1966_and_all_that
Well-known member
Yes, it's all over the news and in the papers but behind every photo of MPs raging at the machine was a grubby little piece of local politics. Sufficiently grubby to sit embarrassingly alongside those former MPs (one still sitting), for whom grubbiness knows no bounds. Again, I turn to the wonderful John Crace in The Guardian to explain the issue succinctly and with clarity:
"What we got was....An SNP opposition day debate designed to highlight splits in the Labour party. A Labour amendment created to prevent a split in its own ranks. One that bridged the gap between the SNP position and the Labour leadership. A Tory amendment whose only function was to knock out Labour’s, as there was hardly a cigarette paper between them, under the parliamentary precedent that government amendments kick out opposition ones on such occasions.
"So there we had it. While more men, women and children were dying in Gaza, all UK parties were using the conflict for marginal, parochial gains. Just lip service to a higher calling. All claiming they cared only for bringing the war to an end. All so detached from reality they couldn’t even see they were lying to themselves. Just indulging in performative politics. Knowing there was no chance an IDF or Hamas commander was listening in. Nothing they said would make a difference. So they could say what they liked."
Add to that a UK defence force not fit for purpose, a childish spat between a Government Minister and the former Chair of the Post Office whilst Sub-post masters & mistresses still wait for adequate compensation over the Horizon scandal and a COVID enquiry dredging up the pathetic behaviour of senior politicians during a major pandemic and....where are we? We might as well have government by AVFTT!
"What we got was....An SNP opposition day debate designed to highlight splits in the Labour party. A Labour amendment created to prevent a split in its own ranks. One that bridged the gap between the SNP position and the Labour leadership. A Tory amendment whose only function was to knock out Labour’s, as there was hardly a cigarette paper between them, under the parliamentary precedent that government amendments kick out opposition ones on such occasions.
"So there we had it. While more men, women and children were dying in Gaza, all UK parties were using the conflict for marginal, parochial gains. Just lip service to a higher calling. All claiming they cared only for bringing the war to an end. All so detached from reality they couldn’t even see they were lying to themselves. Just indulging in performative politics. Knowing there was no chance an IDF or Hamas commander was listening in. Nothing they said would make a difference. So they could say what they liked."
Add to that a UK defence force not fit for purpose, a childish spat between a Government Minister and the former Chair of the Post Office whilst Sub-post masters & mistresses still wait for adequate compensation over the Horizon scandal and a COVID enquiry dredging up the pathetic behaviour of senior politicians during a major pandemic and....where are we? We might as well have government by AVFTT!