Last night I saw leaked images of the new Labour poster. The party had run a competition open to party members to design this poster. The competition was won by Jacob Quagliozzi from St Albans, whose design was implemented by the ad agency Saatchi and Saatchi. The poster depicts the politically incorrect Gene Hunt from Ashes to Ashes with David Cameron's faced imposed upon it. Reviews were not kind to the poster, with even Labour members criticising. Which is just as well when I learned that I would be in the audience at its formal unveiling.
This was the first major Labour event I attended, and I was obviously very excited at the chance to meet David and Ed Miliband, who are two of my most admired politicians. It was only when we arrived at the event when we were told what was happening, and I for one was slightly intimidated by the TV cameras scattered round the room.
The Miliband brothers stood in front of a digital image of the poster, which is how it would appear on billboards across the country. Both said the underlying theme of the poster was clear; we do not want a return to the Tory government of the 1980s. They spoke of personal experiences of having gone to school where pupils had to share exercise books, without a formal school building. All that has changed. In this time we a truly blessed with a Labour government that helps all sorts of people from different backgrounds, in education, health, social services, and many other areas.
There are those of my age who argue why I should care so much about this. After all, I was only born in 1994, I had never experienced first-hand what the Thatcher government was like. But I have heard stories from people who have done. David Miliband said having lived through the 80s once was bad enough, living through two would be worse. History tells us that during the Tory recession in the 1990s, unemployment rates are four times lower than they are now. And Labour's investment have brought us on a path to recovery, and it is the Tories who threaten our economic recovery, built not only by the Labour government, but hard work and toil from the British people. Workers were willing to work longer hours for less pay so their fellow workers could stay in employment. The British people take their own initiative, but government provides encouragement.
But if the Tories gain power, all this would be in vain. Cutting public services where it hits hardest is putting our fragile economic recovery at risk. Only when our recovery is secure can we afford to start the hard work of cutting our deficit, while we still have to make difficult decisions on what to cut and what to keep. We learn from history. During the three-term Labour government, there have been less days lost to strike than the Tories had in a single year. That is what real change means. And that is why we must learn from history. After all, why are history lessons concentrated on the brutality of the Nazi regime? Because we can learn that we must not get ourselves into such a situation again.
David Cameron knows that the people don't want to be back in the 1980s. Which is why he is trying to distance himself from Thatcher and offer "compassionate conservatism". Or at least, that's what he's trying to make the people believe. When the camera is on, the Tory leader talks about punishing the bankers and keeping taxes low, but behind closed doors he leaves the mainstream of European Conservatism and puts himself on the fringes of Europe with parties on the extreme right, homophobic, racist parties, and even a Latvian party which honours the Waffen SS. Are these allies we as a nation want in Europe?
Therefore, no matter what you think of the poster, it sends a strong message: If you want to go back to a time of high unemployment, regular strikes like we had in the 1980s, vote for the Conservative Party. But if you want to avoid such an outcome, no matter how much you dislike some of the Labour Party's decisions such as going to war in Iraq, look at what the Tories are really offering. The Europhobe Daniel Hannan MEP is co-writing the Conservative Manifesto. The same Daniel Hannan who went on FOX News in the United States and called the NHS "a 60-year mistake". Even David Cameron had to denounce that, claiming Hannan is just a member who does not represent the views of the party, despite writing the manifesto.
And so to conclude, take a long, hard, look at the Conservative Party. Make sure you look beyond David Camera-on, but David Camera-off, when you'll find that the Tories have not really changed at all. And take another look at the Labour Party. Yes, we have been in office for three terms, yes, there have been mistakes made, yes, the public might have been misled once or twice - but no government can ever be flawless. No matter how much you have lost faith in the Labour Party, just remember that it's a better alternative to the painful 1980s.
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