Morning:
8°c
As the end of the year approaches, I like to think that the Prime Minister will be in a reflective mood. One of the things I hope he's reflecting on is how he can revive not only his standing but that of the political class as a whole.
He is the unelected incumbent of Number 10, whose predecessor was voted in by a mere 35 per cent of the 61 per cent of the British population eligible to vote, and as such he's not so much at the apex of a functioning democracy, but part of a dictatorship of the dull.
I would argue that the fight for the centre ground in British politics is a result - not a cause - of this general apathy, and that the people's disaffection with their leaders is to blame.
So, Prime Minister, why not break ranks with those who aspire to your office and for your Christmas message tell us some full and unvarnished truths, rather than some glossy half-lies? Why not admit what we all know already: that the British Army has lost the conflict in Southern Iraq, in so far as "winning" would imply succeeding in the objectives set for them by their political masters? It's not those of us who opposed the war in Iraq from the off who are betraying these young men and women but those who deny the reality of what they face on the battlefield.
Second, given that your own party is mired in yet another funding scandal, why not concede that the time has definitely arrived for the taxpayer to replace Mr Abrahams? We'd just as soon not pay for any commissions or inquiries; we already pay your salary, so we may as well foot the bill for your election expenses, too, if that's what it costs to avoid the taint of corruption.
Third, why not 'fess up to what is as plain as the nose on your face: that the new EU Treaty is substantively the same as the old EU Constitution that was rejected by the electorates in France and the Netherlands (where they were given a choice)? Your obstinate adherence to smuggling in major constitutional change by the back door - alongside, it may be said, most of the senior politicians in both opposition parties - says nothing for your commitment to democracy whatsoever.
I haven't the necessary space here to delve through the midden of rubbish that has been spoken this year about education and the NHS but there's one other small corrective you can offer to political humbuggery. Why not extend the hand of fidelity to all those little people, us taxpayers, who have already shelled out £25 billion for Northern Rock, and tell us whether we should now regard ourselves as the real owners of the bank, not just the de facto ones? And if we are the bank's owners, presumably you'd like to tell us that this institution is just as secure as the Bank of England itself. Of course, whether or not we'll believe you is another matter.
Reader views (1)
Well said, Will, but nothing will induce this Prime Minister to question his own sublime omnipotence - short of a revolution. Remember, there is plenty of time for him to throw us a few sweeties before the next election to bolster his built-in majority.
Nothing now to stop us sliding into a sea of incompetence, bureaucracy and EU subjugation.
- Harry Bloom, Holland on Sea, Essex, 18/12/2007 17:16
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