This latest conference season seems, to my eye, to have been influenced somewhat by American ways of doing politics, and in particular by Obama’s campaign to become president.
For a start there’s been a great deal of talk about “change”, not that I’m necessarily opposed to some serious changes, there is a lot that needs fixing with this country’s political, and electoral, systems.
It’s clear that I’m not the only one to think that change is needed, apart from the feel-good resonance this message might have with Obama’s aspirational speeches, I think that it’s a message which many of the UK population want to believe in, after all things seem pretty messed up at the moment so the promise of something different is bound to be attractive! The list of things which look broken is pretty stark: MP’s abusing the trust placed in them by the electorate, fiddling their expenses & breaking the rules which they expect us to live by, but rarely seeming to take responsibility, or resigning, when they do get caught; Putting the interests of big business before those of the electorate, as most clearly demonstrated by the economic crisis last year; Erosion of our civil liberties, in the “fight against terror”; Wasting resources on PFI & other projects which hand tax payer money over to big business, while our doctors, nurses & armed forces go short of funding which would allow them to perform their jobs properly; The list seems to go on and on. So, yes, change is needed.
The question really is, for all the fine words, from both sides, how much of the talk is pre-electoral rhetoric, which will be quietly forgotten once whoever wins the next election is safely entrenched in No 10? and how much of it is likely to amount to real substance?
I’m an unrepentant cynic so I tend to lean on the side that most of the talk is just that. On one side you’ve got Brown who’s track record is far from inspiring, while on the other you have Cameron, who models himself a little too closely on the Blair style of politics for my liking, in the sense that he’s clearly trying to be everything for everyone; a trick which Blair managed to pull off in ’97, but, just like Blair, Cameron can’t possibly be all things for all people, so the question is, is he lying to his core voters, as Blair did when he sold out socialism to serve that all important electoral trophy, “Middle England”, or is our mate Dave going to revert to classic Tory form when/if he gets into power?
It’s hard to buy in to Dave and George’s “we’re all in this together” rhetoric when they’re both millionaires, from privileged backgrounds, who’ve never done a decent days work in their lives, and really, even if they tried, can’t have a proper appreciation for how hard the recent recesssion has been for the vast majority of hard working Brits; Sorry davey boy, but for all that M&S dresses are a solid British middle classed brand, getting your missus to parade around conference in one isn’t convincing anyone that you’re just another hard pressed Brit; You’re a spoilt toff with no idea what it’s like to live in the real world, and you’re not fooling anyone!
On the other hand though Gordan has a pretty shocking track record too. I feel for the man slightly in the sense that Blair stiched him right up with promises of taking over the leadership when he was done, but only handing over the reins once things were well and truly in decline; Kinda like Dr Frankinstein telling Igor that he could have the castle once the baying, pitchfork armed mob, was already at the front gates. Still, Brown’s period as PM hasn’t exactly been inspirational, he gives the impression of being a slightly awkward, but principled chap, who wants what’s best for all of us, but in this age of spin one has to look at actions more than words, and if one does Brown’s term in office doesn’t look good. Abandoning good policies to kow-tow to media driven public opinion, and allowing ministers who have clearly screwed up to keep their jobs, when the honourable thing to do would be for them to resign, doesn’t exactly reinforce the quiet but principled image.
In short this country seems to face only bad choices at the next election; Both parties are promising that they have what it takes, but it’s hard to believe in Labour, given their track record, & some of the policies which Osbourne unveiled as the cure to our economic woes seem very unpalatable to me; It’s easy for him to talk about raising the retirement age when, as a millionaire, it’s something which is never going to effect him greatly, and it’s hardly surprising that he’s all in favour of scrapping 50% income tax for top earners; It all sounds a little too much like the traditional Tory values of looking after the well off at the expense of the rest of the population.
Time will tell of course, but right now I’m not expecting much from whoever wins the next election- any party who’s capable of winning under the current system just doesn’t have that great an incentive to change things too much, and, in essence, I believe that to a large extent that’s the crux of this country’s current political woes.
Hmm… I read blogs on a similar topic, but i never visited your blog. I added it to favorites and i’ll be your constant reader.