In which I talk about politics...

[godricgal]

This is a rare explicitly political post from me and, British flisters, I can only beg you to read it.

This morning, Lord Peter Mandelson took over from Harriet Harman as Acting Prime Minister. This means that the person currently governing our country is unelected, entirely without mandate.

It is bad enough that Gordon Brown can compromise the democratic integrity of this country by appointing him First Secretary of State, a position that is Deputy Prime Minister in all but name, but to leave the man in charge in his absence is wholly unpardonable, and seems to showcase the contempt this government has for anything but their own will.

It doesn't really matter what your politics are: socialist, liberal or conservative; if you are a citizen of this country who values their right to vote, then this is a flagrant infringement on the democratic process.

We're not talking about ideals here -- well, perhaps some will think we are, but there are some that should not be compromised -- and I'm certainly not in the habit of using shock tactics or drama to convey my concerns about the state of politics in this country, so I'm not going to tell you that in the next week, Mandleson could stage a political coup, but this is a man with a personal agenda, and it is not unreasonable, at all, to suppose that he will use this opportunity to spread his wings and make little movements towards whatever his ultimate goal is -- the premiership, one must assume.

But there we are moving into the arena of distrust in the man himself, which is subjective. It honestly wouldn't matter if it was my father in his position, or myself, for that matter. The very pertinent point is that right now, an unelected man is in charge of the country, and that ought to be enough to worry us all.

I am going to be looking, over the weekend, for a petition against this, or start one myself, if anyone wants to be linked to it, and I really hope some do, then please let me know.

Thank you for reading, if you have got this far, and apologies for being political this late on a Friday. ;)

Comments

[katyscarlett76.livejournal.com]

The state of politics in this country is something which despairs me every day. I really feel we don't have a valid choice anymore. I'm a Labour voter and I probably always will be, I grew up under the Tories and I don't want to go there again and I don't trust David Cameron farther than I could throw him. I would like to vote Liberal but frankly I always think they just say what people want to hear knowing full well they will never have to do anything about and some of their policies are just unrealistic.

Your point about Peter Mandelson is completely right, he's another one I don't trust at all and he's the Minister for Higher Education (under this stupid Business, Innovation & Skills department) which makes him basically in control of my career. Makes me really think Gordon's lost the plot. (And actually I do think he's a nice and intelligent guy, I just think maybe he's out of his depth, should have stuck to be being Chancellor!) However I really can't think of anyone I would prefer as PM. I think the whole expenses scandal just showed up MPs for the self-centred moneygrabbers they really are.

[godricgal.livejournal.com]

This is OT, but I'm always a bit baffled when people say they could never vote Tory after the last time. Margaret Thatcher brought this country back from the brink of collapse. It is not fair to judge them for the epic fail of one man - John Major. And I could just as easily say, my whole adult life has been under a Labour government, and I don't want a repeat of that, but I fundamentally disagree with many socialist principles, so I'm never going to want one. I don't particularly like David Cameron, either, but I don't hate him and I want him to be the next prime minister.

Whatever happens, this government needs to go and we need a new party in power. It may well be that in 12 years time I will be saying the same thing about a Tory government, but we need to get these people out of our government -- they have accumulated arrogance to dangerous levels and that will not change with a change of Labour leader. Tony Blair gave them confidence, and his own arrogance, probably unrivalled in British history, has radiated into almost every person he's worked with. We need a fresh set of people, and the Torys are the only other option at the moment. To address, briefly, the Liberal option, they rule themselves out for me because I would not vote for higher taxes or inclusion in the EU. Simple as.

Gordon Brown has definitely lost the plot - he is out of his depth and going to crazy lengths to try to cling on to power, which seems to mostly involve having completely stopped listening to anything he is been told by anyone other than Mandelson. The sooner he's out and they're out, the better.

[katyscarlett76.livejournal.com]

I suppose it really depends on your background. I'm northern and from working class area, specifically a mining/manufacturing area where the Tories and Margaret Thatcher did irreparable damage. People in my area are more likely to vote BNP than Tory and that scares me even more. Also I was at school and university in the late 80s to the end of the 90s and I know first hand how chronically under funded education was then compared to now, especially as I work in HE and I can see the difference. Plus the fact that personally I find David Cameron smug (I actually quite like William Hague though for some reason, he if was Tory Leader then I might actually consider voting for them).

But I do agree that we need a change in government, I don't think it's healthy for any democracy to remain in the hands of one group of people for so long.

And thanks for posting this, it's really interesting to have a good debate about these things and hear other people's views, so thanks.