My Take on the General Election

As the voting deadline for registering to vote for the General Election on the 8^th draws near, and as the 8^th slowly draws near, I find myself thinking what is at stake in this election? And who do I want to run the country?

If I were to answer honestly, I would have to say that I don’t have confidence in any of the political leaders to get us through the next 5 years after this election. For different reasons, too.

I would never trust May to lead us to a more fairer, equal society, especially from what we have learned from the Tory manifesto, and there is the fact that she is a Tory, a party which I fundamentally disagree with, as they work for the elites and the wealthiest in society at the cost of the rest of us, yes she may be able to not get completely blow away in the Brexit negotiations, however a deal she gets won’t be put to the British people for a final say, nor will it work for anyone but the minority of the wealthy and big buinsess in the UK, and will deeply hurt the rest of us.

As for Corbyn, although I agree with a lot of his policies and direction for labour, he has come up as a leader at completely the wrong time for the country, yes, we do need his policies, but I honestly don’t have enough confidence in his abilities to negotiate any reasonable deal for us in Brexit, also he has ruled out another referendum on the subject, which I’m not happy about. I’d rather we voted remain to begin with, but we didn’t, and honestly, I don’t think that May, Corbyn or any other leader of any party right now can get us through this mess without things getting harder for those on the bottom of society.

However, out of the choices that we have, a Labour Government in Westminster, is obviously the much more preferable option rather than the horrendous option of a May government, which would bring this country to ruin.

This election, I honestly believe is the most important election, the most important vote I will face in my lifetime. As it isn’t just about party politics, it is bigger than that, it’s bigger than Brexit.

This election is about what we truly value as a nation, do we want to be led by a government that will work against the people, that will constantly put those who are most in need further down, as the Tories will do, shown in their manifesto, where they also plan to strip a lot of our rights away and restrict our speech. Especially online. And a party that will drag us out of the EU, with a “Hard Brexit” which will likely alienate us from our European allies, and make Britain much more unsafe and unstable without the help and support from the rest of Europe.

Or do we want a Government that domestically will at least do their best to do what it right by the people and actually serve us, and that helps those who are most vulnerable, and although will still take us on a dangerous path with withdrawing from the EU, will at least protect our rights and freedoms we cherish, and need, as well as striving toward a more stable and equal society, from someone who, despite my misgiving with him over Europe, Corbyn has proved to be a principled, caring politician who will, I believe work tirelessly to help the people of all of the UK.

In the area I live, Ceredigion, as it isn’t an important constituency as neither Labour or the Tories are likely to win, I honestly believe the best Party to vote for is Plaid Cymru, as they will stand up for the people of wales, and although yes, their ultimate goal may be independence, it is not what the party is running on or is a priority for, Wales is desperately falling short with investment in transportation systems, public sector investment, and general infrastructure and funding wales desperately need, and I strongly believe that the best party to support in Ceredigion is Plaid Cymru as they will stand up and fight for those issues and many more which us in wales face, especially in Ceredigion where we are the one of the poorest counties in the whole of Europe, we need a strong  voice in Westminster pushing the needs of the welsh people in parliament. Also as a strong advocate of the EU plaid will also hold any government to account over the handling of the whole withdrawal process.

So to sum up, this is a massively important election, and if I lived somewhere where it was a fight where labour had a chance of winning, I would be and I would encourage all I knew to vote labour, and implore anyone who does live somewhere where labour might win, please vote for them, but if you live in wales, and in an electoral district where labour doesn’t have much of a chance, then I would say plaid cymru is the best party to vote for. But nationally, I honestly believe, that Labour is the best option out of the choice between a Labour government and a Tory one, it isn’t a question, we need to make sure May and her cronies DO NOT have a chance to take more away from the people than they already have, whilst they and their business friends all get richer, oblivious and out of touch with the needs of the citizens of this county. Make sure that on the 9th of June, labour has the Majority in the Commons!

So everyone, please register and make sure you vote on the 8^th of June, and remember what is at stake. Our freedoms, liberty, and livelihood. Don’t make the same mistake as we did with the EU Referendum. Show that we are better than our mistakes,

Natalie xx

A new venting post

In the entirety of my life, I have had so many individual painful and difficult events take place. The most painful and far reaching is when I was abandoned, which has affected me in so many different ways, more than I even know about.

Saying this, being withdraw from university, shipped off to somewhere that I’ve no support base, friends, anyone I know, in this point in my life, when honestly, I’ve never needed the help and support of friends around me and nearby more is not helping me at all.

The problem is not that I have been withdrawn and put somewhere I feel will be detrimental to my mental health, but it is much deeper and far reaching than this. It is that these events and emotions that has and is arising from that (including a sense of being abandoned in Cardigan) is piling onto a mountain of anxiety, depression, years of unresolved issues, which have caused the mess I’m in the first place, and the only reason (besides faith) I’ve made it through all of what I have so far, is that I’ve had a goal with a path to follow to get there.

I knew following the path would be difficult. But I never expected it to be drawn from under my feet as it has been. Which has left me lost and no idea what to do next or where to go from here. All I want to do right now is just escape from it all. However, I know that that isn’t possible. Throughout the time I spent at university, I needed a lot more support than I got, partly that was my fault for not fully engaging with the support the university was offering, but that wasn’t going to be enough, which is why I struggled to engage. What I needed was a good friend base to help me through, which through different events like being kicked out of a group, or being massively mis-understood to the point of not knowing what happened in the friendship, I wasn’t able to build one, with those events setting me back months of working on my mental health and contributing to my failed uni attempt. Not to say that I blame those people for what happened because I don’t, I am just being honest with how things happened, and the fault of what happened ultimately lies with me, although I don’t blame myself as I just wasn’t ready at this point in my life.

But uni hasn’t left me unchanged, apart from the student debt, and my overdraft being maxed, uni has given some positives, such as the wonderful people I have managed (without really knowing how or why) to befriend which I really appreciate. Although right now that I don’t think will be enough to get me through this.

In all honesty im not sure what will get me through, as I don’t know what to do to get through this period in my life, I have no goal or plan, I need to improve my mental health sure, but that will need a lot of work and will take months or years. And doesn’t help me not knowing what to do, also if I could manage my mental health I wouldn’t be in this mess. For once I don’t see a path forward, yes, I still have the same goals, but at the moment they seem unreachable with no idea how to reach them.

Which is honestly why I often feel so depressed now days, more so than usual, the pain of everything that has happened is suffocating at times,  it has bought me to bouts of crying on a few occasions, such as just before writing this post (which is why I felt the need to write this). Also I would be lying if I have given serious thought to self-harming once again thankfully so far I haven’t but the thoughts are there and ones im afraid will eventually win out. Earlier I mentioned I want to escape things, so naturally I have thought about ending things, however, there are two main reasons (amongst others) stopping me, one is that it seems too painful and messy, if I did id want a quick pain free end. But secondly, I couldn’t cause the pain that would cause those who care about me, as I really would rather not end my pain by causing more amongst those I care about. Another reason is mostly an aspect of my character, im too stubborn to just give in. Anyway, despite this, it wouldn’t be honest if I say it hasn’t crossed my mind especially now.

Everyone is saying that I can get through this, and ive been through worse. But honestly, I still have a lot of what ive been through in my distant past still to deal with, let alone more recent, as ive never really found a way to have properly dealt with it, and im not even sure what it would mean to deal with it all. Also, as I mentioned earlier, my faith and having a path to follow helped with that. Now although not gone, my faith is greatly diminished. And as for a path to follow, that has been destroyed and I feel lost in a chasm of darkness, with this weird feeling of hollowness yet pain inside of me, and its all I can do to distract myself from it when cooking, which I can’t do often as I seldom have the finances to do it in my new place. Which I hate.

It has been suggested that I chose cooking as a career path, but I think that would be a grave mistake as it is currently the one thing I have that actually helps even for a little bit, to do that as a job with destroy what it is to me now, which is much more valuable to me, along with the fact that I don’t think it’s the right fit for me, although right now I don’t think I could cope with holding any job.

So there is a glimpse in what is happening in my mind, and my emotions right now. For those who are interested.

Im am sorry it is so dark, it isn’t meant to be easy to read, or to have any real purpose beside filling my need to vent this, and if anything, else comes from it then that’s great, but the core and only reason I have written this is because I needed to get it out.

I hope your all well anyway.

Massive hugs to all

Natalie Xxxxx