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Posts Tagged ‘Parliamentary Reform’

The Independent in its infinite wisdom has decided to change the way it deals with readers comments on articles, a move designed to increase boredom and decrease any valid ‘debate’. I have lived through this before; It was contributing to the Telegraph that first led me to set up this blog back in November 2007 but they too decided to change their “readers comments” set-up and turn the whole thing to boring dross and now too the ‘Indy’ follows – Oh Well…there you go.

But the reason that I mention this is simply that of only a couple of regular Independent columnists worth reading, John Rentoul is one and the starting point for this particular blog was an entry he made on the ‘old system’ so whereas I would normally just give you a web link, as this may disappear into the ether, I have had to quote the key passages which I dislike because it is other people’s copyright:-

John Rentoul: The Hung Parliament Party – http://johnrentoul.independentminds.livejournal.com/408639.html

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With a new Parliament gathering, there is the opportunity to elect a new Speaker. In my opinion, Bercow has not demonstrated the type of energetic leadership that was required after Martin stepped down and set against the background of the “Expenses Scandal” so, he needs to be replaced and likely by someone with a bit of gravitas and or intellectual wit.

At the time and although neither put themselves forward, I thought that either Frank Field or Vince Cable would be excellent candidates.

Of course one could argue that until the issue of the Separation of Powers between the Executive and the Legislature is resolved, there is currently no longer under the existing state of the Constitution, any particular reason that the Speaker is a sitting MP, their job could be done by a whole number of outside people – Speaker Paxman ?

As usual, John Rentoul in the Independent on Sunday wrote an interesting piece about Clegg and the LibDems teaming up with Cameron and the Conservatives rather than Labour. http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-rentoul/john-rentoul-cleggs-right-to-cosy-up-to-cameron-1969230.html

Whilst I am a great fan of his articles, I had to point out a flaw which is all too common in the Media: “There is a lot of wishful thinking on the left about a progressive coalition that won 52 per cent of the vote in the election. Labour’s 29 per cent plus the Liberal Democrats’ 23 per cent outvotes the reactionary fox-hunting sceptic Tories with their measly 36 per cent.”

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“Politics is the art of the possible” and all the ‘blather’ from both pro and anti EU people will not change the hard fact that the reason the “Lisbon Treaty” was not put to a Referendum here as in most other EU Countries because as in the Netherlands and France disguised as the “EU Constitution” it would have been rejected outright across a majority of EU countries.

In the UK this may, indicate an ‘Insular Mentality’ or, an ‘audience quite prepared to be sold’ the concept. There will never be a “Sales Text Book” written that does not point out that ‘objections’ are in fact ‘buying signals’ that just call for further information to confirm the deal.

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In what I consider a truly odd move, the Times did a sub-editorial on Bercow continuing as Speaker: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article7112263.ece My comment on this was simply as follows below:

I must disagree with this article, not because “…his oratory can occasionally mutate into pomposity…” But simply because he is not up to the Job and even if re-elected, should be voted out of Office by the new Parliament.

Especially in these times, the House needs a Speaker that reaches out to the public over and above the heads of the Members, honourable or not. In short we need a Lord Tonipandy or a Betty Boothroyd not this dullard and introverted member of a ‘club’. The historical role of the Speaker has changed radically since the Civil War, today the Speaker should in a sense, represent us as in “I will keep YOUR Parliament honest”.

Bercow is not up to this task and has had sufficient time to have made an impact but, failed to do so. If he was a plant one might say, “It hasn’t taken and established itself, best pull it up and shove it in the compost !”

There was an amusing lead story in the Independent today about the “Tories being wrong about the threat of a financial funding crisis if there is a hung parliament. It took three people to write it and the result is frankly a bit threadbare unless the “Indy” is now the “Voice of the LibDems which, it may well be. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tory-claims-that-hung-parliament-would-cause-meltdown-are-dismissed-1952954.html

The basic proposition behind the article is fundamentally flawed because it makes a number of untrue assumptions…

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We have had the second TV Debate and by all accounts, it was a ‘draw’ with no one person being declared a ‘winner’. I suppose the question is: ‘Do I care ?’ and the most likely answer is NO because if the British electorate want to pull their heads under their collective “Duvets”, I can hardly be that bothered and besides which, reducing politics to “X Factor” and “Strictly Come Dancing” status, is hardly a good sign of a ‘vibrant democracy’, is it ?

In the follow up in the DT on the ‘personal finances’ pages was the following and the author was mainly concerned with explaining why, if you were buying a new mortgage… The responses amount to the hilarious as well as mainly inane: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/7623640/How-a-hung-parliament-could-hit-you-in-the-pocket.html

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Lordy, Lordy, here comes the first TV Debate and the question, is it worth watching ? My personal opinion is rather like “Match of the Day”, watching the ‘highlights and all the goals’ will be far better than the actual thing itself unless you are a total fanatic or a “Media Person”.

Of course the ‘Match Reports’ will vary wildly and depending where you read them and what their particular ‘beef or bias’ lies. If the Main Editorial in the Independent today is anything to go by, in tomorrows Indy, “Clegg Won it, Hands Down…” For a flavour of just how crap this Editorial Staff can be, read this nonsense: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-the-dividing-lines-are-clear-ndash-and-theres-no-reason-to-fear-the-prospect-of-a-hung-parliament-1945055.htm

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I have quoted it before but Napoleon’s question to Marshall Ney on the latter extolling a young Cavalry Officer for promotion, still rings true to this day: “Yes Ney, but is he lucky ?”

In this context and despite the recent narrowing of the opinion polls that seem to indicate that Labour is still in with a chance, I never believed them for one minute. Labour just doesn’t have a prayer and the reason is Gordon Brown, surely the unluckiest of all Prime Ministers and for us the luckiest of citizens when he and his Government are no more.

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At the weekend, an Editorial in the Times, slightly tongue in cheek one hopes, called for fixed four year Parliamentary terms rather as they have 4 year fixed terms in the United States: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article7060988.ece

At the same time, it is widely rumoured that the awful and barely articulate (have ever seen him speak in the Commons ?), Jack Straw will rush forward proposals for a 300 seat fully elected Second Chamber to replace the House of Lords. Apparently this is really intended as a political trap for David Cameron – if so we can see the grubby paws of Gordon Brown all over that one.

The two ‘news items’ put together indicate the degree of trouble this Country is in and just how intellectually challenged the people in both politics and the media are these days.

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