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Tuesday 18 April 2017

May be crafty



So now we know, we are to have a general election on June 8th. All very interesting and almost exciting in a race to the bottom kind of way, but this voter isn’t keen having to vote Tory merely in the hope of keeping Brexit on course and the loons at bay. This is the party which harboured hard-core toads David Cameron and Tim Yeo, so it is more than disappointing to have one’s hand forced, but forced it is.

The trouble is, a chap has to vote against the absurd Corbyn and that hole on the political spectrum Tim Whatsit – you know, the one who tries to keep the Lib Dems afloat. UKIP no longer counts and the Greens are ludicrous so where does that leave us? Perhaps it's the invisible hand, the political one Adam Smith didn't write about. 

Unfortunately democracy has become a matter of voting against the dross rather than voting for something positive such as tackling corruption, pin-striped greed, bureaucratic oppression and general government incompetence. Pushing Brexit along is a positive of course, but we’ve voted for that. Apparently.

May of course is taking advantage of the situation. An opportunity has presented itself and she is making the best move she has available. It’s a good sign and may even indicate political astuteness. Or it may be the obvious move and that’s all there is to it. We'll see.

6 comments:

Sam Vega said...

Pushing Brexit along is a positive of course, but we’ve voted for that. Apparently.

Agreed. This will, for me, be no more than an opportunity to applaud someone who is getting on with Brexit. We may as well be asked to vote for the civil service. But it is necessary that we go and do it, all the same - as there are still many who would try to sabotage the process.

Oh, and it's going to provide some superb political theatre, isn't it? Corbyn, of course. The tories haven't even started on him, as they have been content to let his own troops turn their guns on him. And that Lib Dem chap you mention. He might be encouraged by all the tactical voting, and we'll get to learn his name. And the Nats. They might be asked why they think Scottish independence from a larger political entity is more desirable than British independence from a larger political entity.

What's exciting about this is not the outcome (foregone conclusion, I would have thought) but watching the political caste get knocked about by those bigger issues that you often raise here: voter information, widespread scepticism, and the rapid decline of deference.

wiggiatlarge said...

Agree with all you say, the sad part is that not having a party that can seriously challenge the Conservatives is not a good position for the country, an easy ride and a big majority is good for them but is it good for us.

And once again it will highlight the fact that the population outside the vote for donkeys brigade will have little to latch on to, as you say with UKIP almost certainly diminishing instead of morphing into a much needed alternative we are left again with the status quo and that has not served us well in recent decades.

Looking at Corbyn and his front bench with "Zippy" Fallon looming behind is enough to turn any sane person away from politics forever, difficult to think of a more incapable bunch in my lifetime.

Demetrius said...

I suspect that Major Clement Attlee, formerly of the South Lancashire Regiment, regretted not going to the country in 1949.

James Higham said...

It was Water Closet Fields who noted that too about voting against.

Anonymous said...

What has my Tory MP done for me and my neighbours - sod all. Budgets cut left and right and total acquiescence. No, I can't stand any more Brexit guff, I've pulled the plug on news. So no, I won't be voting Tory, a pox on all their houses.

A K Haart said...

Sam - it's the political theatre I'm looking forward to, although at times it feels a little too amateurish for comfort.

Wiggia - yes we need a competent opposition. I'm sure many more voters would be Labour supporters if the party wasn't so dire.

Demetrius - events, those pesky events.

James - I'm sure it's how we vote. We fear losses more than we covet gains and the other lot getting in would be a loss.

Roger - I'm not so much voting Tory as voting against the rest of them.