Look, this will probably to all intents and purposes look like a rant, but what is going in Europe? What on earth is this inevitable shift to the right i see in my own country?

Look around Europe and look through the portfolios of the parties in control of the four major European countries. Notice a trend? You should do:

France - Union for a Popular Movement, Christian Conservative (centre right)
Germany - Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union of Bavaria, (centre right)
UK - Labour Party, marketed as centre left (centre right)
Italy - The People of Freedom Party, newly formed from the three major right-wing Italian parties, (right)

The notable exception?
Spain - Spanish Socialist Workers Party (centre left)

Spain is a bit different from France, Germany and the UK. I can only guess it was because of the current Government's ability to make it one of the fastest growing economies in Europe during the boom and one of the least affected during the Crunch.

That leaves four of the five major countries in Europe dominated by centre-right/right  wing parties. Labour in the UK is widely seen as an alternative centre right party to the Conservatives, who are the traditional bastions of the legitimate right.

I don't see a particular rise in the extreme right, though that is the initial basis for this entry. The Europe-wide elections for our representatives in the European Parliament threw up a few goolies. In my area, a member of the extreme right, the British National Party, got a voted in as an MEP (Member of the European Parliament). Anyway, i live in a fairly paradoxical part of the UK - bustling, cosmopolitan, diverse, yet socially divided and xenophobic. I tread carefully.

What i can see with a dreaded certainty is the triumph (and probably by a landslide) of the Conservatives in the next general election in 2010.

What i can see is the UK becoming more and more alienated from Europe as a whole, and a continuation of the privatisation of our country (the last pillar being the NHS) and the death of political accountability - in the way most governmental procedures are executed by Quangos (Quasi-autonomous Non-Governmental Organisations), a term reserved for organisations approved by government, but led by executives that are appointed by ministers - meaning the public have no direct say about how it is run.

I'm not saying the Conservatives will run me out of the country, nor that privatisation is inherently bad. Even Quangos have their good points. I don't know them, but i'm sure there are some.

What i worry about is the Conservatives' courting of the far right across Europe to gain power in Europe, their belief that slashing funding to the public sector in the future is the way to go, and their opposition to political reform and transparency.

The shift in Europe to the right makes me worry. I haven't cracked even a half-arsed joke this whole time, which shows you how worried i am. Perhaps just as concerning, is the fall of the left and liberalism.

SP