kamikazebear@gn.apc.org
Dear Comrade,
The trouble with your cover article is that it is too bloody generous to the parties.
1)Tories: Who would vote for them? Hower pissed off you might be by T.Blair you wouldn't make a mark for the real tory rather than a pale imitation. If you think that labour would be more radicalised by a further term in opposition then you are living in cloud-cuckoo land. If the Tories stay in for another term they would have the "mandate" to plunge so far off to the right that they would be outflanked from the left by the Fash!
2)Liberals: Though some INDIVIDUAL candidates may outleft "new labour" (this is xtremely easy!!), the leading lights of the party, like Paddy Ashdown, insist on the "equidistance" between tory and labour. The Liberals may have gleaned some green credibility by the Transport Reduction Bill (2nd reading already!!) being sponsored by one of theirs, this is outdone by their anti-green cred made of their support to massive roadbuilding schemes. Rember Newbury?? Somehow, you seem to have pushed this shower as some kind of alternative : "I've got good odds..". WIERD OR WHAT??!???
3)Labour: You seem to think that a vote against Labour is a blow against Blair and his cronies: the trouble is that the Labour front-bench types, along with the media pundits, would put it all down to the "public" (no class analysis!!) not believing that Tony has gone far enough to the right and some Lib-Lab pact would give the tories some breathing space before they go for the jugular, give Labour some street cred (by blaming all the cuts and rightwing crap on the liberals), and bolster up the hacks while troublesome "reds", in local labour branches are purged (no change, then!!). However....when Labour gets in overall "control" and there is no scapegoats for them to blame for the labour government's attacks on workingpeople on behalf of international capitalism, THERE WILL BE A HELL OF A LOT OF PEOPLE, WHO WERE LOOKING TO LABOUR TO MAKE THINGS EVEN SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT, REALLY AND TOTALLY PISSED OFF AND WE WILL BE THERE, THROUGHOUT THE ELECTION PERIOD, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, AFTER IT, CALLING ON THE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE GOOD WHILE WE ARGUE FOR PUTTING AN END TO THIS WHOLE CRUDDY SYSTEM.
The bad news is, unless we put the boot in, first, and intervene in a clear political way, then the Fash will get going here as they have in France because their "Socialist" administration is rightwing crap.
JUST DO IT!!