When it comes to the General Election on 12^th December, it is almost inevitable that the two parties that will do best will be Conservative and Labour, and the more interesting question is will one of them achieve an outright majority needed to progress their agenda? Checking out the odds being offered by the bookies, they seem to have written off Labour. The Conservatives are 20/1 on getting the most seats and Labour 10/1 against, with the odds on Conservatives having an overall majority being set at 9/4 on.

I suspect the leftward trend of Labour, as seen in their recently announced manifesto, and their ridiculous Brexit policy that will offer the public a referendum on two forms of remain have done them little favours. Sadly, Jeremy Corbyn is no Jim Callaghan or John Smith. His rise to power has been impressive thanks to the support of Momentum, but like Michael Foot and unlike Tony Blair his contribution is likely to make Labour unelectable by those like me who fear the State taking control. Yet I confess I am a wannabe Labour voter, if for no other reason that I agree in principle with their slogan “for the many, not the few” and that in recent years I have seen too many instances of the poor suffering, arguably avoidably, when a different approach might have made a difference.

While words are cheap, some Labour announcements could offer hope for the most vulnerable in our community, and I look forward to seeing how the debate pans out in the next two weeks. Looking at their manifesto, it seems to come at a high price despite the unlikely claims that only the top 5% most wealthy will pay. One wonders, for example, whether re-nationalising certain industries is necessary. What bothers me most is the “progressive” agenda pursued, just like the Lib Dems, discussed in my earlier post.

1. Decriminalisation of Abortion – Labour propose to completely decriminalise abortion (p48). This will mean babies in the womb can be killed for any reason right up to the day of birth.
2. Self-Declaration of Gender – Labour will also allow self-declaration of gender (p68). This is contrary to science and common sense. It will completely undermine women’s rights and mean that there is no safe space for women. It will also completely destroy women’s sports.
3. Mandatory LGBT+ Sex Education – Labour plan to have mandatory LGBT+ relationships and sex education (p69). This follows the deselection of former Labour MP Roger Godsiff for standing up for parental rights. Labour clearly do not care about parental rights and religious concerns from Christians, Muslims, Jews about the sexualisation of young children.
4. No-Fault Divorce – Labour plan to introduce no-fault divorce (p48), allowing unilateral destruction of families for no reason.

While Labour may be closer to me in some of my social justice concerns than the Conservatives, and this is evidenced by what I know of the two candidates standing in my own constituency, putting odds aside, there are too many negatives as far as I am concerned to cause me to vote for them.