To the core of my being
Els Nicol lives in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders – a true blue Tory area, apart from a brief period between the 2015 and 2017 general elctions when inhabitants were represented by the SNP’s Calum Kerr.
Here Els gives her thoughts on the May election along with an impassioned plea to voters to think about how they will cast their votes on May 6th. Els’s arguments can easily be used on family members, friends and neighbours.
Wise words from Els
Listening to the news these past few days has made my heart scream out: “Enough! Enough! Enough! Laws that restrict protests, a decline in protection for women and an increase in spending on further Nuclear Warheads. I don’t know if I can take much more of this.
You must understand that me and my family live in the tory blue Scottish Borders, which is politically not always an easy place to live. So, when a friend of mine challenged me with an excellent question regarding the upcoming election this morning, I felt elated! Elated, because I hope others heard it too: “Think about the country you would like to see, what leader would deliver this, and vote accordingly!”
Do I want more of this: Nuclear Warheads, increased censorship, constraints on my personal & political views (without the protection we women need), the Rape Clause, the Bedroom Tax, an out-of-date House of Lords filled with unelected peers, 85 of whom are white male hereditary seats, an unlawful Internal Market Bill, a “Nationalist” approach to vaccine roll-out, PPE contracts corruption and Ministerial breaches in the Code of Conduct being dealt with through private financial settlements, behind closed doors?
NO, no, no! It offends me to the core of my being. I want a government that invests in people first. A government that is anti-Trident, mitigates the harm done financially by inhuman taxes, lets our children learn and study for free, supports Nurses with a bursary and encourages companies to pay the living wage. On top of that I would like to see a government taking the Climate Emergency serious and making bold changes to protect our children’s future, to lead the way at November’s COP26!
In an ideal world, one political party would stand for all the values I cherish, but I know such a party doesn’t exist. I will have to make choices, and this May I will. I will not be bought by the latest financial tory bribery in my area. Money to the Scottish Borders is not a bonus, it’s another ploy that I am not prepared to give in to: You can keep your Weapons of Mass Destruction!
Our future Society and Leadership? I am giving both my votes to a woman.
