Coolcat Gets Political

It's been a while since my eve of poll blog in Mays European Elections. As expected Brown's Labour government was given a kicking by those who bothered to vote. I indulged in this kick-fest by giving my vote to the Liberal Democrats. I was disappointed, but not surprised to see the BNP get enough votes to send 2, yes TWO MEP's to Brussels. The brave men and women, who made the ultimate sacrifice to defeat facism in Europe must be spinning in their graves with disgust.

Putting the BNP aside, It pains me to see how far the (New)Labour project had gone off the rails. Since 1992, I've always voted Labour in general elections and I, like others was taken in by the glitz and smiles of Tony Blair. I supported the invasion of Iraq for 2 reasons.

1 Saddam's regime had flouted UN resolutions dating back to the end of the First Iraq war and the failure of the UN to act on these breaches diminished it's own authority.

2 The People of Iraq would be better off without Saddam Hussein.

So there we have it. I backed the Iraq war. It's not my fault that America was led by that Muppet GW Bush, who only wanted the oil and tried to link Saddam's regime to Al-queda.

In 2005 Labour was punished for the Iraq debacle by being reelected with a reduced majority and the departure of Blair 2 years later was no real surprise. The unchallenged coronation of Brown as his successor was a missed opportunity to debate the future direction of the Labour party and Brown has been paying for it ever since.

The last 2 years have convinced me that Gordon Brown does not have a coherent vision of what Labour should be doing to win back the trust of the country. Worst of all there is no-one in the cabinet or the backbenches willing to present an alternative to Brown.

Last month, I decided to take up membership of the Liberal Democrats. I don't regard my decision as a betrayal of Labour for the simple reason that I was never a card-carrying member of any political party up until now. I believe that Nick Clegg, Vincent Cable and the rest of the LibDem team represent the only progressive political force left in this country. Labour have gotten more authoritarian over the last 12 years and Cameron's Conservatives only offer more of the same, without the real change that this country needs.

From this day onwards, I will be doing all I can make the LibDems the Only alternative to Cameron's Cons.