Wadler's Blog

Alex Andreou writes in The Guardian:

I hear results of straw polls showing that a majority of people in this country feel "uncomfortable" with immigration. ... I am disappointed by both the Conservatives and Labour's stance on immigration. It seems to me they are trying to address multiple audiences; on the one hand they want to comfort the uncomfortable, on the other there seems to be a nudge-nudge, wink-wink message between the lines intended for people like me that says "don't worry". By doing that, they legitimise Ukip's highly dangerous message, because they allow Farage to point to imitators and boost the brand validity of his "original" snake oil.

I don't think I can bring myself to vote for the Liberal Democrats again. Tuition fees, austerity, bedroom tax, welfare cap, Atos, Royal Mail – the list goes on. This left me looking at the Green party, as the default remaining choice. The surprise was that the more I looked at them, the more I liked them. Their policies appear to me eminently sensible and unabashedly progressive, in most areas. They are the only party which has refused to be drawn into the immigrant-bashing competition with the others, and the only which proposes a vote in the general elections for EU citizens based on residency, rather than nationality. Their commitment to minority rights, including LGBT, is second to none. They alone seem to understand that discussion and collaboration, rather than confrontation, is the way to reform the EU. Their candidates seem passionate and compassionate. My scrutiny left me thinking: why wasn't I planning to vote for them in the first place, especially when there is proportional representation?

Labels: Politics