Oh for goodness' sake, how long are the BBC and the media pack going to be asking LibDem and Tory politicians how they are going to work together? The marriage/divorce metaphor has been done to death. How long will they be trawling up the puerile ad hom insults that the politicians were peddling against each other during the election campaign? Do these journalists not realise that politics is a game of two halves - one half where they pretend that their party has all the answers, and the other party knows nothing (Nothing!) and another half where, in coalition, parties work together on policy, ostensibly for the good of the nation?
In modern democracies, where the will and the opinions of the people are represented by a sensible electoral system, coalitions are the norm, not the exception. When we get PR, which we will, coalitions will be the norm here too. Bloody Get Used To It. Are we going to have 5 years of endless probing for possible divergence of policy between LibDem and the Tory constituents of Government? The real splits will turn up soon enough.
This style of journalism, this obsessive probing for divergence, is a perverse form of activism. It is not objective reporting, it is a seeking to be the journalist who exposes the fatal flaw that causes the Government to fall. Is this what they want? There is a reflexivity in the process of reporting - every question is also a statement. If they insist on concentrating only on divergence, they are seeking the economic downfall of our country, since the markets would certainly sell sterling big time if we went into another election within months.
Journalism should be about helping the people to understand the key issues facing the UK, which are:
- How do we remedy the budget deficit without stalling the economy? See here.
- How do we bring about a more equal economy, and therefore a more cohesive society? Here.
- How do we decarbonise the economy? Here.
- How do we successfully get out of Afghanistan? Here.
- How do we reform the political system? Here.
And before anyone starts up, I am not a supporter of Clegg or of Cameron. I am not starry eyed about Government of any colour. We are badly governed, not just by the politicians, but also by an essentially conservative, sclerotic Civil Service. All I want is for journalists, especially the BBC journalists who are employed by us, the people, to set their minds to explaining policy dilemmas, and to quit their boring and predictable seeking after cracks in the LibCon Coalition Government.
10 comments:
Richard -
You and are on the same page about this, I regard it as a good thing that we're learning "The Habit of Coalition"; and we should stop getting upset about the form, and look at the content:
The Habit of Coalition.
It is time to move on and see what this government does and what the Green response should be.
Best Regards, CDF
Fuck that.
I want these hypocritical slimy bastards shown as just what they are, thanks very much.
I voted LD to keep the Tories out (as recommended by my LD MP personally), only to see the two-faced cock a few days later defending the building of more nuclear power stations, early introduction of aggressive cuts that two days earlier were 'dangerous', no PR but a look at AV, etc. Those cuts will seriously affect the less well-off. Not you perhaps Richard, but plenty of people none-the-less. And suddenly no lib dems give enough of a shit to stand up for a principle. And don't try to tell me they'll ameliorate Osborn's plans. We all know that won't happen. And hopefully Cable will get his self-respect back and walk away from the foetus-faced Tory posh boy.
If this coalition isn't so bad, tell me why it's worth voting green in future for no influence at all?
from the agenda for tomorrow's Lib Dem conference.
Amendment Three
23 conference representatives
Mover: James Graham
At end, add:
Conference calls for Liberal Democrats to work constructively in government to ensure that the
net income and wealth inequality gap is reduced significantly over the course of this parliament.
A motion at conference?
one week ago you weren't going to build any more nuke power stations, you were going to reduce/get rid of tuition fees, you were not going to introduce 'dangerous' cuts. I could go on and on.
I suppose the motion is another of those 'principles'.
btw my MP (a Lib Dem) was doing his bit to reduce the wealth gap by claiming for £1000 mortgage interest per month. The new politics I guess.
CDF, we think alike. Which is good.
Depressed Beyond Tablets: Nosentient being is happy to see the Tories in power again. Our unhappiness is mitigated by the fact that their power is not absolute, but alloyed with LibDemery.
After Labour, I do not expect much from a change of Government. Radical change, the really essential change that we need, has to come from us, the people. We demonstrated for PR on Saturday, and we need to keep up and build this pressure.
Equality is the key. Yes, it's only a LD conference motion, but that is another drop of rain. Rivers are made of drops of rain.
Depression is the result of bing unable to get what we want. If we want sensible Government NOW, we are going to get depressed. There is a gigantic process afoot, a slow cognitive revolution from a childish perception that the world is infinitely able to supply all our desires, to the realistic knowledge that we have to work with the grain of nature. We are all part of that shift in understanding. Even David Cameron is part of that understanding. There are no bad people, only mistaken ideas.
That's what I think anyway.
The Good Doctor: your optimism strikes me like junk mail addressed to the dead
"depressed beyond tablets" - Half Man Half Biscuit.
Depressed Beyond tablets: Did I say I was optimistic? I do not think I did. I was railing about the journalists' non-newsworthy trawling over the contradiction between what politicians say when they are competing for votes, compared with the necessary formation of a coalition when no party has a majority. And saying that we are having to get used to it. Sure, I would have preferred a LibLabNats coalition, but it didn't happen - due, it seems, to Labour intransigence and Clegg preference. Tough. We have a LibCon Government, and the key point of discussion is whether the axe will fall on the rich or on the poor. Our job is to press the new Government to work to reduce the inequality gap. The LibDem conference understands this. We must press Clegg and Cable to work on their Tory colleagues to bring this about. La Lutte continua
I don't find highlighting that the Lib Dems are now implementing economic policy that they said was very dangerous is not worthy of reporting - and too many other things to mention
Especially as they are now justifying it. That's the sort of bullshit I can live without.
In my eyes, a Lib Dem coalition is worse than a Tory government as the opposition to it is too small to be effective and not much more than solely the Labour Party, meaning unopposed swingeing cuts are on the way, regressive VAT rises etc. I can see large sectors of society marginalised by a government of the 'contented' as Galbraith might have it. And it's not my thing.
What would you say to Vince, your mechanic, if he tinkered with your car saying "this will proper fuck it up mate, but George, my boss, says I gotta do it"?
Trouble is, if it were your car, it would be bad enough, but these Machiavellian wankers are playing fast and loose with the economy. Would you trust a man who is now doing something to our economy that he said would break it?
Well, yes, they will probably break it. They usually do.
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