#pledges

It's my job's second annual Pride Night, and we're trying to raise money for the Ruth Ellis Center, a non-profit organization in Detroit that "provides trauma-informed services for lesbian, gay, bi-attractional, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ+) youth, and young adults, with an emphasis on young people of color, experiencing homelessness, involved in the child welfare system, and/or experiencing barriers to health and wellbeing."

Any donation or pledge is appreciated! We'll be going by completed three-pointers for both men's and women's basketball teams. Both have a combined average of 10 3-pointers, so if you can spare $10, that's more than enough. Our goal is $1000. Last year we hit $230, so we hope to raise more than that.

Question

What do the following political leaders have in common?

David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, and Keir Starmer.

Answer

They all made pledges they did not keep.

Cameron broke several pledges, not least his promise not to raise VAT. “We have absolutely no plans to raise VAT” he told Jeremy Paxman during an interview about his first budget.  VAT was then raised from 17.5% to 20% despite Cameron’s pledge to the contrary.

Nick Clegg pledged not to raise university tuition fees. “I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative.”  This pledge was abandoned immediately Nick Clegg became Deputy Prime Minister under the Tory/Lib/Dem coalition government.

Boris Johnson, as we all now know, is  incapable of telling the truth about anything if he sees a personal advantage in lying to us.

Rishi Sunak promised, on the steps of No 10 Downing Street, "This government will have integrity, professionalism, and accountability at every level. Trust is earned and I will trust yours.”  Since then Sunak has been accused of covering up ministers actions during the pandemic, and rather than being "accountable at every level” is being taken to court to force him to hand over information vital to the Covid Enquiry.

Keir Starmer made ten pledges during his bid for the Labour Party leadership. Having won that contest he has now abandoned nearly every one of those promises. Such is the disillusionment of Labour members that membership is haemorrhaging by the thousands. The BBC reported a loss of 90.000 members by August 2022.

Under Starmer’s leadership, the Labour Party no longer offers an alternative to the broken policies of the Tories. Just like Nick Clegg, Boris Johnson, David Cameron and Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer is prepared to promise ANYTHING to gain power, but once elected go back on his word.