But Why Not?

The Telegraph says voting for the Liberals will let Labour in; the Guardian says voting for the Liberals will let the Tories in. No-one is prepared to contemplate the possibility that voting for the Liberals will put the Liberals in.

Is it really so impossible?

Our political duopoly is less than 100 years old. The Liberals were a party of government within living memory.  In a situation where there is general disgust with the political caste and no enthusiasm for either of the two main parties or their leaders why shouldn't a third party sneak in and carry off the prize? The only thing that stands in the way of this outcome is a weary fatalism that negates the possibility of change.

An Impromptu Holiday

The volcano keeps on spewing. Tonight the government rolled out a plan to send the navy fanning out across the globe to pick up all the stranded Brits.  Alice cancelled her flight to the States and now has nothing to do for a fortnight.  She thought about coming to see us- and then about meeting us somewhere scenic.  We settled on Glastonbury.  She arrived there this afternoon, and Ailz and I will be joining her tomorrow.  She rang from the town centre. "There's this churchy thing," she said, and then,  "Ooh. This must be the high street. I've just seen lots of hippies."