What’s on the table for this general election come June 8 and why your vote counts.

WHATS ON TABLE ON JUNE 8 GENERAL ELECTION

When the Prime Minister, Theresa May called for a General Election she might have thought this would be a home run. The logic seemed quite overwhelming in her favour seeing that her credible opposition was supposedly in chaos. However before making that quick decision to call a snap General election, could Mrs May have considered the real possibility that we would wake up on the 9th of June with Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister.

Theresa May has called a snap general election for June 8, claiming that divisions at Westminster risked hampering the Brexit negotiations. The Prime Minister said “last summer after the country voted to leave the European Union, Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership and since I became Prime Minister the Government has delivered precisely that”. Despite predictions of immediate financial and economic danger since the referendum the United Kingdom has seen consumer confidence remain high, record numbers of jobs and economic growth that has exceeded all expectations.

Her Government is working to deliver on the mandate handed by the referendum result. Britain is leaving the European Union and there can be no turning back. As the Prime Minister famously said “Brexit means Brexit and we are going to make a success of it”.

Now, the first question we all need to consider is did we need this election, we are living in times of great global shake-up with so many unknown unknowns. Consider the on-going humanitarian crisis, tension with North Korea, the extreme rhetoric from President Trump, the rampant threat of terrorism at home and globally and the ever growing global cyber challenges from Russia and China.

You will all be forgiven for thinking we have enough to worry about but let’s bring this closer to home, consider the domestic challenges and opportunities within Education, NHS, Security, Business and Housing. The money used for election campaign could have been invested towards one of the major economic and social streams, making a real difference to people’s lives.

The total spend on the 2017 general election is likely to be millions of pounds lower than in 2015 as local authorities and political parties reel from Theresa May’s shock announcement. Since the Prime Minister had categorically said this election would never happen, it means this is a cost that no one was expecting or had budgeted for.

The short-term nature of the election has significantly reduced the amount of time and money that can be spent on campaigning, and is expected to lead to a decrease in party spending of nearly £15million. Election spend can be broadly broken down into three categories: administrative costs, opportunity costs as the election period detracts from day-to-day life, and campaigning costs spent by political candidates.

Now that, we have this extra agenda item and huge bill, here are some of the points to consider before making up your decision on 8 June 2017. The Conservatives Long Term Plan is building a stronger, healthier economy which secures a better future for Britain by:

Reducing the deficit so we deal with our debts, safeguard our economy for the long term and keep mortgage rates low.
Cutting income tax and freezing fuel duty to help hardworking people be more financially secure.
Creating more jobs by backing small business and enterprise with better infrastructure and lower jobs taxes.
Capping welfare and working to control immigration so our economy delivers for people who want to work hard and play by the rules.
Delivering the best schools and skills for young people so the next generation can succeed in the global race.

Labour running under the strapline of For the Many, Not the Few.

According to the 2017 Manifesto, Labour would:

Spend an extra £8bn on social care over the next Parliament
Stress that any leader should be “extremely cautious” about using Trident nuclear weapons, which leader Jeremy Corbyn opposes
Strengthen trade union rights – including increased unionisation across the workforce and repealing last year’s Trade Union Act
Scrap the public sector pay cap and reintroduce national pay bargaining while banning so-called “zero hours” contracts
Increase income tax for the highest-earning 5% to raise an extra £6bn for the NHS
Build at least 100,000 council and housing association houses a year while reserving 4,000 homes for rough sleepers

Now considering the above, it’s quite clear to me the Conservatives have a surgical well-oiled machine and plan meant to boost business while improving the lives of many. I admire Mrs May’s candidness, leadership and passion for what she believes. She is a strong lady and Great Britain needs strong leadership now more than ever.

The hard reality however, is the gap between the rich and poor continues to widen under her leadership, many more people in full time work are accessing Food Banks, people have to choose between paying bills and putting food on the table, the waiting times and financial pressures on Education, Housing and NHS continue to reach unsustainable levels.

Mr Corbyn offers something different, something that worries and scares many career politicians. It seems too good to be true, for starters how will the Labour party pay for all the spending, taxing the rich will not be enough. Did I mention Labour pledges to scrap tuition fees? Now that will get young people voting but let’s not forget the Liberal Democrat’s pledges on tuition fees only to triple it once in power!

Politicians will say what they think people want to hear. Now is not the time for politicking but we need real change from passion, believers in equality and social mobility for all. Although I agree in principle with most of Mr Corbyn’s points, his naivety towards Trident is worrying especially considering the turbulent times we live.

In this General Election we have a clear choice, either we vote for the same old kind of politics or we vote for something different. Either way we have a huge decision to make, consider all the facts from various sources of information and make an informed choice. By the way there are other parties to consider including the Lib Dems, Green Party, UKIP, SNP, DUP,Plaid Cymru, SDLP, UUP and independent candidates.

If you have not registered, you have till the 22nd of May to register so your voice can be heard.

You can join the debate by letting us know your views too on the comment section or email us on info@fantee.com