As part of the dirty tricks campaign waged by the Labour party, the Mrs left me off the electoral register thereby denying me the opportunity to vote. I am sure that Ed Miliband is profoundly grateful to his one loyal supporter in this household for this act of electoral sabotage.
As luck would have it, the Mrs is away, and a letter from Bristol City Council has just landed on the doormat. It stresses that “Your vote matters, make sure you’re in.” Keen to ensure that the sanctimonius eco-Nazis at Bristol City Council do not target me for disobeying them I have done as they urged and registered online to vote and applied for a postal vote at the same time. I have now filed the letter and envelope in the correct recycling bin.
But can Bristol prove that my vote matters? As far as I can see none of the main parties, and I include UKIP and the Greens to humour any fruitcakes or eco-smellies who are reading, are prepared to be honest with the electorate about the deficit and debt. None are prepared to fess up that with an ageing population we just have to extend the retirement and pension age by a decade and a half, to slash welfare spending and to accept that we cannot any longer afford an NHS giving free healthcare on demand.
But no politician is honest about this. They all tinker but will not tackle sacred cows for fear of upsetting the punters. With the exception of the Greens who are just borderline insane, the other parties ALL pretend that comparatively small savings from leaving the EU or cutting foreign aid or supposed greater efficiencies in Government will allow them to spend MORE on other things and that there is no problem.
There is a problem. The UK Government is slowly going bust. Each year the debt burden grows and yet folks all clamour for more. While the Greens are just bonkers, the other political parties are all just plain liars. And the entire political class is a detached and unappealing bunch.
To use John Stuart Mill’s analogy my choice on May 7 is between different rotten oranges. Does my vote really matter? I put it to Bristol City Council that it does not. I shall probably hold my nose and vote Tory just to piss off the Mrs and my entire family (bar Uncle Chris). But I am not sure why I should bother.