fronkis

gooneruk:

With the European elections this Thursday, I’m going to send in my postal vote this evening to avoid having to take the morning off work.

At the moment, I’m leaning heavily towards voting for the Green Party, but there’s a voice in the back of my head that says the Liberal Democrats. I had a good read of the manifesto and policies of the Greens last week, and am planning to do the same for the Lib Dems tonight.

Via @currybet on Twitter, I found the VoteMatch site, which gives you a rough indication of the party most suited to your answers to a number of European policy questions. As you can see from my results, it’s a 3-horse race between the two parties above and Labour.

I simply can’t vote Labour right now, I’m afraid. I disagree with a whole host of their policies, many more than for the other two parties. I think they’ve fucked up this country massively in the last 10 years, and it’s going to take the best part of another decade to repair much of the damage. They don’t merit my vote at all.

I am not voting for the Conservatives because I’m a very pro-Europe person. They, as a party, are not. I’ve been served well by the EU, taking a year in Germany to study as part of my degree, and I think British people don’t realise the sheer number of benefits we get by being part of the European project. Maybe it’s because I’ve actively studied the EU and its workings as part of a law degree that I appreciate it more than most…

I wouldn’t say that I’m hugely environmentally-minded, although I know that it’s an important issue. I do my bit: I recycle, use public transport and don’t own a car. It’s not a massive campaign issue for me though, but fortunately the Greens aren’t a one-issue party any more. Their manifesto looks comprehensive, although as with any political party you have to wonder just how many policies they’ll stick to if they get in office.

Once I’ve looked through the Lib Dems’ material this evening, I’ll make my choice. I’m fairly certain that I’ll stick with the Greens, but I could be swayed by the Lib Dems if they can make their position on the future of British membership of the EU a little clearer.

For shits and giggles, I took the quiz and came up with Libertas as the best fit.  Difference between US and UK/EU mindsets?  Granted, I’m not fully educated on all of the issues, so a lot of the time I answered “open minded.”