h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What a good thing that our legislators don't go in for 'punch-and-judy' politics anymore. It really was starting to get embarassing. I'm glad we have a more consensual style of goverance now, where everyone works together for the betterment of the country as a whole, and no one seeks to make cheap and hollow political points for short-term advantage. What a refreshing change it truly is.


Geggs

Well I have yet to see PMQs (damnable work getting in the way agian ) however even if he got a drubbing I owuld not write him off just yet.

I am no big fan of Gordie (though I don't share WA rabid hatred of him) but two years is a very long time in politics. And it is not unsual for governing parties to do less well mid term. In fact on the contrary it is very unusual for them to ever be popular at this stage in the cycle.

Steady on FB, rabid has all sorts of consequences for my

dont you think would be a good smiley?

You would need to change the smiley too much to make it, I think. Just add a white band around the mouth.


Geggs

wouldn't, rather.

Preview, preview, preview.

Just watched the exchanges between GB and Dave on C4 news. What an idiot GB suddenly looks. All blustering reaction to what Dave throws at him. Its almost as if GB is the 'opposition'. Well he has been no.2 to TB for years. He was a brilliant chancellor. But he suddenly cuts a very poor naive figure as no.1 if he can suddenly make Cameron look so good. Pathetic.

My long term speculation. Dave wins next election. Miliband becomes new leader of Labour party. Dave makes total balls of it, because he'll probably try to be a centre ground Tory. All the complications of running the country from the centre will be too much for him. Plus he'll have all the divisions within the Tory party between the left and right, particularly over Europe to deal with. And he just doesn't have TB's manipulative brilliance to keep the media onside.

Miliband romps home at the election after next.....

Hows that for a bit of daft speculation based on what's happened over the last month?

But I'm almost tempted to put a few £ on it.

I think what was even more telling was Newsnight last night. Paxman had Charlie Kennedy, Michael Howard and Roy Hattersley. It was pathetic watching Hattersley trying to defend Brown's actions and the other three just looked on in the way people do when showing respect for an ageing old uncle who has gone gaga. I suppose he was the only one willing to do it

I ran PMQ in its entirety last night from my PVR. I have had a grudging respect for Brown up to now. Not any more. From whichever viewpoint you look at it the PMQ was a disaster for him.

He looked like a living example of the old French proverb "Beware your heart's desire, lest you achieve it"

Novo

Perhaps we also know now what TB's main function was - he was the glue that held the whole wobbly edifice together...

To quote Fanny " Come back Tone, all is forgiven"

On a wider point though, does the experience under both Tories, and for the last decade "New" Labour show that 10 years is the maximum period for which any party can govern, before running out of both ideas, and steam?; and before the men and women who got elected and formed a new government have become incapable of seeing the wider picture?

Novo

To a large extent I agree. Corruption and complacency both seem to set in when 1 party has been in power for a long time and the other parties aren't seen as viable alternatives. This is particularly marked in local government I think. Look at the corrupt development scandals like the Poulson affair, generally they occur in areas where 1 party has held power for decades.

I think they get tired but, having had hold of the levers of power, they cannot envisage life without them. Hence the main priority becomes staying in power. I bet if you asked Tony Blair, putting aside the politicians perchant for spin, if he was happier now than he was 6 months ago he would say now.

Regarding local government this administration has emasculated it. Everything has to be controlled from the centre, Soviet style, Stalin would have been impressed with the degree of control. The best thing that could happen is to re-empower local mayors. Local councillors are accesible. When your council tax goes up and your refuse is only collected twice a year the reason is probably because Alastair Darling has reduced the grant to local authorities to pay for those well manifestoed New Labour policies of reducing inheritance tax, flight tax and taxing non doms.

>>Stalin would have been impressed with the degree of control.<<

WA your penchant for ridiculous exageration does your arguments no good at all. I don't think uncle Joe would be very impressed with a country that didn't have lots of labour camps, where millions of people who didn't believe in New Labour 'think' were worked and starved to death.

Get your tanks off my pechants. I rather think they add a little style and colour to an otherwise dry subject.

I don't know how old you are, WA, but I can remember bemoaning the presence of 'party' in 'local' politics a l-o-n-g time ago.

The previous point about corruption. Is it just that it becomes more obvious after a while? I'd dearly like to *know* why a couple of things have been done locally - I'm told that financing local improvements is part of the price for acceptance by the authorities...?

I'm old enough to remember Poulson and Hatton about time they re-run GBH <\aside> but the flight away from local repsonsiblity has ended up with toothless local councils that can do little to improve the lives of their constituents.

Although nobody did more than the Tories under Thatcher to emasculate local government. Remember rate-capping?

Its not just a matter of it becoming more obvious over time. It also becomes more worthful buttering up local councillors, doing them favours etc if you are reasonably certain they're going to be running things for another 10 years.

Why does GB's inability to be as cutting or amusing as his opponent mean he's a poor prime minister? Since when did verbal ability equal aministrative ability?

It always has.

On what grounds?