Michael Portillo was talking this morning of a scorched earth policy in the House of Commons. Not in the literal sense, more rather in the removal of the bad eggs who have been, let's say, lacking in moral fibre. A shake-up of rules is needed apparently, an end to party politics, transparency. That's great but personally my views on politicians have been scorched. I really couldn't care less what they have to say anymore. In some ways it feels like there's been a general election and in the euphoria that follows when the country is leaderless, parliament has been dissolved, the polling stations are closed but the count isn't in, one feels happiness that the last shower have gone and slight trepidation of the next lot. All magnified by caffeine as you're surruptiously staying up all night to watch it (nobody readily admits to doing this). What I'm driving at is that there is a point in an election when the new lot might or might not be in and the old lot might or might not be out. There's change afoot and no policies.
Which is akin to what we have now. Like most others I would imagine, when the Telegraph's MP expenses bonanza kicked off I was pretty angry with it all. Not just the shameless hands in the till, but the childish 'it wasn't me it's the system wot done it' excuse that somehow absolves anyone from blame. The greed, the sheer avarice of it all, the tax-dodging, the denial, and in some cases the bare faced fraud and that helpless feeling that they just 'don't get it'. Maybe MPs were never this arrogant or maybe MPs think they deserve respect rather than earning it, maybe this was a reason for what happened. But I'm completely mystified as to how this can happen and why it is that only one head has rolled, that of the Speaker yesterday. As has been stated time and again, any normal person would be fired from their job for abusing an employer's expense system. Yet for all the tough talking by the party leaders this hasn't happened. Caught with your hands in the till? Surely a summary dismissal is in order, and not just from the shadow cabinet but from Parliament. Perhaps, constitutionally this can only happen through deselection. That may be the mechanism for removal.
With this blowtorch of public derision searing through Parliament there are no new policy announcements, no select committee reports, indeed its as if not only the government has imploded, which is not unprecedented, but the whole system of government. Sure, they can say this and that but who actually believes them? More so, who actually cares? I've always disliked Gordon Brown, moving from optimism (could be better than Blair/return to the grey man of politics like Major) to pity (the Election that never was highlighted his indecision and I pitied him for that). He is the most disliked PM ever and Labour has its lowest polling ever. It has got to the point that I don't care for anything that comes out of his mouth. His demolition of the UK economy is absolute, as his inability to take responsibility not only for his errors but also any decisions that need to be made. At least Tony Blair had personality even if he was the epitome of spin. Brown is a divisive, indecisive, sulky, bully who has reached the top of the pile and is completely out of his depth. I don't like the man.
But here lies my concern. Parliament has been eviscerated, Gordon Brown is dead man walking, there's no prospect of Labour rising out of the ashes and there's a whole year until the next General Election. That would be fine were it not for the fact that these people are meant to be in charge and presiding over lifting this country out of this recession. Alistair Darling's pronouncements on the economy's recovery by Christmas suggest that he has either completely lost the plot or that bunker mentality really has set in and that he really believes that.
So here we are then. We're stuck with this useless government presiding over a broken Parliament and a ruined economy and we're going to waste a whole year while Gordon refuses to do the decent thing and call an election. It really is a sorry state of affairs.
And what could be done to improve matters? Obviously a change of government, but I'd like to see Proportional Representation, the format of the Chamber reconfigured to a semi-circle as opposed to two benches, the removal of all pomp and ceremony as these traditions seemed to have extended all the way to the antiquated work practices, primaries to choose local MPs, in short a complete revision of how Parliament is conducted. If it is ever going to happen it seems that now is the time.
