A few weeks ago, a friend on Facebook, knowing that I am to the left on the political spectrum, was trying to convince me to defect from the Lib Dems to join Labour.  Here is my response to him on why I will not be joining Labour:

I do not blame Labour for the financial situation. That was cause by the greed of bankers across the world & the Tories would have done no better at dealing with it.

What I do blame Labour for is that while they, supposedly the party of the working class, were in power the gap between the rich & the poor grew more than under Thatcher & Major.

I blame them for all the failed reorganisations of the NHS and introducing private companies into running services in it.

I blame them for destroying the ideals of comprehensive education and opening the door for the Tory privatisation of schools.

I blame them for having the opportunity to really make a difference for the better in this country in 1997 and then settling for being more Thatcherite than Thatcher.

This is why I cannot vote for Labour. While the Lib Dems are not perfect, and being in a coalition with the Tories means having to put up with many policies that are regressive, they are a better home for me than Labour is.

Yes, we do need a good left wing alternative party and when Labour is prepared to be one, I will consider joining it but I will not be holding my breath for this to happen.