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Print Story Calling Gordon "Texture Like Sun" Brown...
Politics
By Breaker (Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 10:09:56 AM EST) (all tags)
You might like to listen to this. (SFW)

Is Wee Gordie on the way out?  Now, call me a traditionalist, but isn't it supposed to be the Chancellor of the Exchequer making sure that "Every effort of mine, every day that I wake up is about keeping this economy moving forward", and not the Prime Minister? 

A PM should be off formulating policy and what GTLSB calls "visions", not getting bogged down into the day to day running of things.  Or is the fact that GTLSB is a signatory to the Scottish Claim of Right in which he declared and pledged that in all his actions and deliberations the interests of the Scottish people `shall be paramount' getting in the way of what he sees his duties as PM as?

But, he's "not quitting", even though Clarke denies he's to be used as a stalking horse.

Now, seeing as NuLabia MPs are cravenly seeking popularity right now, and GTLSB appears to be dead in the water, what is a career apparatchik to do?

Do they force a reelection of PM (which I believe they'd have to vote no confidence instead of just mounting a leadership election a la Tories - correct me if I am wrong) now and hope for stability before the next election, or do they wait until damage is done in the London Mayoral elections, Boris is crowned Mayor then do the knives for GTLSB really come out?  Or if Ken gets back in, will they just cross their fingers and hope for the best for the next 2 years?

I think NuLabia are going to wait and see until after GLA elections are done.  If Boris || !Ken gets in then that'll be when the politicing starts I reckon.

---

Reading up on the list of candidates for the May election I have mentally placed my candidates as:
Mayor: a) Boris (Tory)  b) O'Connor (English
Democrats)
Constituent Members: Jasmijn De Boo (Animals Count) (how the hell they managed to scrape together 5K to throw away at ana election as well as rune a website I'll never know.  Janus Polenceus (English Democrats), for sure.
London Assembly: Helena
Nelson (One London).  I wish that One London had candidates in the constitutional member vote.

Reasoning: Ken has had his 8 years in power, and I see very little changed for me in London, other than dangerous bendy busses, some bizarre twinning of London with ChavezLand, recent capitulation to NuLabia - when he started office he was prepared to give TB the finger, and the beginnings of corruption in his regime.  Hedging on a Tory Govt next time, Boris will be able to screw more out of them than any other candidate, what with being on their side and all.

Votes for English Democrats as I like their idea of redressing the balance between the member states of UKia.  Why will my cousin pay Uni tuition fees when Rogerborg's won't?

One London as it seems to have abandoned all left and right kind of ideals and puts London (and Londoners) before party politics.

Discuss.  And if you're bold enough, post your planned vote and rationale.  I won't bite, honest.

< Happy Tax Day | R.I.P. Jason Graves >

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Calling Gordon "Texture Like Sun" Brown... | 36 comments (36 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback
Not even sure it's just Gordon by jump the ladder (4.00 / 2) #1 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 10:27:35 AM EST
Think the Labour govt has just run out of steam and it's luck has run out on the economy.



*Mostly* Gordo though by Rogerborg (2.00 / 0) #14 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 01:20:18 PM EST
He's the one that sold off the family silver national gold at fire sale prices, and ran up a massive tab.  I'm not sure if he screwed us with PPI; maybe he just held us down while Bliar did the reaming.

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Metus amatores matrum compescit, non clementia.
[ Parent ]

My vote by nebbish (4.00 / 1) #2 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 10:55:08 AM EST
  1. Green (my actual conscience and what I actually want to vote for)
  2. Ken (see below)
Ken acts like an idiot and has a pretty repugnant personality, but where it matters and where the mayor has any real power is on transport, where he has the willfulness and force of personality to see through the major projects that are coming up and keep hold of control of the tube. I just can't see Boris managing that.

Having said that, it would be funny.

Re: bendy buses - did I miss something or aren't they necessary to conform to laws on disability access?

--------
It's political correctness gone mad!


I was confused by the bendy buses issue too by R Mutt (4.00 / 2) #3 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 11:06:36 AM EST
Since they're so much easier to get on and off at rush hour.

The problem is that being longer they are more difficult for car drivers to overtake, hence the passionate suburban campaign to improve transport by getting all those damn buses out of their way.

I think they're failing to take into account the opportunity costs though. If Ken hadn't increased bus capacity, more people would be driving instead, causing them more delays (though less obvious ones).

[ Parent ]

They're awful if you're on a bike too by nebbish (4.00 / 2) #4 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 11:13:46 AM EST
Although they do discourage you from overtaking or undertaking buses, which is a bloody dangerous thing to do anyway.

But I think it's actually a legal issue. Provincial cities are also replacing double-decker buses with non-bendy single-decker buses to allow disabled access, this isn't practical in London (and other large cities, Leeds has bendy buses too) with a higher volume of passengers, hence bendy buses.

The issue isn't whether they're a pain or not, it's the fact that the mayor is legally obliged to phase in buses with disability access. As far as I know anyway - I don't know how this fits in with Boris wanting to reintroduce the Routemaster.

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It's political correctness gone mad!
[ Parent ]

See previous comment by Breaker (2.00 / 0) #9 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 12:19:13 PM EST
The double deckers on my route have disabled access, too.  Which is possibly what Boris is going on about when he refers to the "new Routemasters". 

Given the amount of freeloading that goes on around my way, I'd think this idea is to basically ensure that the revenue coming from the busses is closer to 100% payment for carriage.

The whole "disabled access" argument is worthless in light that there are double decker busses with equivalent access.


[ Parent ]

Especially for those that don't pay by Breaker (2.00 / 0) #8 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 12:13:03 PM EST
Which is rife around my way, where they are known as "free busses". 

Most busses are in the bus lane anyway, so why would cars have trouble overtaking them exactly?


[ Parent ]

Bus lanes by R Mutt (4.00 / 2) #10 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 12:20:15 PM EST
Most bus routes seem to be on roads without bus lanes though... there isn't really room on most roads for two lanes in each direction.

[ Parent ]

Not around my way by Breaker (4.00 / 1) #11 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 12:40:42 PM EST
But I take your point.  In any case at rush hour, even the supposed panacea of the bendy bus fails it - they are still rammed full.

What is actually required is more busses at peak times.


[ Parent ]

The unspeakable truth by dmg (1.00 / 1) #19 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 04:58:48 PM EST
What is actually required is MORE AND CHEAPER PARKING FOR CARS!!!

A lot of London traffic is looking for a parking space at any given time. Also, vehicles parked on the road are taking up valuable space that could be used for bus lanes.

Change the planning laws to mandate that every new shop/apartment block must include a certain  number of "affordable" parking spaces, and London's traffic problems can easily be solved. There is after all, an upper limit on how many people want to drive through central London at a given time.

But with the authoritarian lefties running the show its always the stick, never the carrot, and if it is the carrot, it's usually administrated anally with no lube.
--
Hard work is morally wrong.
[ Parent ]

I reckon you'll miss Ken more than you think by R Mutt (4.00 / 1) #20 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 04:46:19 AM EST
He has one quality that's very, very rare in UK politics... competence.

If he says "I'm going to introduce a congestion charge and spend the money on more buses", the project comes in pretty much on time, pretty much on budget, and you can see the new buses trundling down the streets.

If Blair or Brown tried to do that, the project would be outsourced through a ludicrously overcomplicated contract, come in massively late and massively over-budget. The buses would never actually appear, but the statistics would be fudged and random bus-arrival targets set and met to make it look like something's been achieved.

Boris Johnson's not as dumb as he makes out, but his only experience running anything is editing a small magazine at the behest of his cronies. I think you'll get tired of him pretty quickly.

[ Parent ]

Hmm by Breaker (2.00 / 0) #23 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 05:33:31 AM EST
The congestion charge was introduced by Ken saying "here is a very large sack of money, more than this project is actually worth, please deliver on time Mr Vendor".

And if you look at the revenue stream, the CC is not due to start contributing to GLA's coffers until 5 years IIRC - that's 5 years of paying for the system first.

So does it look like such a good deal now?


[ Parent ]

Yes by R Mutt (2.00 / 0) #27 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 06:11:12 AM EST
Compared with most large UK government projects, especially IT-heavy ones, it looks remarkably successful.

[ Parent ]

Successful... by Breaker (2.00 / 0) #28 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 06:40:39 AM EST
By actually negotiating late delivery penalties and paying overrun costs up front?

Since when did "barely competent" become good enough?  Agreed, set against the backdrop of constant failure by NuLabia's IT projects it looks good, but against industry standards?

And let's not forget the hardware was already proven, the registration plate recognition software already bedded in; the only bespoke part was interfacing to DVLA records and central consolidation of payments / billing records.  Which isn't that big a project.


[ Parent ]

Looking good against govt, bad against industry by R Mutt (4.00 / 2) #29 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 06:58:12 AM EST
As I've said before, I think one of the big problems of UK government is that MPs and ministers come from a class of professional politicians.

They do maybe a couple of years junior work after college, then go into Parliament and spend decades waving order papers around, before being put in charge of departments with thousand of employees and billion-pound budgets.

I think that's the chief reasons they manage things so badly, even compared against industry.

Boris Johnson seems to me a classic example of that class of professional politician. He's spent his life giving speeches and doing meeja non-jobs.

So it does seem likely to me that under him, London government will revert from "barely competent" to "constant failure".

[ Parent ]

When did NuLabia make that shift? by Breaker (2.00 / 0) #30 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 07:23:12 AM EST
Used to be Labour was drawn from Union leaders and members; now it is as you say; professional politicians that are only now learning how the real world works.

But no one can be a master of all trades; it seems that NuLabia have chosen their advisors extremely poorly.

I don't think Boris can really spanner London in 4 years; it'll take him 2 years to clear out Ken's lot  which will act as a brake on any foolhardy missions he choses.  So effectively 2 years really.

Then, let's vote again.  I am only really backing Boris as "Not Ken" rather than being in favour of him being able to do a better job.  I just feel that government becomes too entrenched after 8 years.

Think of it as a garbage collection cycle!


[ Parent ]

I think there are various factors by R Mutt (4.00 / 1) #31 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 07:51:35 AM EST
Increasing centralization of government has made it harder to gradually gain experience in local/regional government.

Increased centralization of politics. You don't have local committees selecting local worthies as MPs so much: MP candidates now tend to be parachuted in by central party committees who think they have the right media skills.

I think the shrinking of the armed forces has had an impact too: that was another way to get experience at being in charge of things.

If Boris Johnson was really the old-school Tory he puts on an impression of, he'd have had some kind of military career giving him some practice in getting people to do things, cooperating with others in pursuit of a goal, browbeating bureaucracies into delivering stuff, working out which subordinates are telling the truth and which are trying to keep you happy, and so on. And if he was a complete blithering incompetent, it would have shown up then.

[ Parent ]

In NuLabia by Breaker (2.00 / 0) #33 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 08:02:05 AM EST
Are there any MPs who have actually had a career before going into politics?  Other than law, of course.

How do we then fix this broken system?  Vote Tory?


[ Parent ]

Fixing the system by R Mutt (2.00 / 0) #35 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 08:22:24 AM EST
I don't see the Tories as being much better. The Shadow Cabinet doesn't look that much better than the cabinet.

Things that could improve it...

Well, one idea I like is to pass a law that you can only be an MP for a constituency if you've lived in it for 5 years or so. That would seriously hamper the political class from stuffing the government with their cronies.

We've got more regional government than we used to already. Decentralizing more power to regions and cities would help.

Raising MPs salaries might encourage more competent people to apply. And the Commons could be changed back to its model of somewhere you could attend part-time.

[ Parent ]

I like your ideas by Breaker (2.00 / 0) #36 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 08:47:16 AM EST
And in 2012 I'd have you as Reform Minister.

That said, the part time commons  - payrise bit seems at odds.  We should either pay the MPs megabucks and insist on full attendance, or allow part time and no pay.


[ Parent ]

Industry standards? by Merekat (2.00 / 0) #32 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 08:00:13 AM EST
Industry gets to cherrypick who and how it will serve and those of us working in it know there are fuckups enough there that are glossed over. Public projects do not and are under more scrutinity and are more likely to attract criticism (rightly) for he very same failings swept under the carpet in industry as long as the bottom line profits are unaffected.

Some telcos for example would have you praying for 'barely competent'.

[ Parent ]

Hmmm by Breaker (2.00 / 0) #34 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 08:03:25 AM EST
Don't know of too many ~£700M industry contracts that have just been abandoned because they have failed.

But at least in industry, you get one fuckup and you're sacked.


[ Parent ]

Spot on [nt] by nebbish (2.00 / 0) #25 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 05:43:33 AM EST

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It's political correctness gone mad!
[ Parent ]

Congestion might make that difficult by nebbish (4.00 / 1) #21 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 05:16:00 AM EST
I think trams are a good idea. They can move at the same speed as the tube without the expense of digging tunnels. There are plans to link the Croydon tram system with Camden via Brixton and Westminster which I think is a great idea.

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It's political correctness gone mad!
[ Parent ]

Yeah but they take up valuable road space instead by jump the ladder (2.00 / 0) #22 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 05:19:34 AM EST
You know there are legitimate reasons for people to use bikes, cars, vans and lorries. Also what about buses for people who don't live in the area of the tram? 

[ Parent ]

Not necessarily by nebbish (4.00 / 1) #24 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 05:41:53 AM EST
A good part of Croydon's system is built on disused train tracks. They're also quite narrow, in other places they've just replaced the central reservation, hence it largely beingt a one-way loop system in central Croydon. Remember they don't need as much room for maneuvarbility as cars and busses.

Not sure what you mean about people who don't live in the area of the tram. I'm not proposing busses are replaced by trams, I'm proposing both.

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It's political correctness gone mad!
[ Parent ]

Hmmm by Breaker (2.00 / 0) #7 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 12:09:01 PM EST
Ken still got done over with PPP on the tube.  And that is also what I can't forgive him for.  Oh, that and the 2012 Olympics. 

I'm not sure I believe the "2000 each per year for 7 years" bit of this One London policy, but Olympics don't come cheap.  Even if it costs me only £1,000 in total, that's still £1K of my money I was never asked if I wanted it spent on my behalf.

Bendy busses - nope, some shady dealmaking between Uncle Ken and the manufacturers was what got us them.  Again, 2 terms of office and the reek of corruption wafts (not just for leftists either). 

The double decker busses on my route do have disabled access, it's just that the "bendy busses have disabled access" was another smokescreen spin. 


[ Parent ]

Ken is a racist asshole (in my opinion) by dmg (2.00 / 0) #17 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 04:54:50 PM EST
Don't vote for him. He's a tosser.
--
Hard work is morally wrong.
[ Parent ]

english democrats? by Merekat (4.00 / 3) #5 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 11:13:48 AM EST
Why is it that any British party that puts something to do with the nation in their common usage name gives me the creeps?

BNP, UKIP...



Backlash by Breaker (4.00 / 1) #6 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 12:02:24 PM EST
Free prescriptions in Wales, free Uni education in Scotlandia...

Have you read the English Democrats' website?  None of the rampant little Engerlander ranting of UKIP or the thinly veiled racism of BNP.  Basically, they're saying that all member regions in UKia should have fair and equal benefits.  Single issue party, yes, but I am not expecting them to gain any sort of control of the GLA, just cause enough of a problem to other parties and government so that questions are asked and a review tabled.


[ Parent ]

SNP by Rogerborg (2.00 / 0) #12 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 01:10:40 PM EST
== Plaid Commie.

-
Metus amatores matrum compescit, non clementia.
[ Parent ]

ooer by Merekat (4.00 / 1) #13 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 01:17:26 PM EST
has nobody told them what happened the last time someone mixed nationalism and socialism...

[ Parent ]

Attention Englanders by Rogerborg (2.00 / 0) #15 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 01:24:16 PM EST
You should take some careful GPS measurements of the border, in case we decide we need some more living room.

-
Metus amatores matrum compescit, non clementia.
[ Parent ]

I believe its pronounced by LinDze (4.00 / 1) #16 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 04:10:05 PM EST
lebensraum. I hear you guys have some nice radiomobile phone towers down there...

-Lin Dze
Arbeit Macht Frei
[ Parent ]

I can't see Brown going anytime soon by TheophileEscargot (4.00 / 1) #18 Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 04:54:58 PM EST
First, after waiting so long to take power, he's going to fight tooth and nail to hold onto every scrap of power till the last possible minute of his term.

If there was a Party coup against him, that wouldn't necessarily matter. But I can't see it.

So, it looks to me more like we're going to have something like the Major years again. Brown is likely to grind painfully on until 2012 in the face of unremitting contempt and hostility from the media, his party and the public.

Things that could overturn that: some sex or financial scandal involving Brown personally, or a temper tantrum ending in a "you won't have Brown to kick around anymore" resignation.
--
"Everything is vague to a degree you do not realize till you have tried to make it precise." -- Bertrand Russell


He will have to be pushed. by Breaker (2.00 / 0) #26 Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 05:46:56 AM EST
Changing PMs could be spun as "we're listening, look we got rid of bid bad Gordo".

I think that the public would have had far more acceptance of GTLSB if there had been a leadership contest (voted by Labour MPs only).  Regardless if they put him up against a complete no hoper, I'd have thought that would have been enough to mollify the public that there was some form of democracy going on.  A lot of people (myself included) assumed that the Tory model of electing a party leader was the standard way of doing things, rather than solely a Tory party policy.

So having a show-vote for a new PM would go down well IMHO.

Brown is likely to grind painfully on until 2012 in the face of unremitting contempt and hostility from the media, his party and the public.
Yep, I agree totally.  And it won't be a sex or finance scandal, it'll be because the economy's completely in the toilet.


[ Parent ]

Calling Gordon "Texture Like Sun" Brown... | 36 comments (36 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

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