Friday, April 23, 2010

Fulminating

Well, it's a nice long word and sounds better than "I am fed up". Readers of this blog will guess what I am fulminating about: the fact that there are still two weeks of this unbelievably (I really would not believe it if I was not living through it) trite, boring and superficial election campaign.

Instead of the second Leaders' Debate that has sent even more people into a catatonic trance we could have had the election yesterday (well, it was Thursday, after all). There will be nothing new or interesting said by any candidate from any party, big or small, between now and May 6. There will certainly be nothing said by any of the main three parties that could even begin to change anybody's mind about the way they intend to vote. They have nothing to say and neither do their acolytes in the media or the blogosphere.

This morning brought me the leaflet of my local UKIP candidate who informed me that it is the only party to vote for because Brussels now decides on our train timetables (a statement that falls considerably short of the truth) and the world has gone mad, which may well be true but remains irrelevant to my voting intentions.

That is, however, of little importance, compared to the idiocy that is being spouted by the various geeks and so-called analysts. I do not think I have lived through an election that has been so little discussed outside the circle of politicians and their hangers-on. In all this time I have overheard just one discussion about what is happening and a few people, knowing that I, too, am a kind of a political geek, have made polite comments to me. Most of those comments seem to have consisted of the fact that they are bored by the whole thing or, as one young lady put it, supremely unenthused.

The more people switch off the process, the more hysterical the media, old and new, gets. According to some, yesterday's uninteresting and unilluminating debate was the most important political event of modern history. There seems to be some division of opinion about who came out best, in itself a sign that there is not a great deal to choose between the three.

Interestingly, the Conservatives, having spent the last few years trying to lassoo the Guardianista vote, are repeating their manoeuvre of last June's European elections that turned out to be completely unsuccessful. It has dawned on them again that there is a large eurosceptic vote out there, which may not go their way. They must try to capture it and, undoubtedly, they will be using Daniel Hannan MEP in their attempts to do so.

At present, their great tactic is to inform us all that in Brussels they are salivating at the thought of Nick Clegg winning as he is one of "them". The truth is, of course, that in Brussels they do not care who will win as nothing much will change.

Ah but David Cameron, as Tim Montgomerie informed us yesterday [scroll down to 8.14 pm], "is the only Eurosceptic in this debate". The other two are defending the EU. And Mr Cameron is saying what? Well, apparently, we want to be in Europe but not run by Europe. That is Eurosceptic? Mr Montgomerie, who was once a star member of Better Off Out, is easily pleased.
I do not think this will work. It didn't last June and it will not now, despite the dynamic of a general election being different from that of the European one. There will be some people who are so anxious to get rid of Brown and his dysfunctional government that they will hold their noses, grit their teeth and put a cross against the Conservative candidate's name. But I do not think that will apply to people who are even half-way knowledgeable about the EU and Britain's membership in it (an ever larger group of people). They are not likely to be taken in by the Boy-King's indignation about Labour and the Lib-Dims depriving the people of Britain of the possibility of voting about the Constitutional Lisbon Treaty.

So do I really care who wins on May 6. My American friend keep asking me that and the answer has to be not really as it will make precious little difference. A hung Parliament sounds like a good idea because the thought of Ministers having to negotiate in order to legislate and MPs actually doing some work and reading those Bills they usually nod through is an appealing thought. Some people say that a hanged Parliament is an even more appealing thought but I couldn't possibly comment.

The worst possible scenario would be the Conservatives losing because of votes going to the Lib-Dims. That may sound like a good plan to people who hate the Boy-King and all that he stands for but a little thought would make it clear that if the Lib-Dims do well, the chances of a new Conservative Party that actually deserves its name arising from the blood-bath that will follow a defeat, will be slim. The Cameroonies will declare triumphantly that the party lost because the project had not gone far enough and the party will not be able to respond. Cameron might even survive.

A Conservative defeat with no clear majority going to anybody because of votes going to UKIP (despite the silliness of some of their candidates) would produce a better result in the long run. In the short run, of course, none of it matters. Only two more weeks to go and I can spend that time concentrating on real politics.

9 comments:

  1. But you do care, as shown by the title of your blog. Raedwald has a good post on freedoms, this St George's day, showing them slowly slipping away.

    eg: I'm free to visit my family as long as fully State licensed adults, parents or guardians are present if there are any children under 16 there. I'm allowed to put State-approved specially purchased food out for the birds, but not food scraps or bread crumbs from my own kitchen.

    Meanwhile the EU Commission just steams ahead, with little interest in the ordinary person, or the election of puppet governments, as people like us are just not intelligent or well informed enough to understand.

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  2. I wish people would stop pretending that St George or his day, which is shared by other countries and organizations, have anything to do with freedom. Unhistorical sentimentality. I take it that paragraph is a satire because it is not actually true. Though a lot of people who are, to my knowledge, getting all misty-eyed about England and St George would like the first part of it to be true. If only one child can be saved. Sob!

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  3. It seems to be a good enough day to discuss freedoms. Do we have a better one? 15th June, possibly, but I hadn't noticed anyone celebrate our diminishing freedoms on that day.

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  4. I also got UKIP leaflet today and it is all about sustainable energy and all that... Now I have serious doubts on whether I want to vote for UKIP.

    Looks like the [Official] Monster Raving Loony Party is the only option? As all the rest of parties are even more ridicilous and stupid.

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  5. No Party comes even close to satisfying even half of what I want. At least 1/3 of each Party's policies I find objectionable. So what must I do?

    Nick

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  6. By the way, Gerald Warner writes:

    "If there is one thing that makes Dave really angry it is failure to consult the people on enlargement of EU powers. As he told us last night: “…what you are hearing from the other two is frankly don’t trust the people, don’t ask them when you pass powers from Westminster to Brussels [eg the Lisbon Treaty?], just give in to everything that comes out of Brussels and don’t stand up for your country…” Clegg wants a referendum too, “the next time there is a big transfer of powers to the European Union”.

    Note the casual assumption that there will be another big transfer of powers to Brussels – the implicit recognition that federalisation of Europe and the absorption of Britain is not an event but a continuing process. As for Cameron, if you want an illustration of the completely unselfconscious fraudulence of contemporary politicians you could not find anything more iconic than Dave’s effrontery in posing as the champion of consultation of the electorate over enlargement of EU powers after reneging on a Lisbon Treaty referendum."

    Another transfer of powers is on the cards ... it's not a casual assumption ... it's on its way, precipitated by the Greek crisis. In a way, Clegg is right: let's have a in-or-out Referendum on the EU and be done with the issue, one way or another.

    Nick

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  7. There's not much left to transfer. Just tourism and a few other things. Oh wait..

    The Lisbon Treaty acknowledges the importance of tourism outlining, for the first time, a specific competence for the European Union in this field and allowing for decisions to be taken by qualified majority (Title XXII Tourism, Art. 195)

    From The European Commission's DECLARATION OF MADRID WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE INFORMAL MINISTERIAL MEETING FOR TOURISM UNDER THE SPANISH PRESIDENCY IN APRIL 2010 IN MADRID UNDER THE MOTTO "TOWARDS A SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE TOURISM MODEL"

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  8. Yes, some UKIP candidates can be a bit silly and their leadership team are not as polished and impressive as the big three, but please give them a chance; they still desperately need your support and they may be the only chance this country has of any sort of independent future. As UKIP gets bigger as a party it will attract better quality members and I still hope for substantial desertions of prominent Tories to bolster UKIP's election prospects for the general election after this one. So be scornful if you must but there really is no other choice but to support UKIP.

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  9. Supanova

    I agree with you. I mention the lack of polish of their leaders and the apparent silliness of some of their candidates to highlight that these are flaws which the media are picking up on, including, alas, Helen. They do, however, need an injection of talent at the highest level. When Nigel Farage stepped down as leader I was appalled at the choice given to party membership (of which I am not one). Lord Pearson was very much the best of a sorry selection. However, I repeat; the only reasonable choice to save our country is UKIP.

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