General Chat

I simply vote for whoever I think is best equipped to run our country fairly.

Not much of a choice though!

I'm sure we all want to know those things, Graham, but like the main parties they have not apparently 'set out their stall' yet . I will wait for the policy announcements prior to the election from all parties before deciding how to vote.

You didn't look very far, Graham -

Employment Policy

Full employment, as existed in the postwar period up until the 1970s, should be a primary objective for any left government. But we recognise that the type of jobs created and their conditions and pay also matter. All the policies outlined here will contribute to a dramatic reduction in both unemployment and underemployment (part-time workers who seek more hours). In particular we would prioritise:

17. Green Jobs: Electricity generation and transmission, transport and the heating and cooling of buildings account for 83% of greenhouse gasses emitted in Britain annually and it is vital that we adopt a twin track strategy of ‘powering down’ (reducing energy wastage) and ‘powering up’ (hugely expanding our generation capacity by developing and deploying zero carbon technologies based on wind, sun and water). This strategy would require a massive infrastructural investment and reconstruction programme, prioritising the rapid development of three key sectors – energy generation and transmission, construction and transport – and the creation of hundreds of thousands of new and sustainable jobs. Such a major programme of public investment and employment would not only lead to major regeneration in other key industrial sectors, but to rapid growth in R&D in sustainable and socially useful technology and stimulate the demand for graduates from almost all areas of tertiary education and/or training.

18. Purple Jobs: The term refers to jobs in the caring sectors which are being remorselessly cut by local authorities as a result of national government reductions in their funding. We would not only reverse those cuts but significantly expand the public sector (which currently mainly employs women) ensuring that labour necessary for the society no longer faces low wages and increasingly casualised and precarious conditions of employment. These are jobs which are critical for support for disabled people, the sick and the rapidly growing numbers of older pensioners. They are also jobs in childcare which would be provided for free to all those with children below school-age. Job creation in a unionised public sector in these areas will serve to strengthen unions and collective bargaining and raise pay levels generally.

(The purpose of Purple job creation is to free women from primary caring responsibilities which have led to their concentration in part-time work, discontinuous labour, and involuntary underemployment. Ending segregation of the labour market where women are consigned to low pay and underemployment to enable them to provide caring for children, sick, disabled people and the elderly, these jobs will enable men and women to work in this sector. This is a step towards ending women’s unpaid personal labour at home enabling their full participation in employment and enabling their access to education, personal development and economic independence.)

I'm not saying those things have no importance. But there are things closer to home that Left Unity have not mentioned.

I want to know what they plan to do about unemployment, the ridiculous amount of tax we have to pay in this country, the problems caused by alcohol & drug abuse, and other problems in this country.

But is not Gaza, and the situation in the Ukraine, Syria, Iraq etc important to us here?The instability of those places affects our security, our economy, the extent to which our armed forces ( paid for by the taxpayer remember) should be increased or trained and in what areas. Those situations affect our travel, and therefore our trade, they may even affect our health. They affect our energy supplies, our banking ( I would think) investments etc.

Any party, left or right, MUST consider the wider world not just what happens here surely?

I can't find any other left-wing parties on the internet. :-S
Does anybody know of any others?

Perhaps the left is that popular...

I can't say what's better for other people. :-S

I have looked at their website and saw a lot of stuff about Gaza. The last time I checked Gaza wasn't part of the UK. ;-)

There are more than 2, Graham, as you'd know if you'd looked at the website, I just mentioned 2 examples.

Surely the most important question is will the country be better off. Or do you always vote for the party that will do what's best for you?

I guess it depends on how you define 'quite a few'. If 2 is quite a few, you could be right. ;-)

What I want to know is am I going to be any better off voting for them?

They seem to have quite a few policies about home matters on their website, Graham.

This includes fracking and GP funding, to name but 2.

http://leftunity.org/

Enough about the far right. In the interests of democracy it's time to slate the loony lefties. :-)

Left Unity seem to be all to interested in looking out for the interests of foreign people in foreign lands; but what do they intend to do to sort out this countrys problems? Demonstrations and strikes is about the size of it.

They seem to have fosuced all their attention on foreign policy. What about our economy? Or the state of our prisons (there's been 1 or 2 escapes recently)?

The one thing they have mentioned at home is their plans to renationalise the railways. Is this really the most important item on the agenda right now?