Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Voters Must Back LibDems in Richmond Park By-Election

Today, the voters in the west London constituency of Richmond Park will cast ballots in a by-election that was triggered by the resignation of Zac Goldsmith. Tory MP Goldsmith resigned his seat after the government of Teresa May announced plans to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport, which many believe would diminish the quality of life in Richmond Park. Mr. Goldsmith is standing as an independent in the by-election. He faces Sarah Olney of the Liberal Democrats and Christian Wolmar of Labour, as well as four minor candidates. Since all of the major candidates oppose the third runway, the election shall be decided on other grounds. This journal urges the election of Ms. Olney as the first practical step in halting Britain's ridiculous departure from the EU.

Mr. Goldsmith is cordially disliked here because of his plainly racist campaign when he stood for Mayor of London. Although he claimed his stance and communications to the voters were not, the dog-whistle anti-Muslim language was the old National Front's racism in code. He is prima facie unfit to serve.

Given the choice among the Liberal Democrats, Labour, the Raving Monster Looney Party and the others, only a vote for the Liberal Democrats is unequivocally a vote to stay in the European Union. Only a victory for the Liberal Democrats is a victory for remaining (Bremain?). Since Richmond Park voted 3:1 to stay in the EU, Ms. Olney ought to win if the EU issue is a consideration. A vote for Mr. Goldsmith is a vote to support the Tory government that unleashed the Brexit idiocy on Britain.

Meanwhile, Labour's Mr. Wolmar is polling in single digits, and Labour's stance on Brexit is mixed. Labour voters must vote tactically to ensure that Mr. Goldsmith doesn't return to the House of Commons to support the Tory government in all it will do to harm Labour's interests. Mr. Wolamr in another constituency under other circumstance could possibly merit the endorsement of the Kensington Review, but this is not the time nor the place.

Polling suggests that remaining has actually lost ground since the referendum on June 23. Therefore, it becomes more important that the LibDems win in Richmond Park to reverse the momentum and to change the media's narrative.

This journal is under no illusions that the Liberal Democrats were a disaster in Mr. Cameron's coalition government. Nick Clegg make some serious mistakes in agreeing to stay through the end of the parliament even before its beginning. Having the power to bring down the government would have genuinely checked the Tory excesses. Instead, he merely led the LibDems in the role of accomplices.

Mr. Clegg is gone, and the Liberal Democrats are presenting a positive vision of Britain in Europe, of openness and inclusion. It is Britain's one true cosmopolitan party. And the future, like it or not, is going to be a cosmopolitan mix of people and cultures. Far better to embrace that change and influence its evolution than to resist it and be dragged into the next century kicking and screaming.

Brexit is a threat to European peace, and it is a threat to the continued union of Scotland, Wales, England and Ulster. Both a worth keeping. The first step in protecting them comes with a vote for Ms. Olney of the Liberal Democrats in Richmond Park today.

© Copyright 2016 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.



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