*sigh*

I'm quite exasperated with the state of UK politics at the moment. So many things that seem to be common sense, the sort of things that I'm so sure anyone would go for, don't get done, but instead some of the craziest bat-shit stuff happens. The current looming cloud on the horizon is the possibility of a BNP surge in the european elections & then possibly in a forthcoming general election. Far better writers than I have illustrated why voting BNP is the stupidest thing to do - why the BNP themselves are a bunch of unpleasant, racist morons who can't even get 4 genuine supporters to appear on a flyer for them, and who use a Polish Spitfire pilot to illustrate why British people have won some kind of right to lord it over everyone else. Utter piffle, anyway.

There's no way in hell I'm voting either Labour or Conservative, and if I vote BNP or UKIP please check for lobotomy scars. LibDems have by far the best collection of policies, but if that's the case, why am I so exasperated? I'll tell:

Over 10 years ago I used to hang out on occasion with my godparents and their family in Finchley, North London. They were all staunch Labour supporters - the old guard who'd supported the miners during the strike and so on, and who never tired of telling me that it was their tireless campaigning that got Mrs Thatcher out of her seat - supposedly one of the safest Tory seats in the country. I had occasion to help them out, as in those days I was thus far not disillusioned with Labour. These were the dying days of the Major government, going into the heady days of the first Blair term, and we'd not yet had a sufficient dose of Labour to know what a shower they were going to turn out to be. I got to see this tireless campaigning & how it worked, and I have to say it left a lasting impression - a grassroots movement of people who really believed in their party, & who would not give up on it no matter how futile the fight looked. They never took a step back, never baulked. They were brilliant, even if the party they've got in didn't live up to them.

So anyway, fast-forward a few years, and I've written a few times mostly over human rights and civil liberties related issues to my local MP, Siôn Simon. Siôn was elected MP for Erdington in that first heady rush of New Labour good, Tories bad fervour in '97, and ever since then he's hugged fast onto the Party line, no matter how unpopular their policies - we're talking here about all the shite they've done that wasn't in their manifesto. I'm sure nobody voted for war with Iraq, because it wasn't on the table in '97. None of the supposed anti-terror legislation was ever voted upon by the people, and that is why I think people like Siôn need to listen to their electorate in the time between elections, when it comes to issues we didn't get a vote on. After doing this a few times and getting some fairly dismissive re-statements of the Party line I decided that there's no way this guy is ever going to represent his constituency, and as such, he needs to be got out.

I was still never going to vote Tory, and the LibDems' policies, even if they may never win a general election, are the best. They stand for personal liberty and social responsibility, good values. I have to say I do go slightly wistful & sigh a bit at this because I'm a realist & I'm sure they'll not win a general election under the FPTP scheme, because FPTP is a 2-horse race, and the 2 horses are basically the same anyway, New Labour have proved. So I joined the LibDems, thinking, "Right - I know how to get this guy out! Let's do it!".

But then I ran into a block - when I asked about the local candidate for the elections that were coming up at the time, I was told yes, there was one standing in my ward (Stockland Green) but they weren't spending any money or time or effort campaigning for him. What a waste of a deposit! No posters saying who he was, no leaflets through my door or any of my neighbours, nothing. I said I would be happy to put them through myself, but I was told none would be printed, and so predictably they came nowhere in my ward in the locals that time.

A couple of years later & having let my membership lapse, I'm stirred again by the new LibDem leader, Nick Clegg. He's a decent sort, with good ideas, and I desperately want him to do well, so I join up again & I go to a meeting & say about how I'd left before because we'd been so apathetic - well, they had anyway, and if we actually bothered we might have a chance. I read so many blogs from young LibDem supporters & there's a huge energy there, but TBH my local lot have a bit of a problem - they're mostly pretty elderly. When I said I wanted to do leafleting in my local area, I did mean in my local area. Instead, I got a delivery of leaflets for Castle Vale & Tyburn ward, nearly 7 miles away. There's no way I can walk over there quickly of an evening, and it's probably the least salubrious place to be after dark. I knock off at work at 7pm & drive 50 miles home, leaving me exhausted & it's late - 8:30 or so. I cannot do this. I cannot *be* the whole fucking LibDem support in the North of Birmingham. I was told if I couldn't do it I'd get help, but nobody has offered any help, just leaning on me to deliver these. It's just not on.

OK, so now you know - if the LibDems don't do well it's because they Just Can't Be Bothered. Get your thumbs out of your arses & get leafleting. Get canvassing. Have a stall outside your local supermarket, every week. Get signatures on petitions. Represent your people. If you're not yet in the council, be the go-to people to get your council members acting on the people's behalf. Be firebrands! I can't do it all myself.