Simon Gets Political

In an unexpected piece for The Sun, Simon Cowell urges Britian to vote in the General Electon on Thursday that he hopes will pull the government out of a crisis.

He writes:

Britain’s got talent, enormous talent, that’s very obvious.

I have had the great fortune of being able to see so much of it as I have toured the country for my TV shows over the past few years.

But I’ve also learned two other things on my travels.

One is that the majority of our wealth of talented people aren’t being given the chance they need to grow and bloom at the moment.

And two, the country has too many social problems – in particular knife crime and a collapse in family values.

I thought the party leaders’ TV debates were terrific and I watched all three. For the first time, the general public was given an opportunity to hear the debates and to get to know the party leaders.

But I don’t believe a General Election is the X Factor.

Choosing how you vote should not be a snap verdict based on a few minutes of television. We are not talent show judges picking pretty-sounding contestants now.

The future government of our country is so much more important than that.

It should be everyone’s birthright to get the chance to fulfil their dream.

Yes, for some it’s being a pop star. But for many more hard-working Brits, it’s something far less flash – it’s starting your own business.

That’s what it was for me. But that’s harder in our country now than it has been for a long time and that really has to change.

It’s not just that the banks won’t lend. The masses of red tape, regulation and political correctness have tied us all up in knots.

On this I agree with Sir Philip Green – one of Britain’s most successful businessmen, who runs the clothing chain Arcadia, including Top Shop, Miss Selfridge, Burton and Dorothy Perkins.

It’s the government’s job to encourage entrepreneurialism and investment. Most importantly, it’s the government’s duty to inspire confidence.

It should give hope to the younger generation to build on our wonderful heritage. It should inspire us to get out there and create and invent.

And then it should get right out of the way.”