SOUND LIKE EVERYBODY COULD USE A THIRD PARTY!

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/6/5/215904.shtml
Jonathan Churchill Sandys
Tuesday, June 5, 2001
Editor's Note: With the British election just days away, NewsMax will be receiving special commentary and coverage from Jonathan Churchill Sandys. Mr. Sandys is the great-grandson of Winston Churchill and one of NewsMax's devoted British readers.

With polls predicting another massive defeat for the Conservative Party, speculation is growing in Britain as to who will replace William Hague after this election.

Michael Portillo, the current shadow chancellor, seems to be a front runner for the job and, interestingly enough, seems to have formed a band of troops to support his view, that if the Conservative Party does not claim back at least 100 seats Thursday, then he will force William Hague to resign.

The Labour Party is as usual very busy trying to cover up the latest rumour that Tony Blair made a deal with his Chancellor Gordon Brown, that after two years of this next term (should he get back in), he would resign as prime minister and Brown would take his place.

The Liberal Party has decided to break with tradition and admit that they would be raising taxes sky high to throw yet more money at the public services but, as usual, they don’t have a solution to the problem.

So, which way will it go? In 1992 the polls predicted a Labour landslide, and the Conservative Party, under John Major, returned to victory. In 1997 they predicted a Labour landslide; on this occasion they got it right. Now they are again predicting a Labour landslide, but will the Liberals get in their way by tactical voting?

In any area where there is a Conservative/Liberal marginal, the Labour Party has been openly urging its supporters to vote Liberal on Thursday, equally the Liberal Party has been urging its members to do visa versa in a Conservative/Labour marginal.

The question must be asked of what this election is really about. Are we fighting for a cause, or is it just to keep the Conservative Party out of power?

How can a person who has been a Labour supporter all his life suddenly put those principles aside and vote in a totally different direction and for a totally different party? Where are the morals? Where are the convictions?

Maybe that is what the prime minister meant when he titled his party’s manifesto "Ambitions for Britain." He meant a country like his party, with no clear morals, a country like his party with no real beliefs, a country like his party with only ambition. Ambition to do what he wants.

After four years of Labour rule, Prime Minister Tony Blair has used his campaign to ask the people for the chance to do what he promised to do four years ago but so far has not yet delivered. "Broken promises," that is the cry of both the Conservative and Liberal parties. Broken promises on health, education, tax, pensions and general public services. Broken promises on what Blair so proudly called "The best deal for Britain”

In the Labour manifesto, Tony Blair has again laid out a plan of his "Vision for Britain.” He has said: "I am honoured to be prime minister. And I have a confident belief in our country. We are not boastful. But we have real strengths. Great people. Strong values. A proud history.”

This history that Blair is so proud of has been slowly over the past four years destroyed. The House of Lords, once a great honourable chamber of power, has been turned into a Labour Party circus, where the animals now run the circus and the people entertain the animals. Hundreds of years of history removed in one pressured vote.

The British royal family, a once-great institute, has been attacked on all sides. They are no longer respected as a great historic family. It is a wide fear that Tony and Cherrie Blair hope to one day sit upon that throne, God help us all.

Recently Mrs. Thatcher said during an interview that Blair and Labour, if they win by a large margin, will be establishing an "elected dictatorship."

What of the other parties though, what became of them in 1997? The Liberal Party, having gained 10-15 new seats, has sat on the fence on most issues. The Liberals have not once voted with the Conservative Party, even when their members considered the Conservatives to be right. If they have not sat on the fence they have voted with the government.

One minute they want the British pound; the next they want to ditch it. They say they want more police on the streets yet they have not once backed the Conservative Party when William Hague was asking why there are fewer police on the streets than there were under the Conservative government. So, they vote with their consciences: with no conscience at all.

The Conservative Party, having suffered the greatest defeat ever, elected a new leader, William Hague. In his time as leader, he has been criticised for the way he looks, the way he talks and his lack of personality. It begs the question what the members of the Conservative Party were thinking when they endorsed him as leader.

Hague has done well at the dispach box. On many occasions he has slain St. Tony of Albion. He has fought hard to bring together and re-create an image of Conservatism with the broken pieces of a party that was once great. Although he has many faults, one must admire him for his courage. Anyone who was elected to do this job was in for a very hard time.

The Conservative Party has had a reasonable four years in opposition. It has had the odd blip from the past: the Jonathan Aitken trial, the Neil Hamilton trial and now finally, the Jeffrey Archer trial. The old hack is leaving the party, and the new brooms are moving in. Although William Hague has not shined completely in his role as leader, his integrity is strong, and he demonstrates a real belief in Britain and its rights and freedom.

So, what is this election about?

The Labour Party is fighting for five more years to do what it promised to do but didn’t deliver in the first four. The Liberal Party is fighting for the National Health Service and Education, promising to put taxes up to fund the public sector but not producing any ideas of how to solve the ever-increasing problems. The Conservative Party is fighting on the "broken promises" of Blair and the question of Europe and sovereignty.

So, who's going to win?

On the strength of the polls, Labour will return victorious, but the Conservative Party could turn things around (miracles do happen). The electorate could have lied to the pollsters; they did in 1992. I wonder, if we as a nation are really faced with the question of sovereignty, on which side of the fence will we jump. Do we want the unelected autocrats of Brussels to run our lives, or do we want to run our own affairs?

There is no doubt, this election will be the hardest for the Conservative Party, the easiest for the Labour Party and make no difference either way to the Liberal Party. Let’s hope that on Thursday, the electorate of Britain makes a sensible choice that shows common sense and forethought, or at the next election we’ll be campaigning to "Save Britain."

One thing is for sure, if we go much further into Europe, we will have made a mockery of the millions of lives given in World War II to prevent the type of autocracy that the bureaucrats of Brussels propose. Good luck, Britain. Whatever happens, you’re going to need it.