Sometimes I truly despair. I am not going to say what has upset me, but I hope those people who understand why I write this actually take this criticism on board.
People of the left have endless discussions about why the Conservative Party is so electorally successful in the UK. They say "why can't the masses see that they are voting against their own interests when they vote Conservative". They (wrongly) imagine that there is only a wealthy elite who vote Conservative and by some inexplicable process they win elections. Even when a right wing, highly opinionated, loud, bombastic Tory such as Boris, trounces a saint of the left such as Ken Livingstone twice in elections, they imagine that this doesn't really reflect the real voting intentions of the people.
In some ways they are right, because all UK elections have low voter turnouts. We don't really know the intentions of the people who don't vote. Whilst many on the left firmly believe that the no show voters are really working class Labour supporters, who for whatever reason have become completely disconnected from the party, I doubt it. I believe they are supporters of the apathy party. I suspect that the only thing that would make them vote Labour en mass is if the Tories took leave of their sense and gave the apathetic a good financial kicking. Sadly the Tories haven't and have pretty much directed their attention on the core Labour vote.
But even this isn't the real secret of the Tory electoral success. That is down to the fact that the Tories have one characteristic which the left will never adopt. They are pragmatic. No matter how much they hate each other, they will pull together to win elections and other battles. They know which side their bread is buttered on. The left is riddled with schisms and splits. I suspect that any meeting of more than two lefties ultimately ends up with an ideological split. Wheras the Tories put all this aside, so they can inherit the promised land, the left would rather die (or at least lose everything) to defend their political purity.
The biggest threat to the left is always itself. Whenever the left thinks it is in a strong position, it dissolves into infighting and the inevitable disaster occurs.
What I find most upsetting is that this doesn't only happen at national level, but also in the smallest microcosms of tiny campaigns. People are totally unable to put their personal enmities to one side. They care more about their own right to do what the hell they like than to work together and do the right thing for everyone. They pervert the ideas and principles of democracy into narrow cliques, which they then use to bully and humiliate the poor mugs who get on their wrong side. Votes are rigged and decisions made in back rooms away from scrutiny. When challenged they say "You haven't seen all the evidence" When attempts are made to try and mediate for the greater good, rules which don't exist and laws which don't apply are quoted.
These bullies also think that the rest of us are stupid. They think we will back down, cowed by the fact that whilst they can cause havoc, we are too principled to cause a public spat.
Well just in case any one is under any false illusions, this blog doesn't care what side you are on or what colour your politics are. If you lie, distort, bully or intimidate or in any other way act to compromise the interests of the people of Barnet, your actions will be exposed here. We are not interested in keeping our mouths shut, if the price of that is destruction of what we hold as dear.
This blog believes in democracy, openness and transparency. We believe that the only decisions that should be taken in secret are those concerning details of a personal or intimate nature, or financial negotiations, where confidentiality is vital to the process of allowing a fair and equitable settlement to be achieved.
We respect other peoples confidentiality in private emails, but we would draw limits on this if we believed criminal activities were being perpetrated. We are told all manner of things in private. We don't name our sources, but where we can we share the information. I am as depressed as I could possibly be, because of the behaviour of certain activists and so called community representatives in the London Borough of Barnet.
They are selfish, egotistical and dishonest. They are bullies and they disgust me. Whilst the Tories in Barnet are in the process of oiling their well maintained election machine to win the Council elections next year, a bunch of egotistical fools are about to embark on a suicide mission to scupper all the things we've achieved in the last three years. Why? Because they are too proud and too vain to put the axe they are currently grinding down and behave themselves for the greater good of the wider Barnet Community.
Be warned ladies and gentlemen. A lot of people won't forgive you if your actions scupper the last few years stirling work. You know who you are. It is time to grow up.
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