Jules Jones

 For the mill has shut down and it's never coming back.

That's the second time I've seen a former employer fall to the dynamite. It takes time to demolish a mill safely; months, even years. But the destruction started long ago, with investment choices and other choices; some of those choices made by a government hell bent on shovelling as much money to its chums as possible, and if that means bringing down an industry so you can push large government grants for regeneration of a derelict industrial site to your party donors rather than grants to keep the mill afloat through the lean times, well, that's just business, isn't it?

Forgive me if I'm cynical if the promised regeneration ever happens. This is, after all, the government that gave millions to a ferry company with no ferries. There was once a Tory party with a one nation philosophy, an enlightened self-interest that believed that the rich had a duty to the poor, to provide a safety net and make sure nobody fell through it. That too has gone and is never coming back.

[begin rant]

... and yes, it *is* a duty as well as a privilege. I spent some of my formative years in a country where the franchise was not universal, and others in a country where the franchise was compulsory. I'll take the latter over the former any day, thanks, and if you're eligible to vote in the current UK election, you have two and a half hours to get thee to thy local polling station.

It is not true that I don't care who you vote for, because if you vote for the BNP I'll not be very impressed. It is true that I don't care who you vote for amongst the parties that aren't neo-Nazis, as long as you actually go out there and vote. Democracy is ultimately a use it or lose it deal, and every vote *does* count, even if it's to write "none of the above" across your ballot paper.

And for the love of god or the flying spaghetti monster, vote for the people/party with the policies you want, not the party your family has always voted for or the party your favourite celeb has told you to vote for.

[end rant]