It is almost certainly going to be led by Labour, but voters should send them a message that we want real change, not more of the same.
It has been a miserable campaign. Rishi Sunak, having announced the election in a downpour, has stumbled from shambles to shambles. The election bets scandal has shown that the Tories and their hangers-on will be corrupt to their very last failing grasp on power.
Many have said that the election feels oddly lowkey. That’s partly a result of the ridiculous first-past-the-post system, which means parties focus their resources on a relatively small number of target seats. But it also speaks to a deeper malaise in our politics, when there is little to choose between the main parties.
The Tories’ reign has been devastating in so many ways. They’ve brought about collapsing living standards. Their endemic lies and cheating have eroded trust in public office. They’ve stoked culture wars to harm the most vulnerable and they’ve condemned future generations to climate chaos.
Of course people want things to be different. Yet few are convinced that things will be any better under Labour. They’re mostly hoping that surely, at the very least, things will stop getting worse.
That’s a sorry state in which to be.
I was a couple of months shy of voting age when the 1997 General Election happened, but I remember the feeling of hope that came with Tony Blair’s landslide, after almost 20 years of Conservative dominance. It didn’t last, of course, especially with his role in the illegal war in Iraq, but for a moment there was a feeling of renewal. I don’t think anyone, outside of the most loyal Labour activists, feels that way this time.
And why should they? Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is not offering real change.
It is offering even more austerity and sticking to the same old racist rhetoric on migration. It will cap the meagre resources available to families in need, but not the obscene bonuses of city bankers. And it will equivocate (at best) on the rights of marginalised communities who find themselves under hostile attack.
There is an alternative. The Scottish Greens have a candidate in every Glasgow constituency and – despite what dodgy tactical voting sites say – everyone here can vote with their heart. Thankfully, there is zero chance – nada, zip, zilch – of electing a Tory MP anywhere in Glasgow.
Your Green candidates are standing for urgent climate action – 100% renewable power at the heart of a green and prosperous economy. They are standing for investment in our public services – taxing the wealthiest 1% and rejecting austerity. And they are standing for Scotland’s future as an independent country, back cooperating at the heart of Europe.
I’ve already placed my X for Niall Christie in Glasgow South. I hope many of you will also vote like your future depends on it – vote Scottish Greens.
