With just about 6 weeks till the General Election in May, much anxiety if filling the hearts of British politically conscious people.
As a young person, I never really cared about politics, as it was spoon- fed to me, that all politicians are liars and scum-bags anyway. With that in mind, and not much understanding of how policies for health and education were directly affecting my life .. I was disengaged and uninterested in politics.
Growing older and experiencing many difficulties financially, I realised how significant the roles of politicians are, in ensuring equal and fair opportunities for all. I started to familiarise myself with the main political parties and their leaders (I believe I learnt this whilst in secondary school, in my citizenship class, but I was too busy being the class clown - mind you,despite this, I done considerably well in my GCSEs).
After watching the UK Election Leader's debate, though I am adamant that I will be voting for Labour on the 7th of May, David Cameron has somewhat won me over. Kind of ironic if you ask me, since I've been quite disheartened at the poverty many working class families have to experience, due to the welfare cuts he is responsible for. However, his earnest and charismatic nature along with his confidence, made me believe in his manifesto in a split second.
He spoke about shutting down up to 800 bogus visa colleges in relation to immigration as well as briefly touching on how attempts are still being made to stamp down on the subject. With Ukip leader Nigel Farage not to long ago, getting stick for the controversial statement of much rather preferring the country be poor then populated with immigrants, I would have thought we'd have far more challenging and important things on the agenda. I should add that immigrants do the jobs some of us would turn our noses up at, they work extremely hard and contribute to the economy, in ways you couldn't imagine.
What particularly impressed me about Cameron in the debate, was his willingness to stand for those that are most likely to be marginalised from society. He made a point of addressing the hardships that the elderly and retired might experience, emphasizing that winter fuel payments and free prescriptions will continue being available.
"We need a culture change from Employees" he said. I was wondering what exactly he meant by this, before he explained that more organisations need to take a pro-active approach in recruiting disabled people for their jobs, in order to not to miss out some of the brightest talent in the country.
The only thing that saddened me, from listening to Cameron try his best to dodge the questions hosted by Jeremey Paxman and boast about his party's ideals, was his take on the welfare system. He said, " No family should get more than £23,000 a year in welfare." Now, for middle-class workers, this may not hit you as hard as it did to me. But, I come from a family, in which, neither of my parents work, due to unfortunate health problems. Not just that, but I am the eldest of five siblings, all under the age of 20, pretty big family as you can gather. For a family like mine, not to be supported wholly by the government, puts our health and social well-being at risk. Politicians talk about equality all the time, but how can we ever be equal, if even in a city like London, thousands of people experience poverty?!
Ed Miliband didn't let being labelled 'gloomy' by a member of the live audience dismay him, as he boldly remarked, "I want to under promise and over deliver, not over promise and under deliver."Though this may be a bit cliché and a tad bit contradictory (all Politicians go against their words at some point), it was comforting to know that Miliband was still trying.
He spoke honestly about spending reductions on health and education in order to bring the deficit down. I'd be lying if I said this didn't ring alarm bells in my head, the NHS is already becoming more and more squeezed and could do with a financial boost. Illness and misfortune cannot be predicted (sorry card dealers), therefore we need to look after the people affected, to keep society thriving and enriching for us all.
Another thing that warmed me to Miliband, was his commitment to freeze energy bills until 2007.- my parents pay up to £900 on energy bills a month, so this policy will mean a lot to me and many similar family structures.
Overall, the battle seems for No. 10 seems to be between Cameron and Miliband, with one of them most likely to rule our country in the future. Cameron might have convinced some of the public with his plan to halve the deficit, but the rest of his pledges do not do him justice.
Since Labour has taken the initiative to contemplate the realities of ordinary people and come up with solutions to get people on the housing ladder and help eradicate the creeping of privatisation of the NHS, they will be getting my vote on the 7th of May.
I will be voting for Labour!
Growing older and experiencing many difficulties financially, I realised how significant the roles of politicians are, in ensuring equal and fair opportunities for all. I started to familiarise myself with the main political parties and their leaders (I believe I learnt this whilst in secondary school, in my citizenship class, but I was too busy being the class clown - mind you,despite this, I done considerably well in my GCSEs).
After watching the UK Election Leader's debate, though I am adamant that I will be voting for Labour on the 7th of May, David Cameron has somewhat won me over. Kind of ironic if you ask me, since I've been quite disheartened at the poverty many working class families have to experience, due to the welfare cuts he is responsible for. However, his earnest and charismatic nature along with his confidence, made me believe in his manifesto in a split second.
He spoke about shutting down up to 800 bogus visa colleges in relation to immigration as well as briefly touching on how attempts are still being made to stamp down on the subject. With Ukip leader Nigel Farage not to long ago, getting stick for the controversial statement of much rather preferring the country be poor then populated with immigrants, I would have thought we'd have far more challenging and important things on the agenda. I should add that immigrants do the jobs some of us would turn our noses up at, they work extremely hard and contribute to the economy, in ways you couldn't imagine.
What particularly impressed me about Cameron in the debate, was his willingness to stand for those that are most likely to be marginalised from society. He made a point of addressing the hardships that the elderly and retired might experience, emphasizing that winter fuel payments and free prescriptions will continue being available.
"We need a culture change from Employees" he said. I was wondering what exactly he meant by this, before he explained that more organisations need to take a pro-active approach in recruiting disabled people for their jobs, in order to not to miss out some of the brightest talent in the country.
The only thing that saddened me, from listening to Cameron try his best to dodge the questions hosted by Jeremey Paxman and boast about his party's ideals, was his take on the welfare system. He said, " No family should get more than £23,000 a year in welfare." Now, for middle-class workers, this may not hit you as hard as it did to me. But, I come from a family, in which, neither of my parents work, due to unfortunate health problems. Not just that, but I am the eldest of five siblings, all under the age of 20, pretty big family as you can gather. For a family like mine, not to be supported wholly by the government, puts our health and social well-being at risk. Politicians talk about equality all the time, but how can we ever be equal, if even in a city like London, thousands of people experience poverty?!
Ed Miliband didn't let being labelled 'gloomy' by a member of the live audience dismay him, as he boldly remarked, "I want to under promise and over deliver, not over promise and under deliver."Though this may be a bit cliché and a tad bit contradictory (all Politicians go against their words at some point), it was comforting to know that Miliband was still trying.
He spoke honestly about spending reductions on health and education in order to bring the deficit down. I'd be lying if I said this didn't ring alarm bells in my head, the NHS is already becoming more and more squeezed and could do with a financial boost. Illness and misfortune cannot be predicted (sorry card dealers), therefore we need to look after the people affected, to keep society thriving and enriching for us all.
Another thing that warmed me to Miliband, was his commitment to freeze energy bills until 2007.- my parents pay up to £900 on energy bills a month, so this policy will mean a lot to me and many similar family structures.
Overall, the battle seems for No. 10 seems to be between Cameron and Miliband, with one of them most likely to rule our country in the future. Cameron might have convinced some of the public with his plan to halve the deficit, but the rest of his pledges do not do him justice.
Since Labour has taken the initiative to contemplate the realities of ordinary people and come up with solutions to get people on the housing ladder and help eradicate the creeping of privatisation of the NHS, they will be getting my vote on the 7th of May.
I will be voting for Labour!