A few quotes from Sky should help make the point.
Jeremy Corbyn told to drop 'ego' as temporary PM plan rejected
The Lib Dems' Jo Swinson says the Labour leader knows "in his heart of hearts" he can't command a majority in the Commons...
The Labour leader has written to the leaders of other political parties and senior backbenchers from across parliament to set out his proposals to stop the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement in 77 days' time...
Ms Swinson, who leads 14 MPs in the House of Commons, said: "Instead of doing everything in his power to stop us from crashing out, he is demanding the keys to Number 10 as a pre-condition for a vote of no confidence...
Labour's shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey claimed it was "constitutionally right" that Mr Corbyn should seek to lead a temporary government, which would not attempt to put in place the party's favoured policies.
Politics - it attracts the wrong people but we've known that for decades. Brexit just hammers home the message and maybe that could be one of its major benefits.
6 comments:
Agreed. In the case of Soubry, one gets the impression that she is somehow making up for being neglected and scorned some time in the distant past. Damaged.
Focusing specifically on this one bid by Corbyn, I think it was pretty much all he could do. He doesn't really want to run the country, and he certainly doesn't want to be saddled with making Brexit work. He's been anti-European all his political life, but was forced into calling for a second vote because that's what seems to be in line with the biggest chunk of the electorate who might conceivably support him. All his life he's been in opposition, and he doesn't want the burden of being constructive now he's into his eighth decade.
If the Commons suddenly rallied behind him, the poor old sod would probably have to resign.
I've been saying it for years, the only way to get the nutters out of politics is to stop it being a career. No standing for Parliament until you're 50 and maximum of 20 years as an MP (adjust these figures to your personal preference).
The problem we have created is that its perfectly possible for one of the usual suspects (Blair/Brown/Cameron etc etc) to swan from Uni to think tank to Spad to safe seat, and for politics to be a career. As such it will universally attract the wrong sort of people. The borderline psychopaths, the narcissists, the swivel eyed loons. What normal person is arse licking his way up the greasy political pole in his 20s? No -one of course, only the worse possible candidates are prepared to do it. Stop them having any possibility of a career in politics until what at the age of 25 seems like forever, your 50th birthday. Then life will take the like of Blair et al and chew them up a bit and spit them out, and maybe they will come out wiser, and still want to be involved in politics, more likely they'll find some other sphere of life to try and lord it over other people. And while thats sad for those who have to deal with them in their chosen career, at least the rest of the country are saved from their tender mercies in control of the entire country.
@Sobers: and yet, Pitt the Younger.
Didn't the Chartists demand annual General Elections?
"and yet, Pitt the Younger."
Slightly different era - he was 24 when he became PM, and died when he was 46, and his life expectancy at birth would be no more than 40. If you got through to adulthood then you might expect to get to 55-60. So on the basis I'm suggesting a limit of about 30 years below average life expectancy (currently about 80) then the same limit in his day would be 25-30. Which isn't far out from what he actually did.
Plus of course politics wasn't a paid career in Pitts day...............
Sam - I think you are right about Corbyn. If he ever became PM under whatever circumstances I think he would quickly resign and justify jumping ship as job done. He has never been constructive, doesn't know how.
Sobers - I agree and I'd also go with a minimum age for MPs of 50 and a maximum of 20 years service. I suspect narcissists are the real problem. Voters have the power to shape the intake of MPs to some extent but they don't. Maybe that is understandable with the good cop bad cop party system.
Sackers - I'd forego the occasional Pitt the Younger in favour of experience.
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