Has the Labour Party lost its appeal in the UK? [ENDS 25/04/2010]

[Grig]

Has the Labour Party lost its appeal in the UK?

ENDS 25/04/2010

With a general election looming right around the corner, many have been echoing a rhetoric of change. A lot see Gordon Brown as a failure in his time as prime minister, tarnishing the reputation of the party with some of his policies such as using tax payers money to bail out banks during the heat of the recession, victim culture, binge drinking and many other poor political, social and economic reforms. Labour has traditionally been classed as a party of the people for the middle class/ working person, however many have believed that it has side tracked from this ethos and became party for the rich. Others argue that such changes were crucial for Britain to be progressive in the 21st century and that they bring more stability in the long run.

Therefore, the motion being debated today is looking into the roots of the Labour government and whether it has indeed lost its appeal with the question being ‘Has the Labour Party lost its appeal in the UK?’ (and tell us why!)

[Jordy]

Of course it has, this party has doubled the national debt during good economic times, they have sold off the nations emergency gold at ridiculously low prices and given away further powers to Brussels. Despite promising a referendum on any EU Treaties, they happily signed the Lisbon Treaty and as a result, over 85% of our laws are now made in Brussels. They lied to the house of commons and the public about the unnecessary Iraq War and as a result have severely damaged the Anglo-American relationship. Labour has promoted devolution and as a result Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland now have their own governments costing a ridiculous amount of money and money is now unfairly divided which is possibly the biggest threat to Britain at the moment. They have failed to build prisons and have let people out incredibly early, making a complete joke of the justice system. Ruined the pension system which was previously one of the best in the world and caused record youth unemployment. They have failed to outline any real ways of cutting the national debt.

During their 13 years in power I have liked their introduction of the minimum wage, the reformation of the House of Lords and usually their foreign policy however the country cannot go on like this.

[-:Undertaker:-]

The party has never really been a party of the people, the same with all left wing parties. When Clement Atlee defeated Winston Churchill in 1945 despite the Empire being bankrupt and its people poor and still on rations he filled number 10 Downing Street up with expensive antiques. The socialism that gripped Britain after the war led us down the road to ruin which came to head in the 1970s and 1979 when finally we threw it off and got back on our feet. This government wasted the best opportunity to do some things which normally would not be needed/be a priority as it had an amazing economy that they inherited from the Conservatives, instead they chose (like most Labour governments) to waste it and to punish the successful for their waste and self-inflicted debt. The legacy of this government can be clearly seen in Tony Blair, the champagne socialist who is now reeping in millions.

"Socialists cry "Power to the people", and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean—power over people, power to the State." - Margaret Thatcher

To add to what Jordy said, Labour dont have a solution to the national debt and never will have because socialists dont understand the concept that you can only spend what you have. The Cameron-Conservative Party on the other hand has also not outlined and plans to lower the national debt and the small hints it has given are quite honestly, pathetic. They say they will not even cut 40,000 jobs from the Public Sector well i'm sorry, but if you times that by 10+ then maybe we are hitting the nail on the head. The sad thing is, whoever gets in come May we will still be under crippling debts and taxes and none of the main parties have a solution. The best outcome we can hope for is a hung parliament with a weak Lib/Lab coalition in which David Cameron is disposed of and replaced with a real conservative leader, and then when that coalition government collapses the Conservatives would win outright I could gurantee it.

[luce]

yes the have otherwise there wouldn't be any chance of the conservatives getting in this election, of which there is. Gordon Brown is obviously scared that he was loosing so called it before he could do any more damage to his broken party. The war in Iraq from Blair is still looming in peoples minds, the expenses scandal is also extremely fresh in peoples minds aswell when they go to vote for which party they want in. And if it was me I would never vote for a party who spends my hard on money on duck houses and porn for their husbands.

Also people are becoming increasingly fed up with the foreigner people coming into the UK so they may turn to some smaller parties such as UKIP and the BNP in a vein attempt to control Britons boarders once more - which is something labour haven't offered at all.

Labour have also been in power for a while and the people have become tired of what they have to offer - nothing. They have had the time to change the UK for the better and all they have done is double national debt, increase war and general mess us about. I think a lot of Labour voters will also switch to the Lib dems/conservatives because it's the only alternative.

As a whole i think the people of Britain and becoming increasing fed up and just want a change. And i welcome it.

[Misawa]

The title insinuates they ever had appeal.

Edited by Nicola (Forum Super Moderator): Please follow the debate forum rules posted here and do not post pointlessly.

[Black_Apalachi]

The title should be, 'Have the people of this country finally woken up?'.

Edited by Nicola (Forum Super Moderator): Please follow the debate forum rules posted here and do not post pointlessly.

[DrLacero]

Nope. What has always happened in the last century is one party stays in power until they **** up so bad that everyone wants them gone and the other party takes over. They'll lose but they'll be back in 2 or 3 more elections I reckon.

[Bun]

maybe, but that's only because whoever is in power is going to get moaned at, despite all the good things labour HAVE done.

[Frodo13.]

It may have lost it's appeal to the majority of people, but for everyone? Simple answer to that is no! People will still be voting for them, including me. We could of said the same thing about the Tories in '97, when they lost in spectacular fashion (and I can almost guarentee Labour isn't going to end up in the state the Tories did in 97 in this election) This is a ridiculous question to ask...

And in reply to Undertaker...the Labour Party are not socialists. Try doing some research on socialism first before throwing that tag around!

[-:Undertaker:-]

It may have lost it's appeal to the majority of people, but for everyone? Simple answer to that is no! People will still be voting for them, including me. We could of said the same thing about the Tories in '97, when they lost in spectacular fashion (and I can almost guarentee Labour isn't going to end up in the state the Tories did in 97 in this election) This is a ridiculous question to ask...

And in reply to Undertaker...the Labour Party are not socialists. Try doing some research on socialism first before throwing that tag around!

You (as a party) are not socialist in the sense that you practise socialism yourselves as proven by the Kinnocks, Blair and Mandelson - even big old Union boy Prescott. It is more so that you like to practise socialism on us, by removing wealth from the electorate via taxation and spending it on big government which I believe has expanded by one or two million over the past decade. I respect socialists like Tony Benn and George Galloway who, although I disagree with them profoundly, I respect fully because they are actually socialist and are not the hypocritical mix that the Labour Party is in 2010.

It does make me laugh the way Labour supporters on here criticise Thatcher and her economics along with the Conservatives in general, despite the fact the Labour Party has followed them for the past 13 years with the only differences being that Labour spends what it hasnt got, thus raises taxes to get it. This is where the campagne socialist tag comes from, because you preach (as a party) socialism to everybody else but when it comes to yourselves and your own personal wealth you dont seem all that keen on it anymore.

..now I wonder why that is. (£)