Thursday, July 12, 2007



Pointing the finger

Writing in the Independent (offline), political commentator Chris Trotter lays some groundwork for blaming the Greens if Labour loses the next election. Claiming that Bradford's advocacy for youth rights in the form of the anti-smacking law and proposal to lower the voting age has cost Labour support, he demands that they "shut the fuck up" and toe the line.

To call this arrogant is an understatement. To point out the obvious, the primary purpose of the Greens is not to deliver n% of the vote to keep Labour in power, but rather to represent the interests of their supporters. And contrary to Trotter's assertions, that is exactly what they have been doing. This may be inconvenient for Labour, but at the end of the day, that's their problem, not that of the Greens.