A Christmas story

This blog is about hope, kindness, decency and truth. And politics. And Christmas. 

Anyone who is still with me, thanks. That's kindness covered. 

I'm not a fan of Christmas.  Rather I'm not a fan of the fake Christmas. The pre Christmas consumer festival. The one that starts earlier each year. Sneaking in before Halloween these days.  "Show them that you love them by buying them [this]".  Help please. No. 

I am a fan of the real Christmas. The full twelve days of it. I like the immediate run in too.  The bit called Advent.  I will -and do- wonder at the nativity story, sing carols, and hope for peace on earth.  I won't be throwing out a worn out Christmas tree on Boxing day. I hope to be full of good cheer throughout - even if my football team lets me down (again). Spending time with family and friends, even the in-laws. I can't wait - and I'm not being sarcastic. 

I am definitely not a fan of Christmas elections. Not this one. At. All. 

Unfortunately this is now my third blog about general elections in less than what would normally be a single five year parliamentary term. Blogging about putting up vote labour signs during the 2015 campaign now seems from a more innocent age. 

Back in 2015, Cameron's Conservatives won a reasonable working majority against Ed Miliband. Sadly for them after the Brexit vote, May now in charge and Corbyn leading the opposition, they got greedy. They called an early election in 2017 expecting a landslide but then lost their majority.  So much for the "strong and stable" government we were promised.   So much for "getting Brexit done" when they couldn't even agree or support their own version of it. 

And now we have The Johnson Conservatives.  I deliberately call them The Johnson Conservatives because this isn't the Conservative Party we have known.   There's been a takeover. Behind cultivated cuddly brand "Boris", there's been a ruthless clear out. New faces but old interests are pulling the strings, however familiar the blue rosette.  It's everything and anything to get power now.  Clue: it's not your or my interests they're looking after.  

Don't believe me? Follow the money. Read the Russian interference report.  Oh no, you can't! Johnson's mob have blocked it. 

Think I'm a conspiracy theorist?  How about the voting recommendation of a former Conservative Prime Minister and past senior cabinet members? They are actually supporting  independent conservatives  and other parties rather than the Johnson lot. A real conservative commentator and journalist has taken to rebutting Johnson's lies on a website.  Some conservatives are pushing back against these extremists cloaked in a familiar brand.  Good on them. It's time for all good decent folk to make a stand. 

In my first blog, I was optimistic but concerned about mounting negativity in campaigns.  Afterwards our local Labour candidate won the seat against the national trend but the Conservatives won a majority in parliament.  In my second blog, after the brexit vote and  a personal retreat into despair, I was engaged and back fighting but concerned about May's vacuous slogans and negativity. Our local Labour Candidate - in one of the most marginal seats in the country- went on to win by over 9000. We wrote the script locally and the Conservatives lost their majority nationally. This time, my third blog, I am numb from relentless lies. I have never felt like this before. But there's never been a more important time to pay attention. 

I'm really alarmed. This is serious - not your typical party political choice.   We are on a dangerous path.  Truth is out the window with the Johnson Conservatives. Lies are its currency.  We are not talking about stretching the truth - a slippery answer, an avoided question. It's not "All politicians lie"(untrue). It's not "They're all as bad as each other" (they're not).  We are talking about an industrial scale lying machine. Barefaced lies. Lies debunked but repeated regardless. A deliberate bombardment on the senses.  Falsehood repeated to cut through into your consciousness.  This is right out of Putin's playbook.  Trumpian scale alternative reality.  Reason and objective facts are now out of the window. Deception and manipulation is the Johnson Conservative way . We are heading down a dangerous rabbit hole where nothing seems real, but where the consequences will be real enough.  I fear we are passing a line in the sand. If these tactics win then kiss goodbye to common decency. Forget any sense of fairplay. Trust broken is not easy to repair. 

I'm not here to make party politcal points. But how many policies could you actually cite from the Johnson Conservatives campaign? Honest question.  Beyond the mind numbing "Get Brexit Done" and some robot like repeated but discredited  numbers of double counted nurses and hospitals.  Anything? In contrast, how many labour policies could you cite in the face of an everything-including-the-kitchen-sink shovelful of shit heaped on Jeremy Corbyn every day?

Are we going to let them get away with it? How far down the slippery slope do we have to slide?  Will you stand up to this or are you happy to sink further?  I'm not. 

I've worked in supermarkets in the run up to Christmas. "Merry Christmas Everyone". "All I want for Christmas is you". Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.  Eventually it gets you. It's not Christmas but you're humming along. Better start buying stuff.  It's not real, but it gets you anyway. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. 

The good thing about the fake Christmas is it ends eventually and the real one remains. We can remember the story of a baby in a stable.  We can open our hearts to hope. 

After a Christmas election like this, if we let the Johnson Conservatives get away with this, will our faith ever be restored in democracy?  It doesn't have to be like this. The shit is getting real. I choose hope. Whatever you do choose carefully.