A coast guy in ex-miner town
As a person born and raised in seaside town I’m a fan of open spaces: long, flat lines marking horizon; clear, fresh air in my lungs and nothing but blue sky above my head. Regardless of completely different roots to those who live here form birth- I have no problem to find understanding with ex-miners. We have one important thing in common- respect for hard work. Respect for people who get up in the every morning (or afternoon if you work nights) and go to work. People like us don’t want handouts- just fair wage for our work (and low taxes on it).
Those who fondly talk about “good old times of Shirebrook” need to understand that “coal bonanza” times are thing of the past. The town was saved from death and transformed by Sports Direct and now Shirebrook needs to look for a new identity. Coal is dead now and it will be dead forever. Those who stay here need to choose future and demand from people at power new idea for town development and future. Problem is that the Labour Party don’t have an idea of how to transform Shirebrook into modern, safe, vibrant town. For them- miners way is still an only way… even though the last mine was closed years ago.
Labour still play “miners” card for reason- each election they try to reignite sentiment to older times in order to cover lack of any success in present and complete lack of good ideas for the future. Don’t tell me that 400 000 pounds debt for 50 years just to build new Town Hall is a good investment. I don’t buy it! STC could renew old Village Hall for fracture of that sum. Don’t tell me that 1 200 000 spent by NG20 created in town anything worth to mention- I bet the majority of residents never heard about that 1.2M pounds “project”.
Let there be no doubt- I want to underline that time of Labour in ex-mining areas passing fast but they still hold on to it using people who fall for their rhetoric of “miner sentiment”. Denis Skinner election disaster was the best confirmation that change is coming. He was “poster boy” of Labour disconnect with reality in ex-miner areas. Left-wing politicians used miner communities to increase their election prospects but right after voting day- they forget where they came from and serve just liberal elites from big cities like London, Manchester, Bristol, Newcastle, Leeds and Liverpool. For big shots in Labour- Shirebrook is some backward hell-hole full of racists and bigots. How dare you vote for Brexit, right?
Even now- Labour top politicians rather fight each other for power and talk about rejoining EU, transsexuals, feminists, the racism of deporting convicted criminals and Twitter polls results than needs of working man and women. Labour voter- tell me when last time you heard some good idea about YOUR future from Labour? It’s like they forget that Twitter is just a website for activist and politicians in virtual reality and rarely have anything to do with NORMAL PEOPLE life. It’s like they prefer to work only for “few” in big metropolitan areas because “many” in rural areas are too “racist, stupid and bigoted” for them to be worth a while.
Problem is- we are “many” and in the vast majority, we are good, honest, tax-paying people. We are hard-working people who don’t want to destroy statues; who don’t want to burn and bury proud heritage of previous generations; who don’t want to be called racist just because we claim that “all life matters”; who don’t want to fight police over some fake reasons (protests, more like riots against police brutality? Give me a break! In whole last year British Police killed ONE minority member- terrorist on London Bridge- that was it!).
It’s been 35 years since the Miners Strike. People moved on, changed, started new careers. Today- many of them are much happier, healthier and wealthier thanks to changes introduced by Margaret Thatcher. Even if these changes were controversial and painful at the time, history has shown that they were also accurate. Some of the ex-miners still hate M. Thatcher, but deep down they know that those changes were good in the long run for the whole of the country. Today coal is a worldwide public enemy number one. What happened back then was painful but also inevitable, essential change. Coal is dead and dead forever. If not back then- when? Now? Today? Sorry- today would be many years too late…
Ex-miners with open minds understand that now and slowly their hatred toward Tories passing by- you can see that in polls and election results. Smart ex-miners knows: you CAN’T live in the past if you want to be successful now and in the future. South is wealthy because they vote Tory. North is poor because we vote Labour. More and more ex-miners understand that and slowly move toward those who actually have a plan for positive changes. Like Brexit. Like point-based immigration. Like lower taxes on working people. Like taxing tech giants. All of those policies are Tory policies. Do you remember what was introduced by Labour? Mass, uncontrolled immigration; an illegal war in Iraq; unmanageable debt; multiculturalism; tax rises on everything from gasoline to beer…
What are the current Labour policies? Honestly- I have no idea… I assume that their last election manifesto is in the same place as Corbyn- in the bin? Between constant racism toward Jews, an internal fight over power between far-left and centre of Party and growing “Rejoin” sentiment- I don’t hear anything else from the Labour Party. They have new, shiny, well-spoken, living in multimillion mansion lawyer leader with “sir” in front of name– perfect leader for working-class people. We all love fancy, posh lawyers, right? Riiiiiiight…. Mass media loves him too. BBC using money from my TV licence (they should call it BBC Tax) trying to recreate his image and bury his true legacy…
Problem is that behind this facade of new management… there is empty space. Posh, liberal political operatives of the Labour Party have no idea how to speak to working-class and at the same time not to offend their liberal fanatics based in big cities. Not to mention offer us things we, working people, really need. Do you know what is most shocking? I’m a blue-collar worker born and raised in a working-class family. I should be their hard-core voter. But how I can vote for someone who offers me literally NOTHING else than tax rises and some vague promises of handouts that in the end would be paid entirely from my taxes?
I DONT WANT HANDOUTS! I want opportunities! I want lower taxes on work and higher on capital gains. I swear on God- nothing that Labour Party promotes, benefit me and my family in any way. How crazy is that?
Who will be better for me? Those awful, patriotic, fiscally responsible Tories OR those globalist, caviar socialist, EU lovers who like to spend everything they have in pocket and more? Who will be better for our children? Those who plan for future and want to limit immigration to lower cost of NSH and services like education OR those who want open borders for everyone at all cost without any regard for expenses that this policy incurs?
Who would be better for Shirebrook??
Sylwester Zwierzynski info@shirebrook247.com
