D-minus 5
Nearly there. Thank you for bearing with us all these last few weeks.
So, it is decision time. This time on Friday we will have woken up to either Boris Johnson having been returned as Prime Minister to No.10, or the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn, flanked by John McDonnell and Diane Abbott, outside that famous door. No other outcomes are possible, unless you include Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP in their midst.
This being the third election in 6 years it is easy to understand the mixture of both weariness and determination of some voters I've met as we have travelled the two counties - the two are not exclusive. All the more reason, I would argue, to win those 9 extra seats needed for an outright majority.
"Give us the tools" as Churchill once said, "and we will finish the job".
As ever the national debate has homed in on whether all these manifesto promises of "free stuff" can actually be paid for, and by whom? Jeremy Corbyn claims that the top 5% of taxpayers will pick up the tab for pretty well everything, whereas we maintain that this approach is doomed to failure and will, (as history has shown) end up with price hikes, inflation rises and interest rates all over the place. In those conditions it is always the vulnerable that suffer through the double whammy of cost of living increases and less money for public services. In this area particularly I am worried about the impact of a big tax hit on oil companies.
But, if we are to shine a light on the dangers of our opponents' overly simplistic offer, then ours has to add up properly too. This means the dependence on a growing economy has to withstand Brexit, which is why it needs to be landed sooner rather than later and with a proper deal. As I've said before, the most frequent plea I get from our local businesses is for certainty, not another year or more of the unknown. We have a deal that has the agreement of the EU and has passed its first Parliamentary hurdle, so let's nail it down.
I was reminded of the current situation when I was staring down the tunnel at Coppet Hall recently to see if I could see any light at the other end...!
Unlike the Elections in 2010 and 2015, the intimidation of candidates and their volunteers remains all too frequent across the UK, despite the concerted efforts of the Jo Cox Foundation, the Committee for Standards in Public Life and many others, to tackle the problem. Social media seems to have "given permission" for most of this and the message it sends is that public debate is to be denied, not encouraged, and that can't be a good thing - a point all the candidates agreed on when we met at a recent LGBT+ hustings in Narberth. The theft of over £1000 of my election material is a small but irritating part of this! The line between good old robust campaigning and intimidation has always been a fine one but if we aren't to deter even more people from doing their civic duty then we need to be on top of this. All of our candidates, of whatever political persuasion, have an obligation to engage in honest and positive campaigning, and the media through honest and professional reporting. We mustn't be afraid to confront any failures to achieve this.
So the daily election routine will continue until Thursday. Each day we choose one area off the big map on my wall, either to visit, or at this late stage, revisit. It's never anything other than a pleasure travelling the constituency. We are fortunate to live in one of the most beautiful areas of the country and, even in December, our local nature, heritage and scenery warms up the coldest of days, as do the people I am fortunate enough to meet.
We are trying to make some kind of contact with everyone - but I guess we are bound to miss some of our 65,000 voters! It is harder during the winter months to go door knocking in the evening; I don't think anyone really wants a knock on the door once it's dark and we do try and respect people's routines by not disturbing them too late at night. That said, if we haven't met up and you would like to do so, please let us know. I am of course happy to call people who may be off the beaten track if that helps.
