As David Cameron makes another bid to impress those who are
never likely to give him the time of day, one is left wondering
about his tactical nous. Suppose "UK Prime Minister" is merely a tick on his CV.
Suppose that’s all he intends – all he ever intended. Not a new or original suggestion I know, but what are we to make of it?
It isn’t easy to thread a way through UK political motives.
Stupidity, cupidity, inexperience, legal and political entanglements,
complexity, vested interests, misinformation, fanatical ambition, backstabbing, inertia, greed, amoral cunning, conceit, megalomania, deviousness and simple bungling are all on offer as explanations suited to what we
see from our political class.
Without knowing Cameron personally and knowing him well at
that, any pundit may pick and choose from the rhetorical feast he and his ilk provide.
Maybe they provide it deliberately too – who knows?
Very few really know - that's my guess. Although it doesn’t stop many of us from putting
together a point of view which we can’t actually check. The problem is, neither
can anyone else and that’s something we know too.
So do we do it for fun - slagging off whoever happens to be
in charge? Well I’m sure we do it to let off steam, but what use is it when we
don’t actually know? When we aren’t on the inside, never will be on the inside
and therefore never view events from that fascinating perspective?
It seems to me that we have to go with a mix of possibilities - mostly negative in Cameron's case, but he's hardly alone in that. We have to compare what we see with an intelligent,
rational, well-managed political scenario where voters are given some kind of
choice.
Not because voters know best, but because nobody else knows
any better. Some may express themselves more cogently, but cogency is not wisdom. Which of course is the thing we lack – wisdom.
So back to Cameron’s CV. Is the office of Prime
Minister merely a ticked box? At the age of 46, I think it has to be.
As with stupidity, cupidity, inexperience, legal and
political entanglements, complexity, vested interests, misinformation, fanatical ambition, backstabbing, inertia, greed, amoral cunning, conceit, megalomania, deviousness and simple bungling – it explains too
much to be entirely wrong.
10 comments:
Agreed. It's a stepping stone to a glittering career with Goldman Sachs or J P Morgan.
You're not wrong AKH - I've met the man many times!
Every word of your last paragraph can be applied to this man.
Just a thought. A good many of our politicians have access to family money etc. that is tucked away somewhere safe and secret. In the bad old days of the landed aristocracy you knew largely how much they were worth and where the property was. We know so little about our leaders yet they seem to want to know so much about us.
Jim Hacker all over again, his achievements are just getting the post, like that horrible bloke, Bliar.
Mark - yes, appalling as it seems to us, I think he sees PM as a stepping stone to real power.
Witterings - I don't think I'd like to meet the guy, yet some must be impressed.
Demetrius - I think you are right, we don't know anywhere near enough about them and their connections.
Scrobs - horrible indeed and the passing years don't make it any better.
I feel he's just in thrall to conflicting pressures.
I have always felt that Cast Iron's heart was not in it.
Now that he has landed in No 10 all his subsequent actions confirm my belief that he is not looking at being a long term lodger there.
But I do not think he has the craving for power/money that Tony Wot's His Name has. So where Cast Iron sees himself next, I do not think even he knows - yet!
James - I think he is, but I suspect he knew that would be the case to begin with. He doesn't come across to me as an idealist.
Bill - on an emotional level I don't think his heart is in it either. I'm not sure I trust that feeling though.
A cushy job anywhere but #10 must be his prayer, but he is a flim-flam man and the market for flim-flam men has dried up a bit.
I feel a bit sorry for Cam, he has taken the job at a time where 'long hard slog' is likely the only possibility and the Tories don't do 'long hard slog'. In fact the entire UK political system seems designed to follow 'any quick fix' as a methodology.
Just take a look at the occupants of the UK Cabinet and you can see that no seriously capable person can be bothered to waste their career on UK politics. Not because the incumbants are stupid as individuals but the system they must operate prevents sensible actions.
I reckon Cam will get another term (as a punishment) and then quit sick of the entire business.
Roger - the Civil Service and EU and UN bureaucracies do long hard slog and I suspect our political types can't make much of an impression on that.
Join them or flounder may be the only options, but Cameron seems to have opted for both.
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