Every Vote Really Does Count [Guest Article]
The following has been written by Sarah Petrie, my other half. She’s a piano and singing teacher in Tameside / Manchester. The below are her views on the upcoming election.
It’s 2015 and we are one day away from voting in the General Election. So far, and the same goes for most campaign seasons, I’ve stayed quiet on the political front - especially so on social media. Generally I keep quiet because I don’t like what I see and read when people debate, even less so when it’s debating in type (you cannot read a person’s tone through type - one of my bug bears). No matter which party you support, there always seems to be this pettiness hanging around. Name calling, “scare-mongering”, attacks on character. The thing I think I detest the most is when ANYONE starts tarring ALL members or supporters of one party with the same brush. I’m not denying that there are a few individuals who have done or said things that aren’t liked. But that’s my point - it’s there in the word FEW. “All politicians are the same…I don’t trust any of them.” That’s like saying all football fans are hooligans just because of the negative behaviour of the extreme minority. There are probably millions of football supporters in the world, if not more, so how justified is it to say that they’re just “all the same”?
What I would like to say to those who have read this far is what I think, believe, and who I intend to vote for. I would like to emphasise that this is personal opinion. I never have and never will seek to press my opinions on anyone and insist that my opinions are the only valid ones and therefore must be right and you must do and think as I do and think. So here it is:
I run my own business and it has become really quite successful, a fact which I am immensely proud of - I have worked hard to gain students, and put a great reputation out there. In terms of finances, yes I’m doing well, thank you. That does not mean that I’m happy with the way the country is being run; if I were to vote solely by the fact that my business is doing well and I don’t want that to change, therefore I might vote to keep things the way they are. But my mind and heart just doesn’t work like that. Quite simply: I’m not going to vote selfishly.
On the topic of the NHS (which I am so proud of) I have seen it just about fall to its knees under the last government. Personally, I have been finding it nearly impossible to get something as simple as a GP appointment when I have really needed it. We’ve all seen (unless blind or chosen not to look) the state of the A&E departments. Queues of ambulances and patients waiting just to get into the building. We’ve lost thousands of nurses - some of the hardest working people in our hospitals - and while some MP’s have received pay rises of 11.5% to top up their already high earnings, what have nurses received? 1%. I don’t think that’s fair.
Education has been taking a beating too. Michael Gove repeatedly changed examination formulae - as an educator myself, I think this is particularly unsettling, especially as these changes came from a man who has had NO experience in the field of education other than going to school. I don’t think that’s fair to pupils, parents teachers or any school workers at all.
In terms of music education (a topic about which I am particularly passionate), I recently read an interview with David Cameron about his views on the subject. In his opinion the fundamental subjects of maths and english ought to be focused on and learned before one even considers taking up any form of musical education. That is his opinion. If David Cameron ever reads this, I would like to tell him this quite simple fact: Learning to read music and to play a musical instrument is proven to enhance and improve the learning of these basic subjects and more, and I can tell you how. When you learn to read and play music, it involves using MATHS. In so many ways, not just counting. When you learn to read and play music, it involves FOREIGN LANGUAGES - so much of the “jargon” associated with music is in Italian, Latin, German, French...and occasionally English. Also, the very process of learning to read music can very much be equated to learning a foreign language; learning what the symbols mean, what the words mean, why music is written in particular patterns. When you learn to read and play music, it involves coordination of the brain and stamina. Most instrumentalists use both of their hands at the same time which means that the opposite sides of the brain are working in tandum and can improve the overall coordination of that person. There’s also stamina; whatever you play, or if you sing, the performer needs stamina to keep themselves going through practise and performance. These things are great for SPORTS and ART. David Cameron stated in his interview that “As a government we've put something like £390m into music education.” Something like. That hardly strikes me as the language of someone who is serious about investing in such an important part of education.
There are a million people in the UK using food banks. Need I say more? Other than of course it is saddening, despicable and disgusting that it has been allowed to happen.
If you’re still reading, let me finish here by saying this: Whatever happens on Thursday/Friday, I hope for a better UK. I truly believe that the Labour party can only bring us a better UK than the one we’re living in right now. That’s just my opinion. Whatever you think, I just want to say that to not vote seems to be the only wrong choice. Whoever you back, please vote on Thursday - your vote really really does count.
