| Danger of Looking Backwards
Comment
The tragic death in Iraq at the weekend of Guardsman Anthony Wakefield
— the 87th British soldier killed in this conflict — highlights that, as
the general election campaign draws to a close, Prime Minister Tony Blair
and the Labour Party are unable to keep the war off the public agenda.
The death of the young soldier follows in the line of that of Irish guardsman
Ian Malone from Dublin who lost his life early on in the Iraq War.
But the death of Guardsman Wakefield is doubly tragic in that it happened
two years to the day President George Bush declared that the war in Iraq
was over: Mission accomplished.
But will this sad loss of another British soldier on the field of battle
harm Tony Blair’s chances of winning an historic third term of government?
Maybe. But it is the current state of the British economy that will be
the critical factor in this week’s election.
Labour and Gordon Brown can be quietly satisfied that they have delivered
and that their record for economic competence remains strong and untarnished
eight years since the Tories last ran the country.
Although praise for Mr. Brown’s success might bring some compliments
too for the improving public finances that Labour inherited from the last
Conservative administration.
But in two terms now Labour has delivered on the economic front largely
what they promised — providing sustained growth and no recession, low inflation
and record numbers of people in work. Mr. Brown too has managed the public
finances in a manner that has enabled him to keep to his rule of borrowing
only when necessary to fund investment.
The Conservatives would have us believe that it will all be gloom and
doom on the economic front if Labour get back for a third term. They have
issued dire warnings of a black hole in the public finances.
But just think back to what life was like at the fag end of the last
Tory administration. Public services, especially the NHS, were on their
knees. The poor and the unemployed were thrown on the rubbish heap.
Those who had much received even more while those who had very little
or nothing were told they could expect even less.
And what of the Liberal Democrats? Can a vote for them make a difference?
Or, in attempting to give Labour a ‘bloody nose’ will it merely be a wasted
protest vote?
The Labour government has done well in its first two terms. It has much
more to do to bring social justice and equality to the people of Britain.
It deserves a third term in office.
If you have benefited from the past seven years of Labour rule, get out
on Thursday and vote for them.
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