Dear all,
Well, here I am twiddling my thumbs, trying to think of ways to pass the time before I go to bed in half an hour, so I don’t think too much about tomorrow.
Further to my previous about politics, a couple of thoughts have since occurred
a) by 2017 there should be a further significant factor tearing the Tories apart. If Cameron is to be believed (and who can forget his promises to abolish the debt by 2015 and bring down immigration to the tens of thousands by the same date – ‘no ifs, no buts’ – why on earth didn’t Labour make more of these lies during the campaign?) he will not seek a third term. That means that by 2017, the jockeying to succeed him should have begun. I see two factions emerging which can be mapped onto the evident chasms within the party which I described in the previous post. So we could have Michael Gove (please let it be Mr Toxic) as leader of the swivel-eyed ones, the hard right which will make no real concessions on Europe or Scotland) versus Big Fat Boris (yes, let’s make an issue of how he looks, just as the Tory press did so effectively with Ed), our jolly ‘liberal Tory’ chump, who will lead the Big Business faction and those desperate to keep their jobs at any price, even if it means staying in Europe.
b) If there is indeed a catastrophe for the Tories around 2017, then this allows for the possibility of a new government comprised of a progressive alliance between the rest of the (minority) parties which might take as its premise (if we all agitate enough) the need for fundamental reform of our rotten political system by moving to proper PR. Can’t see the LDs, Greens or UKIP objecting, can you? In that scenario, could Labour, knowing it will probably never have a majority again, once more ally itself with the Tories to defeat PR? Or will it seek to preserve its core vote from further depredations?
Gotta love you and leave you now. But don’t go away thinking I’m rabidly anti-Tory (I have quite a number of Tory-voting friends and I admire Thatcher much more than ‘Teflon Tony’ BLIAR – at least she had principles, even if I disagreed with them). I salute the Tory achievement last week (Labour were so inept strategically that they certainly didn’t deserve to win) and hope they enjoy it while it lasts…
Ok, I’ve broken my ‘fast’ twice on the same day. Soz. I will return to my Trappist ways on the subject for while 🙂
And so to bed. Next time I post, I’ll be on the mend – yay! 🙂
xx Bart
oftherightkidney 