Margaret Thatcher

[Flynn]

It is one thing to disagree with the policies of a government which is the product of a first past the post system and in which more people voted Lib-Dem and Labour than did Tory, but to watch the implementation of such a right wing and monetarist agenda as we are seeing now is something I cannot ignore- it's an abuse of a dubious mandate and only possible by backroom deals between dodgy characters.

And let's not forget, that agenda is entirely unmandated.

[John Little]

And let's not forget, that agenda is entirely unmandated.

Yes.

In the last election 10, 703654 people voted Conservative.
8,606517 voted Labour

And 6.8 million voted Lib Dem.

So 15,446765 people did not vote for these policies.

As a life-long Liberal I tell you you have to be committed to vote for them because they have always been the third party. Liberals do not 'do' Conservatism- that's why they are Liberals.

You have to question a 'mandate' where a group of people from one party can do the sort of deal with a group from another party which is so radically different from their own party programme. When you implement such a radical programme, if you pretend to Democracy then you need an unquestionable mandate.

Next time it's a two horse race. I do not think people will make the same mistake twice.

At any rate it is indefensible as a form of government and survives because of vested interests.

[Anfield]

I wonder if she would have been afforded the same send off had Labour been in Government?

I think that under Blair/Miliband that she would have been given a full bells and whistles send off. Don't forget that Miliband spoke up about her in Commons last week, A traitor to the Labour Party.

It is times like this I miss not being in Liverpool. Anyone know of any parties taking place tomorrow in Caithness/Sutherland?

[Phill]

Next time it's a two horse race

No! It's a two headed, one horse race.
We now have a fully fledged political class drawn from multi millionaire, public school educated backgrounds all doing their own deals in the background, even with each other.
They are simply all on a power trip and do not have any interest nor connection to the masses. In some respects Thatcher may have been the last PM with any conviction.
What we have now is a bunch of empty headed yahoos who just happen to wear different colour ties.

If we lurch from this ConDem bunch to a Labour bunch do you really see any prospects? Same with Salmond and the SNP, they care not of an independent Scotland but of power. Even if only enough to give them the glory they desire. All the politicos we have now will sell everything for a shot in 'power'.

Not a single one of them looks any further than the next ballot box.

[John Little]

Phill - that's about as sane an analysis of the situation as I have ever read.

Any suggestions as to what to do next?

[Rheghead]

John Thurso seems to have pinned his colours to the mast by saying that £10 million for the funeral is totally appropriate.

[M Swanson]

Yes, I couldn't agree more. This is such an insightful post, so eloquently put by Phill.

But I must ask, John, where have you been for the last decade and then some? Don't you remember when huge cracks first appeared in the mindset of people who were genuinely interested in politics and the state of our nation? So many, (of which I include myself), were desperately searching for somewhere to hang our political dreams and aspirations. It prompted the 'None of the Above' Campaign. Is it small wonder that folks have deserted the ballot box in their droves?

I agree with Phill, that Mrs Thatcher was the last politician who was fired by conviction. She may not always have got things right, (nobody ever has), but at least people knew that she would fight tooth and nail for what she believed was good for Britain. Doesn't this tend to be proven, by the unlikely result of Major being elected upon her removal? The people had confidence in the policies of MH. He was never going to fill her shoes, but even then, perhaps voters couldn't see a viable alternative. Enter Blair with his thinly diluted Conservatism.

As for Independence for Scotland, I have come a long way towards deciding my opinion on that one, since joining the Org. If the Scots can improve their lot by going it alone, then perhaps they should. The same applies to England, although they'll have no say in the matter, at this stage. Maybe we have held each other back long enough and it's time we were free to shape our own destinies? Although I do have some foreboding for Scotland.

Anyway, I hope Phill returns with suggestions. I've been seeking them for years and drawn a blank. Over to you Phill. We're all in your corner.

[Phill]

Any suggestions as to what to do next?

Anyway, I hope Phill returns with suggestions.

The Trebuchet Party?

[John Little]

Has to be.

No alternative.

http://thetrebuchetparty.wordpress.com/2010/01/

[Oddquine]

Has to be.

No alternative.

http://thetrebuchetparty.wordpress.com/2010/01/

And that is the whole problem with the UK electoral system...it is, as the USA one, based on ours is, a black and white system in a world where there are shades of grey never acknowledged. I checked out the above link....and for a UK political party, they appear, manifesto-wise, to be the equivalent of any other single issue party which turns up in elections, so are not any kind of candidate for Government......and that is the rub........as long as the UK has FPTP......we are well and truly shafted.....and that is precisely why both Tory and NuLabour came out against any version of PR...because they knew it would weaken their power-base.

How is it democracy when you know ahead of putting your cross on the ballot box that if you don't vote Tory or Nulabour, that you have most probably wasted your vote? Democracy should not be defined as voting for the lesser of two evils, it should be defined as voting for the party you prefer and letting the highly paid politicians cobble together a representative Government via compromise..one representative of the aspirations of the majority of the population. The current Coalition is not representative of the UK majority.......a Tory/NuLabour Coalition would have been.......but it appears that the good of the country has been subsumed by the reluctance of both the main parties to talk to each other and compromise...so do they really care less for the good of the UK than they do for their own position within the UK? It certainly looks like that.

An adversarial system might have worked when the franchise was limited to those and such and those and the general population had to put up with it because they had no other option.......but universal suffrage has illustrated its deficiencies, but unfortunately, that means, given the way what passes for democracy in the UK works, we require the turkeys to vote for Christmas..and they have shown with their opposition to the AVC vote that isn't going to happen.

[joxville]

Whooooosh...

[ducati]

Some people would never be happy.

Anyway, Maggie's day today. I can't have the day off, too much on, but I will have a few moments of quiet contemplation. Lets hope not too many numpties make fools of themselves and the police don't need to help too many people down the stairs.

And when we return to normal tomorrow, we will find that democracy as we know it is still alive and kicking.

[macadamia]

Amen to that!

[Flynn]

Dennis Skinner puts it best:

[John Little]

Seumas Milne in the Guardian. Quite an article.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfre...ut-thatcherism

[Phill]

And that is the whole problem with the UK electoral system...it is, as the USA one, based on ours is, a black and white system in a world where there are shades of grey never acknowledged. I checked out the above link....and for a UK political party, they appear, manifesto-wise, to be the equivalent of any other single issue party which turns up in elections,

They've been around a while and not just a single issue party, quite different I thought: http://thetrebuchetparty.wordpress.com/manifesto/

[ducati]

Dennis Skinner puts it best:

No 'e doesn't, I've spent 40 years not listening to that idiot I'm not going to start now.

[Flynn]

I've spent 40 years not listening, I'm not going to start now.

Fixed that for you.

[John Little]

Tell you what though - I don't think I'd like to be in Central London today. The thought that some guy with a high powered rifle was scanning me through a scope would make me feel rather uneasy.

[RecQuery]

Noticed there were bunch of people camping overnight to get 'good spots'. One assumes that all these people who slept overnight to get a good spot could do so because Thatcher got rid of their jobs. Still glad to see the royal family finally profess the political stance we always knew they held.