Tories Ahead of Labour in Polls.......

Even I was surprised to find the Conservatives ahead of New Labour by as much as 40% to their opponents measly 31%, an all time low for Blair.

I have reached the stage of indifference as to which one of the main parties is in power as they have become virtually identical. I fail to buy the arguments of Labour lefties vis a vi the historic link with the trade unions, etc. They do not have the power they once did and have virtually no influence over policy. Hence the dissafiliation of the RMT and FBU.

As much as I admire the campaign by John McDonell and was heartened by the election of Walter Wolfgang to the NEC last month, I still hold little hope for the future of the party.

Middle class 'swing voters' may be simply tired of this government and it's lies. Some people may be voting Tory simply because they want a change, as the government is seen as being as sleazy and as tired as was the Major administration in it's last years.

It has ignored public opinion over important issues (i.e the war on Iraq) and is notably out of touch with the feelings of the people that terrorism is not unlinked from it's foreign policy. The government does not accept this undeniable logic because to do so would be to admit that it's 'war on terror' has been a shambles from the get go. The administration is as detached as Major's ever was.

Blair's 'New Labour' ditched it's socialism and created a red-tied version of Thatcherism to become 'electable' in the eyes of 'middle England'. Now, after spending almost a decade being unelectable themselves, Cameron's Conservatives are modelling themselves on Blair's New Labour. The result? Identical parties.

One thing that can be done, however, is to ditch the first past the post system that got us into this mess to begin with. We need electoral reform with some kind of proportional representation. Then an alternative will be able to built as smaller, less established parties, will have the opportunity to gain some clout. This will give the left in the UK the opportunity it needs to build a base and a credible alternative to the centre right who are running the show.