Scare Tactic, Or Labour’s Belief?
Posted by Simon Emmett on March 15, 2010, 10:31
A lot has been made in the press recently, and on a number of blogs, that the old hard left way of campaigning by the Labour party has returned with a vengeance. The scare tactic.
Instead of even attempting to campaign on their “supposed successful thirteen years in power”, all you will see and hear from Labour activists is “those nasty Tories”. According to them it’s the Tories that want A&E’s to close; it’s only the Tories that are planning on cutting services; and the Tories want to take money from the poorest. But, if you give Labour a second look, like they asked you to, you quickly see that what Labour activists are claiming the Tories will do Labour have in fact already done.
Hidden in the scare stories though, I feel, is a belief by Labour that we should all be wary of. That of who Labour believe are “privileged”.
One Conservative policy, that has been misquoted by Labour, is that of the withdrawal of Child Trusts funds for higher earning families, whilst securing it for poorer families. In a recent letter to only his Labour supporting constituents, and in a trade union newsletter, my local MP Clive Efford stated that this cut would be to all families earning over £16,000. I view this quote in two ways. The first is that it is a desperate attempt to misconstrue Conservative policy. The common scare tactic.
The second is the view held by Clive Efford, and Labour in general, that families earning £16,000 are “high earners”. That is Labour’s interpretation of Conservative policy, that a “high earner” earns as little as £16,000.
If, as I believe that this is Labour true belief, it explains their record. If Labour view families earning as little as £16,000 it explains why THEY scrapped the 10% tax band, doubling the tax on the lower paid to 20%. It also explains why the INCREASED National Insurance contributions on anybody earning over £20,000, taxing both the worker and employer! It explains everything.
If you earn over £16,000 Labour views you as “privileged” and a “high earner”, and as a result after the election you will be penalised for that in the tax and benefit system.
angelnstar said
It appals me how easily people still fall for Labour spin. The most dreadful, outright lies are swallowed wholesale as fact, and as you say, instead of defending their own appalling record, Labour are still trying it on that the nasty Tories only exist to fleece the poor.
It is partly the fault of the electorate though. They won’t take the trouble to check facts and find out what the truth is.
David Gold said
Simon, you’re absolutely right. The Labour Party plays the politics of fear and believes that anyone earning 16 grand is wealthy.
I do, however, believe that people are not as dim as Labour politicians obviously think they are. I probably speak to hundreds of residents every single week during my street surveys and meetings. When the poison letters (as I call them) started dropping on door mats I thought I’d get lots of people quoting them back to me and accusing me of all sorts. What actually happened? I got former life long Labour voters telling me they’ve had enough of being treated like mugs. They won’t continue propping up this shambles of a government and will consider which other party to support to get Labour out – or else they’ll abstain.