Liberal Burblings

Archive for December, 2007

Nick Clegg has appealed for co-operation from Gordon Brown and David Cameron to fix “Britain’s political system”:

Our system of government is the stage on which the battle of political ideas takes place. That system must be fair, accessible and strong. In its present state, I do not know a single person who would use those words to describe it. Members of Britain’s political establishment need to ask themselves why voter turnout has fallen so far and so fast, why mass membership of political parties is becoming a thing of the past, and why people feel not just that the political system is rotten but that it operates in a way that prevents them from changing it.

Nick describes our political system as the “most centralised, ossified and unresponsive system of government in Europe today”.

Nick makes a heartfelt plea:

So, if Gordon Brown and David Cameron are serious when they say that they want to cooperate, here is the litmus test. They should join the Liberal Democrats in establishing an independent British Constitutional Convention that would bring together representatives from all political parties and from every corner of British society. Its remit would be the construction of a consensus on the reforms needed to reopen the political system and revitalise public trust.

There is nothing new in the proposal for a constitutional convention. Ming often suggested it, mainly based on his experience of the Scottish convention. But Nick Clegg has very attractively packaged this proposal and coupled it with a real challenge to the other party leaders:

So here’s my invitation for David and Gordon: join me in forging a new consensus on the future of British government. No gimmicks, no gestures – just hard work and real action. Are you ready?

Well done Nick Clegg! Let’s hope something gets moving as a result of this initiative!

I see that the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (below) is planning an attempt to re-emerge on the airwaves, minus writers. That’s a joke in itself. The whole programme revolves around good writing.

At least Letterman is trying to a deal with the unions to come back on the airwaves with writers.

Conservative Home has started a series on the foreign policies of the US Presidential candidates. Today’s subject is John McCain.

Oh, gaw blimey. His recommendations sound like the rallying call for yet more international war:

• No retreat in Iraq
• All means to stop a nuclear Iran
• A new league of Democracies to rival the UN
• No to torture
• Expulsion of Russia from G8
• Special help for moderate Muslim States.

While several of those points are seemingly innocuous, some of them make my hair stand on end.

Rivalling the UN with another organisation?! What complete madness!

Expelling Russia from G8. Brilliant.

To modify what Lyndon Johnson said, let’s get lots of people outside the tent p***ing in, why don’t we?!

Conservative Home has started a series on the foreign policies of the US Presidential candidates. Today’s subject is John McCain.

Oh, gaw blimey. His recommendations sound like the rallying call for yet more international war:

• No retreat in Iraq
• All means to stop a nuclear Iran
• A new league of Democracies to rival the UN
• No to torture
• Expulsion of Russia from G8
• Special help for moderate Muslim States.

While several of those points are seemingly innocuous, some of them make my hair stand on end.

Rivalling the UN with another organisation?! What complete madness!

Expelling Russia from G8. Brilliant.

To modify what Lyndon Johnson said, let’s get lots of people outside the tent p***ing in, why don’t we?!

This is manna from heaven for headline writers everywhere. The Telegraph goes with “Houston we have a problem”:

Margaret Thatcher may have been not for turning, but the handle on a lavatory door that she encountered in America proved equally stubborn.

A hitherto private account of the Iron Lady’s visit to the US in 1977, written by an official at the British consulate-general in Texas, records that both she and her husband, Denis, had to be rescued from the lavatory during the tri

…“The inside door handle of the bathroom would not work properly and both Mrs Thatcher and Mr Thatcher had to be rescued from bondage on different occasions…”

The Number Ten website has a “Look back at the PM’s year 2007“.

It is more notable for what isn’t included, rather than what is.

No wonder Nick Clegg said that “this is taking spin to new levels”.