Current Affairs 2023

[Mervyn and Trish]

You keep telling us we need a new system Keefie, but what is it to be?

Your proposal is as devoid of detail as Starmer's pronouncements.

[david63]

it will give the Conservative party 5 years to reflect on how cronyism brought the party down.

And give them five years to watch the Labour cronyism bring them down. There is a bigger cronyism problem in Labour with the trade unions who "bankroll" the Labour party and call the tune than there is within the Conservative party.

[Onelife]

Sorry Gentlemen but Saturday is race day therefore my expert opinions will have to wait until they’re over the last….but rest assured I’ll be back.

[oldbluefox]

Enjoy your day with the Sport of Kings and the landed gentry.

[Ray B]

He could have left us a hot tip.

[Stephen]

Is red hot poker running

[Ray B]

A 15 year old girl dead, 16 year old boy in hospital with non life threatening injuries after both being stabbed and a 16 year old boy arrested and charged on suspicion of murder.
What is going on with the younger generation, still carrying knives, and they must know the consequences of what they are doing.
All the hype of education and the use of weapons over the years has plainly not worked as more and more reports of children carrying weapons increases.
How on earth do we get through to children there is nothing macho carrying a weapon, only the chance of a life ruined.

[screwy]

I was born in 51, life was hard/tough, but growing up was fun we were innocent kids. I look round at the kids today and feel sorry for them. I see them coming out of school and thinking ‘ where are the jobs for all these.? ‘ Social media doesn’t help. If we fell out with someone we either sorted it behind the bike sheds or just went home and made up the next day. Now they are constantly harrassed on FB etc. I never worked with juveniles but did 3 yrs with 17-21 yr olds. I really don’t know what gets into these kids heads. I fear for the life my gt grandchildren are going to grow up in.

[Onelife]

If you want to clean up UK politics then you need to put in a new damp course, one that stops the rot from rising again…Our present system is broken, corrupt, dysfunctional, ineffective and full of damp squids. While I see many flaws in the labour party I’m now starting to think perhaps now is the time for a change….at least by doing this it will give the Conservative party 5 years to reflect on how cronyism brought the party down.

They’re all the same Keith. It’s just a case of who can get away with the lies and cover up’s the longest.

You are of course right Stephen but accepting the way it is only promotes the apathy to do nothing about it.

[Onelife]

Enjoy your day with the Sport of Kings and the landed gentry.

…not forgetting the mugs like ‘us’ who keep them in these positions .

[Onelife]

Hi Sir Merv, before I get into new political systems one has to accept that the present system isn’t working for our country, indeed there are many who would argue that our political system has been in decline for many years, if not decades…so in accepting this (which I’m sure you do) are we so afraid at looking at alternatives that might redress the institutional ineptness that our two main parties have created between themselves? If we take the attitude “better the devils you know” then we shouldn’t be on here discussing our political future because in accepting what we have, we are accepting nothing will change.

I personally feel there is an alternative but I’m realistic enough to know this is wishful thinking in the short term. An elected head of state with a modern constitutional outlook could be the way forward.

I’m also of the opinion that a majority of Conservative politicians are in fact closet Republicans but work within the safe environment of a Monicharial system…with this in mind if Harry can shed more light on the secret organisation, we could see attitudes change towards the Monarchy and this could be the first step in changing the political landscape of our country.

[Onelife]

it will give the Conservative party 5 years to reflect on how cronyism brought the party down.

And give them five years to watch the Labour cronyism bring them down. There is a bigger cronyism problem in Labour with the trade unions who "bankroll" the Labour party and call the tune than there is within the Conservative party.

Nothing changes David…'He who pays the piper calls the tune'...no matter which party it is.

[Onelife]

He could have left us a hot tip.

You'll be pleased to know that by not doing so only Onelife is £25 lighter in the pocket tonight.

We've just gota keep smiling through the pain

[Mervyn and Trish]

Keefie I think you're misleading yourself if you think dumping a Monarchy which has little power in favour of a Republic with an elected head of state who has real power is the route to banishing corruption. There are plenty of republics where corruption makes our lot look like amateurs. I give you just for starters Donald Trump.

[oldbluefox]

I think the strength of our political system lies in a head of state who is apolitical in a system which provides continuity.

[towny44]

Enjoy your day with the Sport of Kings and the landed gentry.

…not forgetting the mugs like ‘us’ who keep them in these positions .

Are there many titled bookies operating at the races? Because they seem to be the only ones benefitting from your generosity.

[towny44]

I think the strength of our political system lies in a head of state who is apolitical in a system which provides continuity.

I agree entirely, whilst accepting that my knowledge of the US system, where just about every local post down to the chairman of garbage collection is elected, comes entirely from TV programmes. However they probably do reflect some sort of reality, and far too many of them appear to be totally corrupt and only in it for what they can pocket themselves, and way more corrupt than any politician in the UK.
So I definitely prefer to keep our quaint monarchy as ceremonial heads of state, and continue with our party political system. But if we are going to restructure the upper chamber, then perhaps we should have at least part of it elected via PR, so we can test whether power sharing between parties does enable us to reduce party conflict and improve decision making.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I agree about restructuring the upper chamber and that is should be by PR. That's the only change that makes sense to me.

[david63]

There are essentially three types of governments:

1. Dictatorships - which are the most corrupt that there are and definitely not something that would be acceptable by the majority.
2. Proportional Representation - which can result in one of two scenarios: either one party with a majority or some form of coalition which gets nothing done because they cannot agree on anything.
3. First past the post - not ideal but probably the best that there is.

There are also a few hybrid types such as the USA (which I still cannot understand)

An elected President only adds another level of complexity in that the President can, and often does, belong to a different party than that making the decisions.

Although it would never work what I would like to see is the abolition of political parties and all MPs being "independent" and they then select amongst themselves a leader and all voting to be free votes.

[Stephen]

I would like to see the people of this country being able to vote who they want as their political leader, regardless of a resignation, not the current party in power.

[oldbluefox]

I would like to see fewer MPs, paid more and a complete revamp/cull in the House of Lords.

[Onelife]

We need to stop rearranging the sticks and just burn the lot of them. With the sacking of Zahawi, we have just witnessed a window into how the wealthy conduct their affairs, this isn’t to say they are all like him but there is a culture within the conservative party that allows these kinds of occurrences to happen.

[Onelife]

I struggle to get my head around why being a politician is different from other positions of responsibility where they are recognised as “professionals” requiring achievement of a professional qualification and being governed by a code of conduct where alleged breaches would be investigated by a professional body, and breach of the code would lead to dismissal from the profession, like happens with doctors/nurses etc. What we have in Government is an in-house department that overseas such indiscretions which often get passed around the corridors until the allegation’s lose all momentum and significance.

[Stephen]

Exactly, they are dismissed.
And when was the last time you saw a doctor prosecuted for making a b*lls up and killing someone through neglect. At the end of the day they all close ranks, pay out the compensation and that’s the end of it.

[oldbluefox]

If everyone paid the taxes they should the burden of taxation would be eased for all of us. It's not just the Tories. How many employ accountants to creatively reduce their tax burden, a luxury those on PAYE would not find worthwhile?
I would like to see a tightening up of tax laws which would close some of the loopholes which are clearly exploited. Zahawi has been caught out.