Off Topic Would you consider becoming a candidate for a Political Party?

Can't think of much worse, I don't envy their job.

The emotional pressure alone must be immense.

 

Yes I know it's a tourist attraction.
I never suggested the current Parliament buildings should be demolished (well, apart from the Guy Fawkes reference... )

Preserve them as a museum by all means and tourists can enjoy them for years to come.
But it is not an environment which encourages progressive, modern political thinking.
It is all about preservation of the Establishment. Hereditary peers and Bishops influencing legislation, for pity's f**king sake.

This Country could have a great future (a great future outside the Federalist EU in my opinion). But it will never be great again when all its political leaders want to do is glorify the past and refuse to reform.

 

One day I'll be the leader of the Wessex Forever Party.

That day shall be glorious.

England shall be glorious once more.

 

Another Thomas Hardy fan then? My favourite is The Mayor of Casterbridge, which I've read 3 times so far.
Shortly after reading Return of the Native I happened to be passing Hardy's cottage, which was closed, but I went for a walk round the part of the land he called Egdon Heath. Although there are a few more trees now, it was uncanny placing a 19th century work of fiction in the landscape, and standing on the spot where the heroine would light a fire to signal to her lover.
Btw the most recent version of Far From the Madding Crowd took far too many liberties with the original, especially with Gabriel Oak's character, for my liking.

 

There are only 92 hereditary peers and 21 bishops out of approx 900 Peers (11%). As you probably know, the Lords is a revising Chamber and the elected Commons has primacy - so not sure what your point is there ? Scrap a wonderful, working Parliament which is admired the world over (I see where the visitors come from every day...) just because Viscount Bufton Tufton turns up once every three months to vote?

I always tell new graduates that I employ that if they work for 60 years they will never work in a building so magnificent, and so central to the Nation's importance. I have yet to meet one who disagrees when they come to leave.

 

I (personally) do not think that the Palace of Westminster is Pugin's greatest work … I am not a fan of Perpendicular Gothic Revival

 

One hereditary peer is one too many.
Why should the 19th Viscount Tufton have the power to reject legislation of the elected chamber because one of his ancestors was given a title and some land by the King 500 years ago - probably for letting the randy Monarch have it away with his wife at the weekends.

Parliament doesn't work. That's the whole point.
The utter shambles since the summer of 2016 is undeniable evidence of that.

And the House of Lords is an affront to democracy.
All it stands for is a tradition of inequality and class exploitation.

 

The problem is that B****t has redrawn the party lines. Plenty of MP's have the answer, trouble is they have different answers, and it's become tribal. There were some terrific speeches from the back benches in the recent debate. Labour is fracturing, the Conservatives can't be complacent.

 

I doubt there has been as much heartfelt and passionate debate since WW2, and before that the Suffragettes, abolition of Slavery and the English Civil War.
This is the time for MPs of strong conscience to stand up and be heard.
Unlike most of the last 25 years, when they have had almost nothing to do except rubber-stamp what Brussells had already decided for them.

 

If more moderate minded people joined whichever of the main parties they identify with, they would neither of them be in the state they are. The problem of entryism would be neutralized.

 

The problem is that the sort of person who wishes to be an MP is very rarely the sort of person you need as an MP.

To make matters worse, the sort of MP who rises to power within their party is rarely the best person to lead a party, Churchill's rise to power at the start of WW2 was more luck than judgement and perhaps (as much as many people would disagree) the last party leader and PM who was appropriate for their time was Mrs T. who inherited a Party/Country is a absolute mess and tried to introduce some (often painful) structure.

The War Criminal for Labour started out well then I think the power went to his head and he considered himself to be some sort of Messiah.... as Donny T would say... "Big mistake"

 

MP's go through a selection process involving all party members, unless they are parachuted in by head office like the ex-Labour MP who is now in jail. The more people involved in that process the greater the scrutiny, and the more chance you have of getting the right person. DEmocracy in action. It's not a perfect system, but what is?

 

Just seen Vote @DonCorleone posters plastered all over affluent Sussex.

The Momemtum-backed Don has agreed to move his offshore accounts back to the UK should he be lucky enough to serve under PM Corbyn.

 

Death threats to MP's seem to be part of the job these days. I don't get it. The idea that they are all only there to line their pockets gets repeated unchallenged, and I don't get that either. Read Private Eye to find out which ones are on the make, there are not too many.

 

Like Lardi I have a very low opinion of MPs today, I think that is mostly due to Blair and Cameron... T Blair was elected as the friendly guy you meet down the pub who you would be happy to lend £100 to because you knew you would get it back with a good drink. It turned out that this was not the case and Tony started to believe in his own publicity and made reckless decisions which lead to the UK entering a war for the wrong reasons. Once Blair realised his reputation was destroyed he then decided to look after the Blair family first and fvck the rest of you. Cameron offered a referendum on EU membership and when he lost the vote because of his own arrogance he then decided to run off and make millions from after dinner speaking and not sorting out the mess he started....

I note (with pleasure) that neither of them have had the cheek to accept Peerages!

 

Agree about Blair, but Cameron was guilty only of a bad error of judgment, and so doesn't quite cross the same line as Blair did. Ambition is what seems to affect some MP's when they get to a certain level. When they lose that ambition they become human again. Take Michael Portillo for instance, or Ed Balls. Michael Gove seems to be re-inventing himself. Even Tony Benn changed from swivel-eyed loony to national treasure when he retired as an MP "to concentrate on politics"

 

Cameron is a coward.

 

Some MP'S are getting counselling for stress due to B****t. . Understandable.
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