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They say that a sign of ageing is when Policemen look “terribly young” but I suspect there is another barometer too. As I have got older, I am increasingly incensed by the total lack of intellect in the British Media generally. This is not based upon other people having and promoting different views to my own but simply that in most situations there is an in-built set of ‘circumstances’ that need to be taken into account, regardless of one’s personal views and conclusions.

Today there is an Editorial in the Independent saying that a “Hung Parliament” would be fine : http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-a-hung-parliament-would-not-be-a-disaster-for-britain-1922247.html

My Giddy Aunt !

A response just had to be made and thus below is it:

Just how difficult is this to work out ? A “Hung Parliament” would be a disaster, it would lead to a collapse of the Pound Sterling, you only have to look at what happened when the EU gave Brown a ‘slap’ over the Budget Deficit plans which they said were insufficient to reduce it in 4 years, the Pound immediately fell below a dollar fifty.

On the economic front, we in the UK are in a “Phoney War” situation, the lull before the storm. The Financial Markets are well aware that an Election is due and are therefore holding their fire, it is what happens afterwards that counts and they are jittery about the possibility of a Hung Parliament and what that would mean to any Deficit Reduction programme.

On the political front it would also be a disaster because there would certainly be a dissolution and another General Election in 18 months. No serious policy decisions would be taken, just as with Labour and Brown lying today about the economic situation, there would be plenty of mischief making and ‘positioning’ going on for the second Election.

It is all very well for people to say “A pox on both your houses…” but the reality is that we need either a Labour or a Conservative Government with a working majority to get on with the job of re stabilising the UK economy. Personally and as that idiot Brown got us into this mess, I would far rather Cameron and a fresh start but either way, it is going to be tough for all of us whichever party gets into power.

The Liberal Democratic Party

As for the LibDems, their problem is that they have just not “broken through” in the polls and the whys and wherefores of that, you can debate until the cows come home but hard facts are facts. They have ‘detailed’ policies because they know that they will never be in a position to implement them. I have no personal dislike of LibDem people but couldn’t eat a whole one of course.

Most I have known over the years have been very nice people unlike some on the lunatic fringes of both the Labour and Conservative parties but let us be honest here, if the only relevance of Nick Clegg and the LibDems as a party is as ‘power brokers’ in a hung Parliament, then as a political movement, it is a failure and no amount of excuses can make that any different.

Independent MPs

Rather than wave the flag for Clegg, the ‘Indy’ should be concentrating on something that would make a major difference to British Politics, get people to vote in to Westminster, real Independent MPs that swear to take no Party Whip – ever. It doesn’t matter if they describe themselves as an “Independent Tory, Socialist” or whatever, they should be local and be prepared to represent their constituents at the National level.

In one step if say two thirds were independent MPs, the “First Among Equals” becomes just that, the Separation of Powers between the Executive and the Legislature, is solved as is the contentious matter of “Party Funding”. The Monarch can call upon any individual who can command a majority to form a Government and as importantly, whilst a Government may fall, providing someone else can form one, the Parliament can run its full 5 year term.

Now that is worth campaigning for, sucking a fart out of Mr Clegg’s bottom really isn’t and a rather nasty thought to boot.

A Bit of a Hoot

Some body wrote in to the main article claiming that all who believed in the two party system were Dinosaurs, the LibDems and Nick Clegg were the ‘wonder cure’ for all ills, I pissed myself laughing particularly as this person calls themselves “thoughtful voter”. Am I being terribly unkind to enquire as to how one can be “thoughtful” with rather less than required for the process ? Anyway, I couldn’t let it pass unchallenged…

As I raise my head from the Primaeval Swamp that us Dinosaurs live in, I snort in disbelief and howls of laughter as I read the comments of “a thoughtful voter” who wants to swap one of the two parties for the LibDems, which one, who cares ?

It is infantile to focus on each or any political party whatever their assumed merits, many had very great hopes on a May morning in 1997 only to be very disappointed in the event. The LibDems in the event would prove to be little better than either of the others not because they are foolish or evil but simply to get to power they would need to have over 320 seats or thereabouts. The implication of this will be that the LibDems would have to be a ‘national party’ with all that entails, specifically the “Broad Tent”.

With their current number of MPs, they can all sing from the same song sheet, step it up and then like Labour and the Conservatives they would have to accommodate lots of opposing views, they could for example, no longer assume that they are a “Pro EU” party. The First Past the Post system is not an “imposed fudge”, it grows out of our “Adversarial System”, trial by combat, guilty or not guilty and the British electorate seem to like it.

The problem for any third party is that it is difficult to have a distinctive ‘political voice’ unless you have say a “Celtic Nationalist” one where for the SNP or Sinn Fein, there is an overriding glue to hold your party together. As in the USA, in reality the differences between the two main parties is very small, gone are the days where Labour defined itself through being the “Workers Party” and support for CND or the Conservatives as the “Party of Business”, the world has moved on.

I might suggest that it is your thinking that is dated, it is more likely the whole “Party System” that is under threat rather than the “Two Party” system, the electorate is more volatile today. Each of us on different topics may well be “Tory” on some things and “Socialist” on others. As I wrote earlier, what we really need to restore democracy in the UK is for the public to stop voting for party labels and instead vote for true independents.

But it won’t happen because behind the FPTP lies a very British concept of, “Okay, we give you the job, now get on with it…” Edward Heath when he went to the Country after the 3 Day Week, lost his majority because he didn’t understand this. He had been given a majority previously, he had the job so “Why bother us ?” was the response of the electorate. In the end the LibDems haven’t pushed Labour into third place so, like it or not, expect either Cameron or Brown to form the next Government and in either case, it will be with a working majority and the LibDems will remain where they were.

Oh well, back to the swamp, can’t let my scales dry out…