Well the people have spoken, and once again plunged the UK into a political crisis. Thus proving again the old Churchill political adage that 'democracy is the worst of all governments except for all the others.' It also shows what divided country we are these days, Brexit, Devolution, Left and Right ... everywhere you look we are a nation divided.
Our system of first past the post relies on there being a clear winner, and so to be facing a second coalition or a minority government inside 2 years from the formation of the last one, is something of a shock to our way of getting governments.
We may even be seeing the death of our old system if we don't start seeing clear blue water between the parties after elections. But for now, we face yet another election around November this year, because we can't negotiate Brexit from the EU with a minority government. A Conservative pact with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland is not a long term runner.
The last time I can recall a situation like this was 1974, at the end of Edward Heath's Conservative government (although I understand the same thing happened in 1910), when we also had two elections (February and October), which ended up with Labour having a majority of just 3 seats.
It all ended badly for Labour and us, with Jim Callaghan leading us into the 'winter of discontent' ... and of course the arrival of Mrs Thatcher.
Ah well, if nothing else we live in interesting times.
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| Vox Populi or The Start Of A Revolution In Our System? |
Our system of first past the post relies on there being a clear winner, and so to be facing a second coalition or a minority government inside 2 years from the formation of the last one, is something of a shock to our way of getting governments.
We may even be seeing the death of our old system if we don't start seeing clear blue water between the parties after elections. But for now, we face yet another election around November this year, because we can't negotiate Brexit from the EU with a minority government. A Conservative pact with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland is not a long term runner.
The last time I can recall a situation like this was 1974, at the end of Edward Heath's Conservative government (although I understand the same thing happened in 1910), when we also had two elections (February and October), which ended up with Labour having a majority of just 3 seats.
It all ended badly for Labour and us, with Jim Callaghan leading us into the 'winter of discontent' ... and of course the arrival of Mrs Thatcher.
Ah well, if nothing else we live in interesting times.
Despite the medias' relentless campaign to paint Jeremy Corbyn as un-electable, he confounded his critics and came out as the winner of this election.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what might have happened if the UK had a fair independent press, if it can even be described as independent being largely in the hands of a few Tory white males.
I am no fan of Corbyn who I believe to be at best naive, but more likely little short of being a dangerous fool. However he ran a better campaign (although that wouldn't be hard), and got the rewards for it.
DeleteI am not sure why you consider it necessary to mention the supposed colour of the males who may own the newspapers ... a very Diane Abbott like comment.
Unfortunately white is a group as Tory is a group and male is a group. It shouldn't be and it's becoming less so, but until the old establishment has moved on and boardrooms reflect the society outside in terms of colour and gender, it's still an issue.
DeleteSo therefore black is also a group, and Muslim is also a group, however it seems some are not happy to define people from those groups by those terms ... not very equitable. But then PC'isms says that only whites can be described in negative terms by using that group terminology.
DeleteOf course in certain contexts black and Muslim are groups and I used white in a certain context. Asian men in the context of grooming young white girls in Rotherham is an example - I don't care if some people aren't happy, that's PC'ism - and it was that PC'ism that perpetuated the problem because they were afraid of some people not being happy.
DeleteAs for Muslims, I see them as a group with a very big problem of ideology - they're such a large and fragmented group though that it's difficult to pin the problem on them, hence the ongoing denial and continued violence in the name of Islam.
Islam is a violent religion by default. It has always used the sword to spread and is no different now. Which is why as a group they can't control this activity because Daesh are tapping into a direct command in the Koran which says that a good Muslim should fight the unbelievers.
DeleteChristianity spread in much the same manner in South America, and in some respect North America and sub Saharan Africa, although its grown out of this tendency in the last 200 years or so.
DeleteI believe that you are referring to Sura al-Tawba 9:123: "O you who have believed, fight those adjacent to you of the disbelievers and let them find in you harshness. And know that Allah is with the righteous.".
Note that there are multiple translations of the passages of the Quran from the Arabic to English, and this means that interpretations can differ. However this one is pretty much the same in all schools.