What did Labour ever do for Me?

Flash back one month...

As two publicly educated Oxbridge graduates shake hands on a deal to drag Britain back into the dark age of greed and exploitation I down my third glass of wine and, somewhat shakily, log into Facebook. Amongst my friends, people of all ages, experiences and circumstances, there is a sense of loss and betrayal especially those who tactically or hopefully had voted Lib Dem. I feel sick, scared, worried for my child’s future. I feel hopeless. And then I do something, I make a small stand. I join the Labour Party. OK I was drunk, I could hardly type in my direct debit details, but at least it felt like I could do something.

The election map shows my home city as a sole red dot in a depressing sea of blue. What short memories we all have! For months people have been shaking their heads gloomily as they read their Murdoch owned papers and said “Well, the Conservatives can’t be worse, what have Labour ever done for me?” Intelligent people Friends, relatives, colleagues. Have they really forgotten?

This is what Labour has done for me:

Clean hospitals

Beds in hospitals

Shorter NHS waiting times – and expanded hours

Sure Start

School rebuilding

Enough textbooks for each child to have their own

Investment in libraries

Free museums – yep that’s FREE museums

Back to work initiatives

Tax breaks aimed at families not married couples

Free swimming, bus passes and fuel allowances for the over 60s.

Fruit in school for infants

Free swimming for children

Fantastic playgrounds in every city, town and village

And so much more…

And yes they lacked self belief, they got bogged down in bureaucracy, they got sucked into America’s warmongering, championed ID cards and never really were as inclusive as we hoped back in 97. But I remember – wards closing at the end of the financial year, half my lessons being held in portacabins whilst the rest of the school fell apart around me, waiting lists that stretched on for years, sharing shabby textbooks, strikes by teachers, by nurses, by public sector workers, by everyone, vandalised playgrounds, ridiculously expensive museums, filthy, depressing hospitals, I remember my country’s infrastructure being sold off around me – the gas, communications, transport creating a ridiculous expensive mess we all pay through the nose for in the interests of “competition”.

The music was good though.