I've never known anything like it. Its politics in the United Kingdom, but not as we know it. Two weeks away from a hugely important election, and no-one is talking about it. Seems to me that most people don't even know its happening. The media is going through the motions (to a minor extent) but the only election people are thinking about is the next General Election. Now that David Cameron has launched a petition, calling for one, the Euro election will slip even further out of mind. So much is happening. Today, and for the first time since 1695, Mr Speaker bowed to overwhelming pressure from MPs and announced that he was vacating 'the chair' - before he was chucked out. And a Conservative MP in a safe seat has announced his departure from the House of Commons today, and I suspect he will be the first of many MPs to stand down. Its total chaos out there - a bit like the Sennybridge Show when heavy winds blew the main marquee down. Or that game against Macclesfield when I crashed down the left wing and broke three collarbones in the same run for the line.
What next? Gordon Brown announced today that anyone who has "defied the rules" will be deselected. Now, I realise that this is a typical Brown device, seeking to give an impression of action that he does not intend to deliver on - since almost all of the revelations that have outraged the people have been "agreed with the Fees Office". Its meaningless. But it will not work. The people will not wear it. They will demand that there be a test of reasonableness, rather than a test of legality. If Douglas Hogg's claims are to be the benchmark, a lot of MPs will be marching down the same road. And those who have broken the law will have to resign - creating by-elections. Now this produces a real problem for Gordon Brown. The reality is that if our Prime Minister delivered on what people think he said today, there would be such carnage that he might as well hold a General Election. No, the resignation of Mr Speaker is not going to calm things down. Its going to put the scent of blood in the nostrils of the public. They must have their say. The only way is to hold a General Election.
10 comments:
But wasn't the last person to enter Parliament with honest intentions, Guy Fawkes? :)
It's no wonder that the public is irate right across the British Isles.
They have been deceived, betrayed and treated with indifference and scorn. Their views have been disregarded and their rights and freedoms eroded under cover of the anti-terrorism legislation. They have been duped and placated with meaningless assurances that the government is acting in the best interests of the country. The words of the PM are shallow and insubstantial and the public will be vindicated in the next General Election. Meanwhile an important European election is over-shadowed by national events.
Alison - Most people enter Parliament with honest intention. The question is about how long they stay that way.
Alan - Calm down. You're almost as bad as I am.
Ok then.....
"order......now, order...."
;-)
Glyn - we can't hold an election just yet - however much we need one. Time must be granted for local associations to select/deselect those MPs who have brought politics into so much dishonour. That will take a few weeks. Jumping straight into an election will cause those guilty ones to be re-elected.
"Kind of" reminds me of those fun fare side-shows where air-guns are used to shoot at a constant line of ducks - except that the MPs under fire don't return standing up to be shot at again and again.
But as Glyn points out, as we sit agasp at the latest goings-on in Parliament, "Rome burns".
WAG has let Wales down, its economy is falling further and further behind.
Wake up people, the Welsh economy is going to the dogs.
We have to fight back. Part of that fight is using Wales's strongest assets: its people, its great institutions, its world-class universities.
Time is fast running out, if we don't accept that we must protect not what we kill, but what we invent/discover, we will mortgage what's left of our economic future.
WAG still hasn't got the message.
Wales's future can be bright, very bright.
Bonetired - The situation is so desperate that I believe an announcemant of an Election to be held in 8 weeks time would allow sufficient time to reselct or deselect as appropriate. Candidates can be selected in four weeks if it has to be. The alternative would be a summer with a disrespected Parliament.
It's too late for Parliament in its current form I think, a wholesale restructuring with new MPs, an elected upper Senate of the four nations, an English legislature in Winchester or York, withdrawal from the EU, new co-operative relationship with old Commonwealth are possible solutions to save us from being a Balkan backwater.
Roman - All to much for someone who prefers incremental change!
Getting there Roman, but it is imperative that the four nations remain within the EU.
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