THE recent revelations about the Tories’ latest fundraising
activity could genuinely have come straight from a political satire or even a
sketch show.
Picture the scene.
Hundreds of obscenely wealthy Tories throwing cash around like there’s
no tomorrow, spending outrageous sums on ridiculous auction lots.
Imagine one snooty Tory splashing out £110,000 so he and his
pals can shoot 500 pheasants, or another
paying twice that sum for a week’s holiday at a 24-guest mansion in Majorca.
The sketch would climax with another millionaire splashing
out more than £200,000 on a bronze bust of that dubious heroine to all Tories –
Margaret Thatcher.
I can well imagine settling down on my sofa to watch such
entertainment on a Sunday night, or perhaps as an ironic sketch highlighting
the differences between rich and poor on Comic Relief.
The incredible truth is that the picture I have painted is
not a fiction, but a genuine description of David Cameron’s recent fundraising
ball.
This is a political party that tries to make capital out of
Labour’s funding links to the trade unions.
Yet here it was, drawing cash from its wealthiest donors who
stumped up £15,000 per table even to be at the event, even before the auction
began.
Who are you more like?
Someone who is part of a trade union, or the sort of person who can
afford to spend six figure sums on whatever folly takes their fancy on a whim,
or perhaps to impress their pals.
And that, in a nutshell, is the difference between the
Labour Party and the Conservative Party.
One is representative of the worker, and one is
representative of the elite super-rich.
It is reflected in everything our respective parties stand
for. Labour is about sharing the wealth
and ensuring that everyone is treated fairly and equitably, regardless of their
situation. The Tories are about ensuring
that the wealth of the richest is protected, at the expense of the poor.
That’s why my party makes pledges to do things like abolish
the bedroom tax, whereas the Tories introduce tax cuts for millionaires.
David Cameron’s quote in the official brochure for the plush
fundraiser says it all: “As the clock ticks down to polling day, we all need to
dig deep to ensure that we stick to our plan.”
A personal message to millionaires, and a sinister reference
to “our” plan.
What is this plan you share with the super-rich, Mr
Cameron? To make them richer still while
you continue your austerity measures and slash public spending?
It absolutely defies belief, and is truly sickening. In a few words, the Prime Minister has
summarised everything I despise about Tory ideology, and about the exclusive
club who benefit from their policies.
The truth is that there are very few people who really
benefit from a Conservative Britain.
I have a theory that the secret to their success is by
convincing those better paid ‘ordinary’ people – not the millionaires or
super-rich but the so-called middle earners – that they are beneficiaries of
Tory policies.
They are not.
The truth is that, unless you’re the sort of person who can
afford to spend lavish amounts of cash on stupid auction prizes like those I’ve
described, you don’t come close to benefiting from Tory policy.
Any people not in that bracket who vote Tory under a
mistaken belief that they are rich enough to benefit are, unfortunately,
kidding themselves.
These are the voters who we need to come home to Labour,
because only Labour is capable of reversing the damaging cuts that have widened
the gulf between rich and poor and damaged our country.
Britain is in a far worse state than it was five years ago,
thanks to the Tories, yet the deficit has not been addressed. Conservative policies have failed.
While the champagne-quaffing millionaires may chuck their
money about without a care in the world, it troubles me to contemplate the
state our country will be in if this goes on for five more years.
