Voting

I know some of my posts are half in French, but I am a UK citizen and I do have a vote in next week's election. This post could have been called 'The future of the left (Part 5)' (Part 4 etc. here). This is where, after stating the general principles, you get into the small-seeming details.

Reasons to vote Labour (things that have changed since 1997

• Network of cycle tracks (which no one seems to use).
  
• Free access to Internet in libraries, community centres and so on (mentioned in the election leaflet of my County Council candidate). This is quite well-used in my experience.
• In general, a small but important redistribution of wealth to the poorest.

On the other hand ... (things Labour have failed to do)

• House of Lords reform (the 'Billy Bragg proposal' seems eminently sensible) and electoral reform ('the single transferable vote, not the hopelessly corrupt and over-centralised party list systems that give proportional representation a bad name' - SIAW again).
• Raise the top level of income tax from 40%.
  

That last point might lead one to support the LibDems, but they want to abolish the Department of Trade and Industry. And then, of course, there is their policy on Iraq...

---

Friday at 1:30pm, BBC Radio4 had a phone-in with Charles Kennedy. First caller was a Mr Chalabi (I didn't catch the first name, but it wasn't Ahmed), asking how a 'liberal' party could be so opposed to the overthrow of a tyranny like Saddam Hussein's... Sadly, I didn't have time to listen to the reply.