Yes. I'm a little bit annoyed.
For those who haven't heard, Gordon Brown handed his resignation in to the Queen today and David Cameron is officially now our Prime Minister, thanks to a deal with the Liberal Democrats that has enabled the Conservatives to form a parliamentary majority.
We now have a Conservative government for the first time in 13 years, albeit with a slightly yellow tinge. Those of us who remember the 1980s and 1990s will know that we spent what seemed like forever trying to get rid of the last one.
I was once a member of the Liberal Democrats. As a fan of Old Labour policies, they seemed for a long time like the only party of the main three who even remotely represented my beliefs. As it happened, my naivety about Lib Dem policies was shattered when they got rid of Charles Kennedy as leader because of his alcoholism. I had believed until then that, somehow, the Liberal Democrats represented a better way of doing politics, as signified by their belief in voting reform and open and accountable politics.
I suspect a lot of people have had their naivety about the Liberal Democrats shattered today. The fact that they have never been in government before gave them a slither of credibility when they said "we're different." Today they've proved that they're not. Nick Clegg has made the proverbial deal with the devil in order to get his party into power. If he believed even half of the Liberal Democrats' policies when he joined the party, then his beliefs should be so fundamentally different from the Conservatives that he could not even contemplate helping them get into power.
Let's not forget the origins of the Liberal Democrats. They were formed by a combination of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party. The Liberal Party survived tough times in the 1970s thanks to their pact with Jim Callaghan's Labour Party and the SDP was formed in the 1980s when a breakaway group of Labour MPs thought that the party had gone too far to the left (ironically, it was Labour's opposition to nuclear weapons which was seen as a sign they had gone loony left at the time). So deep down, the Liberal Democrats is a party of people who have far more in common than Labour than with Conservatives.
When New Labour appeared in the mid 1990s, the Liberal Democrats seemed left-wing by comparison. Under Clegg, the party has drifted more to the right, whilst Labour are now the strongest party standing for social justice. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of New Labour. They made a great many mistakes: tuition fees, Iraq, Afghanistan, stealth privatisation, failure to reform politics, etc. But they also did a great number of positive things, whilst the last Tory government left nothing but a huge shadow over Britain. The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats should be entirely unreconcilable. But power corrupts.
Some people have said they've felt sorry for Clegg in the position he's been in since Friday. I don't. He's clearly fucking loved it. Despite coming third in the polls, he was for a few days the most powerful man in Britain, and he milked it for every last drop. I'm not saying it was an easy decision to make - indeed, there was no "fair outcome" here except possibly another general election. But this is exactly the worst decision he could have made. I will never vote Liberal Democrat again, unless the party rebels against this coalition and pushes Clegg out over it.
So what do we have to look forward to now? The Conservatives have apparently agreed to a referendum over the Alternative Vote system, but that is not the same as promising to implent it. There's nothing to stop them campaigning against it in the run up to the referendum. Details will probably come out in the next few days about what the Lib Dems have obtained in return for their support - but it's unlikely to be anything that fundamentally goes against the Conservative ethos of laissez faire government, help for big business and complete disregard for social justice.
The next time you lose your job you may be forced to take one in McDonalds. The next time you need an operation you may have to wait months rather than weeks because of NHS cutbacks. The next time you look for a new job you may find there are twice as many people applying than there were a year ago. The next time you go into town you may find three more shops have closed.
This is a shitty day for Britain and an even worse day for democracy.
This is Becks, ust in case it comes up anonymous like some nutter.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading how you explained the Labour and Liberals probabilities of coming togeher I was really quite shocked when it turned out Clegg had gone for Cameron. I just don't understand how two parties with such different ways can even justify pretending to work together. I honestly was glad to have used my vote the way I did but I just wish there was a party with a leader I actually had faith in. Me and my dad were talking politics and he was going on about politicians in his day said what they thought even if it alienated some people and he thinks this is why the BNP are gaining power, not being afraid to say what they think, however distasteful. If only Clegg had done the same and had some cahoneys. I just hope this whole election thing doesn't push people even more into the BNPs pockets. If Clegg had decided not to form a coalition with either party what would have happened?
I think alienation with politics is probably one reason people are turning to the BNP. Another is that there are lots of misconceptions about all sorts of supposed "advantages" that immigrants have in Britain, and government and authority don't make any effort to dispel these myths.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, I think a lot of people are very naive about politics and I think this is down to lack of education on the subject. The reaction to Bigotgate floored me: people were actually shocked that someone would be polite in public but say something rude behind someone's back. This isn't two-facedness, it's plain good manners. You don't slag off your customers to your face, whether you're a bartender or prime minister. People have been quite naive about the Lib Dems too - I can't believe how effective Clegg's more-pious-than-thou-act was before the election. Nobody gets to be a party leader without some manipulative skills. Politics is partially about performance, which is partially why Brown failed so badly. The BNP on the other hand, have no concept of performance, and this appeals to some people.
If the Lib Dems had refused to enter a coalition, the Tories would have been forced to try and rule with a minority government. This would mean that they would struggle to get any laws passed, because they would be defeated regularly in Commons votes. Eventually, either Cameron would have called another election (in the hope of securing a majority this time) or there would have been a vote of no-confidence, forcing either a resignation or another election. So it wasn't like Clegg had no choice but to form a coalition.
So, Clegg's motivation for forming a coalition can't be that he believed in any of the Tories policy which is the only motivation acceptable in politics as far as I am concerned. I think you're very right about the misconceptions regarding immigrants, I hear all the time "oh you wana get on the immigrant houing list if you wanna house" or "taking our jobs". It should be broadcast openly that as a country we freely poach the talented members of other countries and use them to tend to our medical needs with offers they cannot refuse when they are badly needed in their own countries. But people love to pretend they cannot see this imbalance in the NHS and instead create unrest with stressing the negative impacts of immigration.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of thse people who is very naive about politics too and I feel like this last couple of months has been a fast course in educationg me but I was still disappointed with the bigotgate. I think you have a very valid point about people just having good manners not saying things to people's faces - I know my hairdresser talks about my fat bum and bad choice in hair colour and cut when I leave the place because she talks about other people that way too, I'm under no impression that I am different - however, it is important to note that if I heard her saying this about me directly I would NOT be going back to her!!! Ad if she did nothing but insult everyone the minute they leave and do down all the other hairdressers to make me have faith in her all it would do is make me lose my faith in her.
And this is the thing with bigotgate...sure you can have a bitch about some old lady who makes you look a fool but I don't want to hear it directly, athough I would be aware he probably leaves all interviews going "motherfucking fucker" he has to keep his manners intact because the british voters don't like bad manners, it makes us lose faith.
Further to that, I think the reason the public are losing fath in our leaders is the constant need to put others down to be voted for rather than 'honest politics', whatever that may be! I would like a leader who does not feel the need to besmirch others to make his own virtue apparent. Unfortunately, it seems the good brits don't become successful professional politicians.......
Regarding bigotgate, I think it's interesting to note that it was a Sky microphone which recorded the comments that Brown made in the privacy of his own car. I doubt that the BBC would have been so quick to broadcast them. I sort of feel like the whole bigotgate thing was blown into a media frenzy far too quickly - have you seen the footage of reporters rushing to tell the old woman what Brown had said?
ReplyDeleteMind you, Sky's coverage of this election is a whole other post in itself.