international news _ Jonty Skrufff _ 2nd May 2005

Gary Numan & Pet Shop Boy's Doublespeak Election Issues

Electronic music pioneers Gary Numan and Chris Lowe from the Pet Shop Boys chatted to Skrufff this week (separately) about Britain's general election next Thursday and coincidentally both used Orwellian language to describe politicians.

"For me, the key issue of the election is ID cards, ID cards alone make it impossible for anyone to vote New Labour. Even the word 'new' is beginning to sound sinister, because it's all double speak, isn't it?", said Chris.

"I think what Gordon Brown has done with the economy is fantastic, but that's if you believe those statistics, because once you don't believe Labour about the war, then you can't believe them about anything else. I think it would have been really good if Tony Blair had resigned before the election and then they could have moved on. At the moment, you can't trust them."

Chris added that he's on a mission to persuade everyone he speaks to 'to not to vote Labour' on Thursday while fellow 80s electronic music pioneer Gary Numan told Skrufff he's not even sure if he'll be voting at all.

"The trouble I have with all this is election stuff is that you have to be almost a genius at reading between the lines and understanding double speak. How on earth as a layman do you find out what the truth is?" said Gary.

"All I know is that bureaucracy at the moment under this government has become a fucking millstone around the neck of any small business. It's horrible, and it's a very aggressive stance that the government take," he continued, "If you're a little bit late with your figures you get fined, there are now so many rules and regulations to what you must do on this date and that date. It makes the administrative side of trying to run a small business on a shoestring budget, very, very difficult."

Gary also admitted that he continues to regret publicly supporting the Conservative Party's most notorious leader Margaret Thatcher, at the peak of her power in the 80s.

"I voted for her once and it's lived with me ever since," he admitted, "Like a noose around my neck." (Jonty Skrufff/Skrufff.com)