Skipper

I know this is of scant interest to most people but, as a somewhat disillusioned Labour voter who voted Green in the Euro-elections, I wondered recently if I could ever bring myself to vote Conservative. Unsurprisingly, the answer if negative and here, with the election looming for 6th May, are two very good reasons:

Andy Coulson and the NoW: the Tory media adviser, Andy Coulson claimed he knew nothing about journalists and private investigators the hacking into mobile phones of well known people when editor of the News of the World. As editor and given the widespread practice of the illegal informatio gathering it was always hard to believe he was completely unaware of what was going on- a staff member Clive Goodman and private eye Glenn Mulaire eventually took the rap and are doing the time, allowing Coulson to go on to greater things. Now it transpires the NoW has paid £1m to Max Clifford to buy the silence of complainants. Paul Farelly, a member of the Media Select Committee claimed:

"This seems to be another settlement by the News of the World that preserves the cloak of secrecy and confidentiality around its affairs. It all mounts up to give the impression that silence is effectively being bought. People will draw their own conclusion about what are the real motives behind the settlement."

And here's another reason

Conservatives Represent the Interests of the Rich and Powerful: it seems incredible one has to articulate such an obvious truth, but Dave's successful efforts to detoxify the Tory brand has raised an efective smoke screen. It is even suggested that to accuse him and his advisers of being 'toffs' is 'below the belt', an unfair, outdated 'class war' way of conducting politics. I was pleased to see Jonathan Freedland disagreed, in an excellent and spirited article.

He inists quite rightly:

that for all the window-dressing and air-brushing, the Conservative party in Britain remains what it has always been – the party of the landed and moneyed interest.This is why the revelations about Michael Ashcroft are so damaging, because they play into a pre-existing – indeed, a centuries-old – perception that the Tories are the party of the well-off, looking out for the well-off. The heart of the matter remains simple: the Conservatives' deputy chairman is a billionaire hell-bent on influencing who writes the laws and sets the taxes of this country, but equally determined not to pay his share. Hear, hear!