The First 100 Days

[poliphilo]

If I haven't written much about domestic politics since the Coalition took power it's because I'm non-plussed. I think most of us are. The political landscape changed completely at the last election and we've yet to get our bearings.

I voted Lib Dem only to discover I'd voted Conservative- which was the last thing I meant to do. And If that wasn't enough the Labour party immediately quit the stage to pursue a ridiculously protracted leadership election- with the consequence that all through the summer we've been without a parliamentary opposition. 

And then there's the business of the deficit. It's huge. Clearly we need to do something about it- and this makes it hard to oppose the measures the Coalition wants to bring in. You raise an eye at the severity of the cuts and they shrug and go, "Honest gov, we hate it as much as you, but there's really no alternative." I'm beginning to suspect this is a lie- and that there are in fact alternatives, but until we have a proper opposition in place there's nowhere to go to debate them, no-one to get behind.

Finally, credit where credit is due, David Cameron has made a good fist of being prime minister. He looks and sounds the part- and his foreign policy gaffes ( criticising Pakistan in India and Israel in Turkey) can also be spun as honest plain speaking. He's very hard to dislike- and after the national embarrassment that was Gordon Brown it's good to have someone out there representing the country who doesn't stink of bitterness and defeat.

Obviously, this charmed state of affairs- this phoney peace-  isn't going to last much longer...

Comments

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

Election of somebody new always seems to start with euphoria then the only way is down, e.g. Obama, Blair... The Cleggameron will be no different, no matter what they achieve, or don't.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

As Enoch Powell (I think) once said, "All political careers end in failure."

[petercampbell.livejournal.com]

I read somewhere that the total sum of the government's debt is roughly is roughly the amount we as a country owe on our credit cards - which [uts it into perspective a bit. The cost-cutting comes across as masochistic posturing, to be honest, with perhaps a political agenda behind them as well.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I think there's certainly a political agenda- and that people are beginning to be uncomfortably aware of this and the politicians are becoming uncomfortably aware that people are becoming uncomfortably aware...

Which is why Nick Clegg was saying the coalition doesn't want to be known simply for its cuts.

[qatsi.livejournal.com]

I must have missed the "we hate it as much as you" bit. It's clear that cuts are necessary to some degree - whether to the degree they are being pursued I'm not sure - but George Osborne will really have to stop smiling to persuade me that he's not enjoying as much public sector slash-and-burn as he can get away with. Thinking about this, I've realised what it is about him in particular that chills me - in personality terms, he seems to be the offspring of Michael Howard.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

George Osborne is a very rich man. These cuts aren't really going to touch him- or anyone else of his class.

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

"I voted Lib Dem only to discover I'd voted Conservative- which was the last thing I meant to do."
I can relate to this. In 1964 I got to vote in my first Presidential election. Because of the mess in Vietnam and the radical right represented by the John Birch Society (forerunner to today's Tea Party in a way,) I voted for Lyndon Johnson, who pledged no escalation of the war while his opponent Goldwater pledged bombing of North Vietnam and surrounding areas. Well, shortly after Johnson was elected, guess what? I might as well have voted for Goldwater, because that is what we got - his policies. Even my Young Republican cousin Richard was satisfied that Democrat Johnson was President, stating that "Goldwater is President, after all."
Doesn't it make one angry when one votes the platform, only to find out that the candidate does not fully support it?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I voted for the most left wing of the parties, only to have them enter a Coalition government with the Conservatives. It's all very odd- and there's been nothing like it in British politics for a long, long time. It may very well end in tears.

The alternative

[(Anonymous)]

Of course there is an alternative. They could cancel the foreign military adventures in Afghanistan, Iraq and so on. That would save a bundle.

But having an opposition on their toes wouldn't help, because it was Labour that got you all into that mess in the first place, blindly following that insane loony George Bush.