Now, the fact I don't hear this is partly because I don't read the Daily Mail. But it's partly because discourse has moved on. And it's partly because the political climate has changed. There may not be enough help for those raising children in difficult circumstances, but there is massively more than there used to be. The people in charge of our government no longer regard mothers as enemies.
But this progress is not inevitable. Everything could be turned back. Homosexuality could be reviled in public once more. Abortion could be made illegal once more. Childcare provision could be rolled back. Minimum wage and maximum hours legislation could be repealed. Free health care could be downgraded. All this could happen; other things that seem unthinkable today could happen; we can see what has happened in America over the past four years. Some of these changes are likely short-term outcomes of the defeat of the Labour government. Others are long-term consequences of any drift in our political climate further towards a mid-Atlantic neo-conservative model, which would arise from the replacement of our Government with one that was more pro-American, more pro-market, more intolerant.
For this reason I would never cast a vote which might lead to the reinstatement of a Conservative government in this country. However, I also find myself greatly opposed to the war in Iraq. I find the current government too right wing, though less so than its rivals. For this reason in today's election I have decided to vote for the Labour incumbents in the local elections, and for the Green candidate in the Euro elections.
