The State of the Kingdom

[lars573]

This whole thing reminds me of the dance our former PM's did years ago. Then current PM and Liberal leader Jean Chrétien kept threatening to retire and hand power to his heir appearant and finance minister Paul Martin. But Chrétien never said when he would retire and for a year he wouldn't commit to a date. Eventaully (2003) he did go, then a year later the sponsorship scandal broke. Leaving Paul Martin holding the bag on Chrétien's mess. Which cost Paul his long sough PM's seat. And the Libral party 12 years of in power.

[Banquo's Ghost]

Oh dear. First your history friend now this man with condescending remarks about "middle America." The top-drawer hanky crowd certainly should stuff it in their mouth. (I do find it entertaining though!)

My dear Vladimir, we of the arisotocracy are born to condescension and vaguely inaccurate impressions of the lower orders and foreigners. Noblesse oblige requires us to provide amusement for the masses, otherwise what purpose do we serve?

The problem with Blair, like all politicians, is what other choices do you have. It seems there is plenty of haughty criticism but few ideas. Where is this next Churchill that should replace Blair?

Well, first of all the Brits don't actually get the choice directly. For example, it is likely that Chancellor Brown will succeed to the Premiership in May or June, but there won't be a general election. New Labour chooses whomsoever they will.

My impression is that the British are not looking for a new Churchill, but for a competent manager that doesn't lie and cheat - and who has a respect for the system of cabinet government that has always made the UK successful. Blair has tried to impose a presidential system of government not unlike the US model, but without the checks and balances of the Consititution.

The telling part of what was certainly an opinionated piece was the correct assertion that British Prime Ministers, once they lost power, immediately became virtual non-entities. Macmillan in the bus queue is a wonderful image - and very British. Other countries have to have revolution, assassinations and executions - the British sentence their powermongers to stand forlornly in the morning drizzle waiting for the Number 9.

[InsaneApache]

OK I'll bite.

BG I agree with a lot of what you said about Blair and his 'presidential' style of governing. A lot of the problem with New Labour and its antics in office is the fact that they cannot differentiate the divide between party and government. They just do not get it.

Or perhaps they do. The politicisation of the civil service is one of the worst things that has happened. When you have (unelected) party apparachniks in positions of power over the beurocrats there lies a recipe for disaster. Q.E.D.

This twinned with the notion of doing something, for the sake of looking as though you are doing something, has led to the sorry state of affairs we have arrived at. Government policy led by tabloid headlines has also caused division and confusion at every level. How many inquiries has this lot had? Hundreds. How much re~structuring and internal reviews have we had? Hundreds. What has any of this done to facilitate good governence? None.

The thing that really gets my goat is the way they fritter away our tax money. In the '80s the UK underwent some very painful changes as we adjusted to modern working conditions and the free market doctrine. A lot of people lost jobs and homes in the shake up. We paid a heavy price. Twenty odd years later the UK is benefitting from these reforms. So what does chummy on his sofa do? Waste billions on IT schemes that do not work. Waste tens of millions of consultants fees. Throws a shed load of cash at the NHS, without looking at how the money might be wasted spent. Throw in a couple of wars, one of which has turned out to be highly dubious legally, the imminent prospect of the break up of the union and the farting about with the UK constitution.....yup Anthony Charles Lynton Blair will get his legacy....just not the one he envisaged.

[rory_20_uk]

What really irritates me is when entire DEPARTMENTS can be declared "unfit for function" - and this is no one's fault. When did this start?

That Google can index most information on the internet using html spiders in the main, and the government can't make a system when they know where the information is!

Sadly Brown might help with the Legacy by making a worse job. Although reducing red tape has been shown to work (not least as it reduces the number of overpaid incompetents working in the home office) he seems to like adding to it. Even reports that show that simplifying the tax system far from being followed get censored.

[BDC]

Britain needs a couple of parliaments of consolidation and some common sense. Really quite badly.

Obvious way to get this would be some proper opposition. Cameron's Tories hardly seem any different from Labour, and the Lib Dems are useless.

[Pannonian]

My impression is that the British are not looking for a new Churchill, but for a competent manager that doesn't lie and cheat - and who has a respect for the system of cabinet government that has always made the UK successful. Blair has tried to impose a presidential system of government not unlike the US model, but without the checks and balances of the Consititution.

We need a Robert Walpole, not a Winston Churchill. Lying and cheating is beside the point. We need a competent and realistic administrator, who cares if they lie and cheat.

[Somebody Else]

There is only one solution. Boris for dictator! Who's with me?