The great American progressive lawyer Louis Brandeis wrote that, ‘in a democracy the most important office is the office of citizen’. This was, he explained, because democracy requires all individuals to look beyond their own narrow personal interest and consider the common good.
In his budget last week George Osborne set voters a test. A range of carefully targeted measures were unveiled to tempt the self-interest of Tory target voters – pensioners, first time buyers and savers. The cost of this is to be borne by others, after May’s votes are counted, through years of spending cuts which the Office for Budget Responsibility describes as a ‘rollercoaster’ for the public finances.
The chancellor could not have provided a better illustration of the electorate’s choice at the election. Labour would balance the books, while also investing in public services like the NHS and undoing some of the damage done over the past five years, by scrapping cruel polices such as the bedroom tax. The alternative is a Tory-led government continuing on the same path we have been on since 2010.
Yet rather than strain every sinew to elect a Labour government and kick out the coalition, some on the left seem preoccupied with the search for the ‘pure’ alternative.
This is was typified by Guardian columnist Jack Monroe announcing before the budget that she has left Labour and joined the Greens. Explaining her choice she wrote (apparently without irony) that, ‘If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything’. She is just one of a number of ‘left’ voices in recent months, to call for voters to abandon Labour, for the ‘purer’option of the Greens or the Scottish National party.
Of course we have been here before. In 2010, at the height of Cleggmania, the Guardian and other ‘progressive’ voices were telling people that there was a better option than voting Labour. ‘If the Guardian had a vote’, an April editorial proclaimed, ‘it would be cast enthusiastically for the Liberal Democrats’.
Some left-leaning voters agreed and voted Liberal Democrat, because, by their own admission, they wanted to force a more ‘leftwing’ Labour government. What they got was a Tory-led coalition propped up by useful idiots.
It is charitable now to attribute this mistake to naivety. But for some to advocate making the same mistake again – either by calling for a vote for the Greens or the SNP – despite seeing the results of that error over the past five years, is beyond comprehension.
What makes this situation even more unfathomable is that in one respect those wanting a more leftwing Labour party clearly did succeed. No one can deny that, for better or worse, the Labour party under Ed Miliband is more leftward-leaning than that of Gordon Brown, or Tony Blair.
A higher minimum wage, more housing and an emphasis placed on education and the NHS, were the polices that Monroe said made her feel better after joining the Green party. But what she did not seem to realise was that she had actually described Labour’s policy platform, not the Greens.
Why is she planning to vote against it then? Perhaps because, as Neil Kinnock said in his most famous conference speech, ‘to some in our number … it seems it matters not whether you won or lost, but how you played the game’. Yet then as now, this approach will not deliver victory for them or the people they claim to want to help.
I can sympathise with anyone who bemoans the prosaic nature of this election; it clearly will not be remembered as the most inspirational. But in elections there are no extra votes awarded for style. Winning is what matters. And, despite the unpredictability of the result in this election, one thing remains certain, someone is going to end up running the country after 7 May and the choices they make will affect real people’s lives.
So for anyone on the left who cares about the common good, there is only one option on the ballot paper with a guarantee of a progressive government after 7 May and that is Labour. A vote for anything else – especially Green or SNP – is nothing more than a vote for a Tory-led government and more of the same.
In this respect Brandeis was right: the responsibility of being citizen demands more. Making yourself feel good is never enough.
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Rich Durber is a former speechwriter for a shadow minister and writes a fortnightly column for Progress. He tweets @richdurber
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You say “A vote for anything else – especially Green or SNP – is nothing more than a vote for a Tory-led government and more of the same.”
As you know, the SNP has made clear that there are no circumstances in which they will support a Tory government. If (as seems fairly likely) they hold the balance of power, then there is no way there can be a Tory government as long as both Labour and the SNP oppose it. And the SNP has promised it will.
Your statement is completely wrong. There is no mechanism by which voting SNP makes a Tory government more likely.
Maybe but my issue is that Salmond’s rhetoric about supporting Labour or blocking the Tories is likely to sap the Labour vote in England. Whether you like it or not, amongst a large swathe of England Salmond is disliked and distrusted. This may or may not be due in part to the way the English parties have portrayed him but he is seen as having Scotland’s interests at heart and not the entire UK. It certainly gives the Tories’ argument that a Labour vote is a vote for Salmond some traction, rather than his interventions somehow girding the loins of the left. It may play well at home but I just wish the hell he’d concentrate on getting his vote out in Scotland and shut the f up about England. Despite the rhetoric of some on the left in Scotland the policies of the SNP and Labour aren’t a million miles apart. A mature post election approach could sort these things out without frightening the horses in the process.
That’s a far better argument than the one in the article Richard. I’ve no doubt Salmond rubs many people up the wrong way, although I would think that’s the case more in Tory areas of England than in Labour ones.
Nicola Sturgeon on the other hand has higher ratings in England than Cameron, Miliband or Clegg do. The feelings of dissatisfaction about mainstream politics and the lack of difference between the two main parties is as strong in England as it is uo here. 33% poll ratings show that. The different policies the SNP may bring to the table may well make an SNP Labour alliance a vote winner in some areas.
Maybe wishful thinking on my part…
The referendum has changed things in Scotland and Labour don’t understand it. The change is that the Scottish electorate is now educated. So when we hear slogans like ‘vote SNP get Tory’s’ we collectively shake our heads. Labour has been reciting that tired old mantra since the 70s. It is lazy politics. Scotland doesn’t give a fiddlers fart whether there is a Tory or Labour government at Westminster. Its Westminster that is the problem. Labour has had plenty of opportunities to change things over the years but done nothing. You reap what you sow, as Labour will find out in 6 weeks time.
If labour scrap the so called bedroom tax, their expenditure goes up. Please explain how this helps to balance the books?
Well Steve, one example is those disabled or ill folk who need a separate room for sleeping or for essential equipment or for a carer to stay overnight will likely find their physical or mental health deteriorating which will be a further drain on the health service. Plus the unintended consequence of this mean and ill-thought out tax is people having to move to smaller rented accommodation (if they can find it) but often with a higher overall HB need. Plus ‘freeing up’ two bedroom houses often leaves them empty as most families need more bedrooms and most singles can’t afford the rent. Economic and moral nonsense for a very small return
I wonder who this article is aimed at – it doesn’t tell us anything we don’t know, and most readers are likely to be Labour supporters or left . The whole premise of the article is a gross oversimplification of the facts. The Greens are unlikely to attract a significant proportion of the vote. And the SNP are unlikely to back a Tory government at Downing Street (though they may wish to extract some unpleasant consequences for an incoming Labour minority government – another referendum before 2020 is likely to be the price we’d pay). However, we can’t escape the fact that we elected a (Progress member) centre-right Labour leader who has a minimal profile in Scotland and record low levels of support. irrespective of his kudos and influence at Westminster. What on earth did we expect would happen as a consequence?