It is a publc service, and as such should be run in the interests of the wider public not a few shareholders. Same with the buses.
I wouldnt normally be in favour of re-nationalisation because I think that ship has sailed. I do think the rail network though is a candidate. It is an absolute mess acroas the board really. Mind you the govt are making a horlicks of HS2 so I am not sure they are competent enough to run a horse and cart, let alone a train system.
I like the bloke, talks a lot of sense. But calling for cross party cooperation, by criticising the Labour Party, isn't too clever tbh. "In a warning to the Labour Party, Ellwood said: “British politics is entering a dark chapter that risks damaging our hard-earned reputation as a democratic exemplar on the global stage." I'd say a PM being a criminal then forced out of office, another crashing the economy and a third immediately breaking promises after assuring honesty and integrity will have damaged our hard-earned reputation tbh. A bit of balance please Mr Ellwood.
I have just been reading about this. Another very grim accusation emerged this afternoon as well from from a female labour MP. You have to wonder about the culture in Westminster. Take off party rosettes for a minute and look at the grim stories left and right of the spectrum. Something cannot be right in that environment. It seems there is a higher percentage of rotten apples than in some other walks of life.
I think he was asked about the ads about Sunak not jailing *****philes and gave a general response. He talked about the general tone in parliament being similar to that of the US model. I thought it was quite balanced to be fair. He is one of those sensible MPs, that exist both sides, who I think care about standards and how we perceive them. Shame the front bench crowd dont. Lets be honest mate, when it comes to breaking promises, sunak and starmer are in a race to a winning line on that. Starmer is proving to be every bit the hypocritical, policy revoking, promise breaking political leader they all are. In some way it goes with the territory because the landscape changes weekly and it would be mad to plough ahead with a policy that makes sense no more, like zero tuition fees, or the bonfire of eu laws. But lets have it right he has ridden the biggest of moral high horses about decency in politics, and built a following and credit off it, whilst Boris and co were misbehaving, now he is repeating the lie that Sunak wont jail *****philes, and demanding his front benchers toe the line. He is shown up us someone who pulled the wool over our eyes. In that conext I have no issue with Ellwoods comments at all. The only people who suffer with the sort of politics we have is us, the public.
The difference between them is massive ... ... one is in power, the other isn't. I do like Ellwood though, proof that good people go into politics.
This is where we differ. Labour are heading to power. It is right to assess them now, and their behaviour, to get a sense of what we are in for. Some might even say we judge them now to tell us if they are worth voting for, but maybe that is too radical. Maybe even we, as those on the receiving end of what they will do, can influence them before they take power. That would require an ability to listen, which so seems beyond party leaderships sadly. My opinion, if we only challenge those with power, we will never get the what we want next. It leads to the low bar politics of they cant be as bad as the current lot. It is ehat we have had for 50 years.
I've never known a government as bad as this from any party. They're not only arrogant and untruthful they've failed in almost every way. I'm just sick of all the talk of austerity, strikes, food banks, pledges and integrity.
We agree on that. Labour can be the party of integrity and decency, as they promised, and walk into power. They are missing a trick in my opinion. All I want is a better government and parliamentary environment. The only people that can do that is us. We seem split fundamantally across party lines, like the US, and in that world I dont see us demanding the change in political standards and process needed. Labour will waltz in and the conservatives will be objectionable and take advantage after 8 or 12 years of unfulfilled promises. Unless history doesnt repeat itself, here is hoping.
If we get PR, then its highly likely nobody would win a majority and they'll be forced to work together. That should get rid of extremists from both sides and that can only benefit everybody. Unless it turns out like Israel. UK politics is fooked and we need some sort of change.
Anyone who remembers nationalised rail travel should know that was an abject failure as well. And because we don't do the middle ground as a nation, that means there's no solution.
The best railway system I know of is the Dutch and they arent fully nationalised. China and Russia are, though...
Yes, and they would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those anti growth coalition of looney lefties
I think that change has to come from the electorate though. Until the general public realise that it's in their interests for the parties to work together more, and turn away from this divisive, adversarial politics that people seem to enjoy, the political classes will just reflect that choice. Having said that, I think we are sorely in need of a centrist party who will take a more technocratic approach and appoint people with relevant knowledge to ministerial roles. For example, the education secretary should be a former teacher, defence minister (as is actually the case now) someone who has served in the armed forces, and so on.
When things go wrong it's either because people aren't interfering and that's called 'weak opposition' ... ... or if people do question the government that's called 'interference and sabotage'. Just like Steve Bruce, always someone else's fault
We'll need a referendum on FPTP or PR. The government need to let us decide. It's the only way the public can have our say. Should Labour need the Lib Dems to prop them up, I'm hopeful that will be one of the conditions that the Liberals demand.
