Just when you think life can’t get any worse, it suddenly does.
There we all were, public and politicos alike, positively howling for the cessation of the madness on 6th May, only to return a hung Parliament. Now we learn that the result not only means that the news media are promising to camp outside an empty House of Commons indefinitely, speculating on what Vince Cable’s tie indicates about the willingness of Tories and Liberals to co-operate on fisheries policy, but worse: that we might be re-running the electoral fun in about 18 months time. Or less.
The papers this Sunday are a pale reflection the kind of limbo-induced ennui that teenagers in Broken Britain must feel whilst whiling away the dead hours before they can get to the park bench and the Diamond White, as they attempt to fill the empty pages between now and, you know, something actually happening. For the sanity of the nation, we can only hope that Cameron and Clegg get their shit on, PDQ.
Putting a brave face on it is Observer commentator Nick Cohen who argues that all this could have a beneficial effect on the political landscape. In the less sanguine manner for which we all love him, the Mail on Sunday’s Peter Hitchens calls Cameron’s Conservatives a “cynical fake” and calls for a split between them and “traditional” Tories. The Sunday Times front page has a useful “… as established earlier in the plot” piece with the new information that chief whip, or former chief whip as we now must call him, Nick Brown has informed the Gord that the Parliamentary Labour Party will not wear a deal with the Liberal Democrats.
As various MPs call for Brown to quit, the News of the World has the gen on the leadership bids that are being planned by David Miliboy and Ed Balls, as soon as the PM decides to shuffle off this political coil. And, of course, now we know who both the candidates are, we’re expecting nothing less than a good, clean fight.
Meanwhile, both the Sunday Mirror and the Observer are reporting trouble up t’mill, as they almost certainly don’t say in the Conservative Party. Lord Ashcroft has apparently been complaining that Cameron’s decision to win the Murdoch endorsement by getting behind the Sky campaign for leaders’ debates, in his view, cost the Tories an overall majority. Other offenders fingered for the Conservatives not ruling Britannia as nature intended are Michael Gove, Oliver Letwin and, inevitably, groovy guru Steve Hilton.
Finally, the first potential expenses scandal of the new Parliament is revealed by the Sunday Times. Go on, you’ll never guess …
19 Responses to “What we’ve learned from the Sundays”
Anon E Mouse
sally edwards – And what about the Labour big doners? Lord Paul?
In light of Brown losing us the election last Thursday can we now PLEASE stop the childish, tribal comments like these.
As soon as that unelected idiot Brown is gone Labour can start to rebuild the party but this time with a few less Ed Balls and the like and a few more vote winning moderates.
Their rising from the ashes can only be held back by your union remarks – if members of that union want to donate then let them do it themselves and let the union bosses understand they are there to serve their members and not the political ambitions of Jack Dromey and the like.
I thought this blog claimed to be progressive?
Mary Newsham
Anon e Mouse,
The employment of ‘idiot’ as a useful term in intelligent discussion points to where the growing up maybe needs to happen.
We don’t elect Prime Ministers, we elect local members and parties.
Anon E Mouse
Mary Newsham – From the OED:- “idiot • noun 1 informal a stupid person”
How many examples of his stupidity do you want me to list?
Selling gold off at a historic low?
Mary Newsham
Anon E Mouse
Gold which was, to a large extent, plundered originally.