Every single time an aggressive campaign of privatisation and deregulation has been embarked upon by a country, poverty and inequality have quite literally exploded. The Tory government have the audacity to parade their poisonous set of policies as a panacea, when really it is just towing the line of a proven disastrous dogma - neo-liberalism.
This is a dogma that has quite literally wrought chaos across the globe over the past 40 years. From Latin American dictatorships, to Middle Eastern civil wars, to crippling European austerity, the pursuit of neo-liberalism has either caused or been the catalyst for unprecedented misery around the world for four decades. This is the future the Tories have in store for us, this is the end game of their "long-term economic plan", and this is why they have to go.
No room for compassion
Even if you are to somehow bring yourself to ignore the obvious pain and suffering that has been wrought by putting the care of the welfare service into the hands of the odious Iain Duncan Smith, even if you ignore the illogical nature of protecting bankers but scapegoating blameless welfare recipients, and even if you somehow swallow the unfounded lies that have shaped the welfare debate - surely you cannot ignore the psychological ramifications of what is taking place?
George Monbiot argued in an excellent article appearing in the Guardian a few weeks ago that Labour needs to "remind the country to care" again. Thanks to the demonization of welfare recipients that has been taking place over the last 4 years, we are seeing a commodification of human beings. No longer are people entitled to rights from the start, but increasingly they need to be 'earned' by 'hard work'.
As Monbiot points out, core values are to some degree learnt from the society we grow up in- just what values is this new Tory-led society going to be teaching new generations? It will be teaching that working horrible hours in a job you despise, for a wage you cannot live on is the only way you will ever be of worth to society. Oh, and that helping others isn't a fundamental part of civilised society, rather just an annoying inconvenience that we should attempt to avoid if possible.
Protected privilege, recurring recessions
If the Tories win the next election - there will be another recession, and inequality will get worse. With neo-liberalism, it is more than unavoidable, it's the entire point. Economic 'growth' under Tory rule will not just come off the backs of the working class, but from their pockets too.
FTSE 100 bosses have seen their pay skyrocket whilst wages for the common worker have stagnated, if not fell in real terms. Far from inequality being a favourite leftie buzz word, it is actually another looming crisis that the Tories are flirting dangerously with. Even the IMF admit that excessive inequality is 'corrosive' to society and to economic performance, with Obama defining it as 'the issue of our time'.
Those that are the victims of a broken socioeconomic order (namely welfare recipients) have been crippled by the Tories, whilst the instigators of the 2008 recession (the banking elite) have had our Chancellor spending tens of thousands of tax payer's money trying to protect their privileges. The financial system is the epitome of rampant, unregulated capitalism and is the single largest cause of the financial crisis- and the Tories haven't done a single thing to change how it works. In fact, they've consistently tried to fight attempts at reform. Another recession is coming, and the Tories won't stop it.
A looming environmental crisis
David Cameron was very vocal about his desire to lead the "greenest government ever" in the run up to the 2010 general election, but over the last 4 years this phrase has descended from being a mildly amusing joke to another terrifying example of Orwellian double speak that seems to characterise this governments rule. Whether it be removing subsidies for wind and solar, acting as a PR agent for fracking companies, or relaxing farming regulations, as Natalie Bennet, Green Party leader points out - this government is consistently taking steps backwards in the environmental movement. This will be the defining issue of the next 50 years - climate change represents an unprecedented threat to our way of life, and the Tories simply don't have the answers.
They need to go
If the Tories wish to consistently frame the debate in terms of what the country can 'afford' then let's do so. We cannot afford to push the environment down the agenda any longer - drastic action is needed, now. Short-term solutions such as fracking will no longer cut it, the stakes are now too high. We cannot afford to ignore the corrupt and poisonous practices within the financial sector to continue - a battered and broken economy cannot be subjected to continuing crashes. And we cannot afford to allow inequality to continue to grow, and have a government that protects and propagates, rather than challenges, the privilege and power of the rich.
This country cannot afford these things to continue, and it cannot afford another 5 years of Tory rule.