Me : Seth, there was nothing remotely “undeliverable” about a solemn pledge to vote in a specific way in the Commons come what may. All they [the Lib Dems] had to do was locate the ‘No’ lobby.
Me : Not at all. The idea that it was impossible to avoid an increase in tuition fees doesn’t stand up to much scrutiny - there were a number of alternatives, albeit ones that Tories find unpalatable. But in any case, the pledge the Lib Dems signed - virtually in blood - was about how they would vote regardless of whether they were in government or not.
Richard Nabavi : So you think. But since Labour, the LibDems and the Conservatives have all concluded that there was actually no alternative, your view doesn’t really amount to anything very practical.
If there were an alternative, why has no-one proposed it?
So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen of the jury - if the three London-based parties don't propose alternatives, then those alternatives simply don't exist. Scotland and Wales must seem like Narnia to these people.
Yep, that certainly is a gem of a quote, and it's distressing to see that people so readily swallow the propaganda fed to them by the mainstream parties and their media organs. So when the parties argued about how deep their cuts would be, few people questioned the need for cuts at all, because as far as they're concerned, the three centre-right parties they are presented with in Westminster are supposed to be the breadth of their "choice". A choice akin to a kick in the groin, a punch in the stomach, or an elbow in the face.
ReplyDeleteIf you asked your mum what was for tea and she replied "Birdseye beefburgers, Sainsbury's beefburgers or Iceland beefburgers", would you consider this a choice? No, you wouldn't - you would say "have you got something else that isn't beefburgers?" So why do people accept the three varieties of centre-right political parties they are given, without asking if there's a proper alternative?
It's quite maddening.
It is time for home-made befburgers, that way we know what is in them.
ReplyDeleteI feel hungry, for some reason.
ReplyDeleteAh the ConDems and their expertise with U-turns.
ReplyDeleteCornwall has suffered the same: http://thecornishrepublican.blogspot.com/2010/11/yet-more-tory-cornish-talk.html
With seasons greetings from the Cornish Republican
The happiest of New Years to you, James my dear friend!
ReplyDeleteTo a year in which the Scottish nationalist left will defeat the forces of Labour-Conservativism! To 2011! And, of course, to Florence!
Happy New Year, Ezio, and to Cornubian, and to all! I couldn't say it earlier because I've been stuck in Glasgow city centre due to the delights of First Bus' Hogmanay Night Bus service...
ReplyDeleteWell, if the combined errr... intellects of David Clegg, Ed Miliband and Nick Cameron can't think of another way round it... who possibly could...?
ReplyDelete