|
:: NEWS ::
Neha
Gohil
Historically, British Hindus have generally leant towards Labour, as have all ethnic minorities. However, there has always been a large section of Hindus who alternate between voting for the two main parties depending on current issues. And current issues have meant a huge lurch towards voting Tory, in this instance, although not without some reservation being expressed about what exactly the latter are supposed to stand for. The reasons why individual Hindus have turned against Labour vary from person to person. But there were some common themes that came up amongst most Hindus I spoke with, and the foremost of these was the excessive tax burden on working people. The vast majority of Hindu adults are working people, and the relatively few non-working spouses are unlikely to be eligible to receive benefits. Even relatively low income Hindu households, who a decade ago would be classical Labour voters, were angry about people in their neighborhoods who decide not to work, make no effort to find a job, and as a result get all their housing costs paid, free prescriptions on the NHS, free dentistry, home improvement grants, a fortnightly amount paid into their bank account, discounts on transport and council tax etc. Thus, they end up having a better quality of life compared with many households in which both parents work hard, and get to spend much longer with their children and socialising with friends. Labour, rightly or wrongly, have come to be seen by Hindus as giving too much money away in benefits to the non-working, whilst having failed to significantly improve public services. At the level of the local councils and the London assembly, Labour are seen as wasting money on unnecessary appointments and unnecessary costly consultations, while council tax and the cost of transport soar out of recognition at levels much higher than general inflation. With regards to Ken Livingstone, Labour’s just-defeated London Mayor, Hindus have come to see Ken Livingstone to be too cozy for comfort with radical Islamic clerics, in order to woo the Muslim vote bank, and to be soft on terrorism. Hesitancy regarding the Conservatives David Cameron, the leader of the Conservatives, said that the election results were not just a protest vote against the Labour Party but also a vote of confidence in the Conservative Party. But with regard to the Hindu community of Britain, nothing could be further from the truth. Everyone who voted Conservative expressed that it was solely because they were the party most likely to beat Labour. Most indicated that they would hesitate in voting for the Conservatives in the actual general election, because they don’t really know what the Conservatives under David Cameron stand for. The Conservatives are seen as having no consistent policies, and attempt political opportunism on every issue. Particularly, the Conservatives are still seen as being too “right wing” for ethnic minorities to feel wholly comfortable with. With regards to the London Mayoral candidate, Boris Johnson, most people spoke of him as a comical character rather than a serious politician with meaningful policies. Despite this, the feeling that it is time to “teach Labour a lesson”, and the prospect of Conservatives bringing less rapid increases in council tax, congestion charge and many other stealth taxes imposed under Labour, came out far stronger than any reservation about the Conservative Party. The upcoming General Elections It will remain to be seen whether the surge in votes
for the Tory party in the Hindu community will translate to votes
in the general elections (which are due within the next two years).
Whether Labour can portray itself as sensitive on the issues that
concern us, and/or whether the Conservatives can show consistent and
fair policies on issues such as immigration will influence whether
the swing become permanent or whether it is a temporary protest vote. VIEW RELATED ARTICLE: "ENGLAND & WALES LOCAL ELECTIONS ROUND UP" |
Having
spoken to dozens of Hindus regarding who they voted for in the May
1st elections, I found that most voted for the Conservative Party,
several for the Liberal Democrats, and not a single for Labour.