&Co will win it some support; but in the long term, the sound socio-economic development policies of the LibDems must be the herald that signals the “New Britain” – driven by opportunity, focussed on fair play and mindful of the rights of all of the peoples of the Commonwealth, of which machine the UK is undoubtedly the central cog.
Avishkar Govender
eThekwini-Durban
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
SADC - AU