I wrote twice to the Guardian in 2021, aged 14, advocating for ABC – anything but Conservative. I am now 17, hoping to study politics at university but, unfortunately, I was born five months too late to be able to cast my ballot this time. It worries me intensely to see the We Deserve Better campaign feel it justifiable to catalyse on the anti-Starmer left and split the vote, believing that a Labour win is guaranteed. It is not. We cannot afford to split the Labour vote. We cannot for a moment forget the swing Labour will have to achieve to win, despite what the polls may say.
For my generation, the risk is too big. Our quality of life is worse than our parents’, accessing the housing market is like a game of snakes and ladders and our world is faced with the heart-wrenching challenges of war, climate change and ever-increasing inequality that my generation will have to live with the consequences of most directly. Of course, scrutinise Labour, challenge its policies and hold it to account, but don’t let that hinder how you cast your vote. We must not forget who our main enemy is: this Tory government that has presided over the worst standards of living, the highest tax levels, record levels of homelessness, record NHS waiting lists and record disparities between the state and privately educated.
So please, don’t run the risk of voting against a current Labour MP – we all know what the alternative is, and my generation cannot suffer a moment more.
Joseph Walker
Bath
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