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Posts Tagged ‘Liberal Democrats’

I was quite struck by a couple of pieces in The Telegraph by Benedict Brogan. In the first of which he was giving his “take” on the tactics being employed by David Cameron to remain in power after the 2015 General Election.http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/benedictbrogan/100134556/why-wont-ministers-speak-up-for-david-cameron/

Whilst I found his article interesting and in a sense, “timely”, I am not too sure that I agree with it all in the sense that whilst for now, that may be an ‘intelligent guess’, reality means that as it is as all such things, a moving target or a “World in Motion…”, and how the game plays out over the next 3 years, may well be very different…

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Oh Lord, here we go again, yet another numb nuts politician trying to make a name for themselves by “Reforming the House of Lords”, this time its Nick Clegg. One day it might occur to the inhabitants of the House of Commons that just as a Liberal Government tried and failed prior to the outbreak of WWI, so too has every attempt since and for good reasons, the Lords works as it is.

This doesn’t mean that the Lords hasn’t been changed over time, it has and in many ways as is right and proper, like all living things, institutions need to continually evolve to survive and adapt to changing circumstances. The problem with the brainless reformers from the Commons is they want “radical change” so that they can say; “I did this…I bent this to My will !” How idiotic can you get ?

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I was slightly amused by Chris Huhne giving an opinion on the motives of the “Tory Right Wing” with regard to the EU the other day but more than that, I also read a number of articles on Der Spiegel http://www.spiegel.de/international/ with regard to the current Euro Crisis which gives an interesting insight to some German thinking on the whole thing.

What struck me about these articles and however ‘reasonable in tone’ they are, the authors completely miss any basic understanding of a “British Perspective” which has been shaped over a long period of time and is largely influenced by us being “island races”. By the same token, I don’t suspect that we can easily understand Continental Europe with its contiguous land borders either that have shaped their present day views in both peace and war.

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A couple of recent stories, which may seem rather disconnected at first glance set me thinking about the way politicians “manipulate the truth” and whilst it is easy for the electorate to condemn them as “Liars prepared to say anything to get elected…” The real question I suspect should be asked of ourselves: “Are we being realistic in our demands and expectations of them ? Do we even listen properly or is our hearing both selfish and highly selective ?

There were two ‘stories’ this week that highlighted this for me, the Unison strike over pension benefits and Angela Merkel’s speech to the German Parliament promising to save the Euro etc… To my mind behind both of these events sits a damn big lie or, a rather large Elephant sitting over there in the corner of the room…

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The following I write without any intention of intending  ‘sounding superior’ in anyway but as a statement of fact: I don’t read the Red Tops, Heat, OK magazine, watch TV Soaps or Big Brother and some may say that I am probably ‘missing out’ on things by not doing so. The truth is not whether I think them good or bad, it is just that they don’t interest me and the endless list of minor ‘celebrities’ they seem to generate is frankly confusing, I just don’t know who these people are or even “what they are for”.

Eventually though, what I suspect is the “meat and drink” of this trade, will percolate through even to someone like me and I refer of course to the case before the Courts concerning a lady called Carina Trimingham who is the “partner” of Chris Huhne, suing Associated Newspapers and if the outline that I’ve read is correct, I find the whole thing astonishing at pretty much every level…

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As I contemplate the “Party Conference Season” all that comes to my mind is that they always have seemed disconnected from the electorate at large, an introverted gathering of the truly converted to whichever party but this year, more than most, they are little better than a series of pointless charades.

I am tempted to use yet again one of my favourite Bill Shakespeare quotes: “…Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.” But in all fairness, is there really an alternative to a “National Party Conference ?”

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The ever interesting journalist John Rentoul wrote an article in The Independent on Sunday comparing Clegg with Cameron and in particular, how Cameron understands the necessity of the “impossible promise” that chimes with the public sentiment whereas Clegg doesn’t. As ever, an interesting article that takes an amusing sideways view at the Coalition and well worth a read: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-rentoul/john-rentoul-coalition-doesnt-work-for-clegg-2345088.html

Perhaps what lies behind this is the view that this “Coalition” may well prove to be a one off that will not last beyond this Parliament but it has been an interesting “experiment” none the less that for me has thrown up some surprises.

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In its own way, it is quite amusing that the ‘junior leader’ of the Coalition Government is attracting far more column inches in the Press than David Cameron himself but, one suspects that following the Local Election and Referendum results, journalists hope they smell ‘blood in the water’. I feel that providing Clegg and his Party keep their wits about them, they will come through fine.

One of the key things he must avoid is the “Do Something” approach and in a interesting article today in the Independent Mary Ann Sieghart focuses in on Clegg’s desire to “Reform the Lords” which she strongly advises him against doing, a view I certainly agree with. http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mary-ann-sieghart/mary-ann-sieghart-if-it-aint-broken-nick-dont-try-to-fix-it-2284679.html

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Whilst I appreciate that in earning a living political journalists need to make lots of fuss about these things and most certainly some of the average members of the LibDems will be running around in a blind panic fearing carving knives about to cut off their tails, but what happened the other Thursday has little to do with Nick Clegg having been outsmarted by the Tories or making poor judgement calls.

But still the headlines proliferate as in this one from the BBC: ‘Elections will force Lib Dems to face identity crisis’ By James Landale at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13325236

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As ever, the Independent in another half baked Editorial advises people to vote YES to changing the voting system from First Past the Post to the Alternative Vote where people vote for the candidates in order of their preference. This is not proper Proportional Representation for those who believe in that, frankly it is just tinkering with the system for no good reason. http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-just-say-yes-to-voting-reform-2278567.html

In reality there is a reason which is simply that it was part of the Coalition Agreement and Nick Clegg needed to see the Referendum delivered in order to demonstrate to his own party members that being part of the Government does bring benefits and the achievement of ‘cherished goals’ not otherwise possible by them just being in Opposition. My own prediction is that the “NO’s” will have it tomorrow and the LibDems will have to accept: “Wrong time and wrong place” as a consequence.

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