For those who have already overdosed on heavy election mania, here is a bit of fun. Labour has today released a viral video entitled “Our future? Your choice” — which takes a “light-hearted” look at the Conservatives’ flagship idea of the “big society”.
The film, which is set in the future, uses a working mother to show what the “big society” means for her. The rather jolly twist is that you can insert the name of someone and it then appears in the video, as the woman calls the person you have nominated to ask why they didn’t vote Labour on 6 May 2010 to prevent the horrors of the “big society”.
Douglas Alexander, Labour’s election co-ordinator, explains:
The video is a light-hearted way of making a serious point — that in truth the Tories’ big society is nothing more than abandoning public services. The Tories’ plans for DIY public services mean no guarantees for patients, parents or communities.
When they talk about getting people to set up new schools, it’s an attempt to disguise the fact that they would cut the schools budget. When they talk about elected police commissioners, it’s all about politicising the police while refusing to protect police budgets. When they talk about NHS co-operatives, it’s a fig leaf for removing the tough targets that ensure people are treated in good time.
In contrast, Labour has a deep commitment to Britain’s public services. In 1997, we promised to save the NHS — and we have. We promised to rebuild our schools and drive up standards — and we have. We promised to get crime down — and we have. It is only a Labour government that can be trusted to protect our public services and turn them from good to great.
This is the word-of-mouth election — and so with this video we are giving our supporters the opportunity to personalise this video and then send it on to their friends and colleagues to help underline the choice about their future that people have to make this Thursday.