The Green Alternative to UK Labour
Peter Tatchell, a UK human rights campaigner, gay rights activist, and former candidate for Parliament for the Greens has an excellent piece at the Guardian that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It pertains to Thursday’s elections, and is a call for Labour voters to stop voting for party leaders that have abandoned the principles of Labour.
When a Labour government pursues anti-Labour policies it no longer deserves respect or loyalty from Labour members and voters. Arrogant, out of touch, complacent and authoritarian, Labour is not Labour any more. It’s time has passed.
You can almost substitute the word “Democrats” for “Labour” and apply it to the U.S.A.
What I really like about this piece though is that he backs his argument up with actual policy – programs that the Green Party is supporting but Labour is not.
Labour’s great, historic achievement was the creation of the NHS and the welfare state, but Blair and Brown sought to dismantle them. Their commercialisation and semi-privatisation of health and education is something that not even Margaret Thatcher attempted. They have out-Thatchered Thatcher.
While the Labour government has promoted a stealthy privatisation of public services, the Greens oppose privatisation and defend public services as essential components of a just society and a decent quality of life for all citizens. We reject Labour plans to close post offices and to privatise the Royal Mail.
