Manchester, United Kingdom - Inside the Paradise Mini-Mart, older residents of Manchester's notorious Moss Side district are taking a young man to task for his refusal to vote in next month's British election.
"If we don't vote we'll get the Conservatives again," Clive Sobers, a 52-year-old decorator, tells Badar Waberi, sipping a drink in the small store.
As one of millions of people expected to opt out of the May 7 poll, the 23-year-old Waberi counters that not voting could be a constructive form of protest.
"We can make a change if we don't vote," he says.
Like most people on Moss Side, Sobers supports the opposition Labour party, even if his expectations are low.
"When they get in the chair they forget all of you," says the decorator, who has come to top up his phone credit, his hands still covered in paint.
Moss Side has shed its once fearsome gangland reputation, but after the 2010 general election, it made the headlines for a different reason as part of the constituency with the lowest turnout in Britain.
Just 44.3 percent of voters cast their ballots in Manchester Central, compared to a national average of 65.1 percent -- in itself, one of the lowest in the last 70 years.
This year, there have been national campaigns urging people to register to vote and a plethora of mobile applications helping undecided voters make a choice. But apathy persists.
"Everyone's just given up," said Emma Rippingham, a 35-year-old carer from Moss Side who popped into the Mini-Mart to buy some tobacco.
"They've given up on themselves, given up on the area. They've got no faith in anyone any more."
Like Sobers, however, she intends to vote to try to stop Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron's re-election.
Noor Bashir, the 51-year-old shopkeeper, is more positive. He has a Labour poster in the window and is actively encouraging his customers to back the centre-left party.
"We have a big cake and when Labour comes into power we will have a little bit," he says, demonstrating with a chocolate bar. He adds: "Without voting, we lose a lot of things."
AFP
