Scribblings

Howard’s scare tactics

Michael Howard is continuing to make use of scare tactics which include lies and exaggerations in his attempt to win the election on 5th May. He claims that everyone can see that [Tony Blair] has lost the plot without offering any indication of where he gets his information on what “everyone” thinks. The mythical “silent majority” again, perhaps?

Once again Howard claims that if Labour get back in then taxes will go up (just as they did under the last Tory government in which he served). He seems to be basing this on a warning from the International Monetary Fund that if the government does not reduce spending then taxes will have to go up again. That may well be correct but so what? It may well be that we’re quite happy to pay for better services even if the only way that can happen is to increase taxes. We’re already one of the lowest, maybe even the lowest, taxed countries in western Europe. Howard would have us believe that we can expect something for nothing.

Howard is still saying that people want more police on the streets and control over immigration. By saying these things Howard wants to get into peoples’ heads that we haven’t got enough police and that immigration is somehow out of control. He completely ignores the true facts. There are thousands more police on the streets than there were under the last Tory government (which actually cut the number of police) and immigration levels are back down to the levels they were at in the early 1990s when Howard, as Home Secretary, was in charge of immigration policy.

Howard hasn’t, so far, given us anything positive which the Tories would bring if they were to form the next government. All he seems able to do is tell us what they won’t do.

Posted 14 April 2005, 06:24
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