Rob wonders whether the spectre of Gordon Brown hanging in there is enough to drive Nick Clegg and David Cameron together.
I don't know, it's hard to say whether it's enough for Clegg - it's clearly Cameron's wish, and Clegg doesn't immediately seem too repulsed by the idea, although we really have no idea what he's thinking.
Clegg's problem is that he doesn't have an alternative for the Lib Dems really. If he talks to Gordon and agree to LibLab coalition, they still only have 314 seats between them. To that you can certainly add the 3 SDLP from Ulster, probably the new Alliance lady from Ulster and frankly, probably the Green Lady from Brighton. That leaves them on 319, provided everyone shows up for the vote and there's not one dissenter (and this is Labour we're talking about, remember).
In theory you need 326 to win a vote; however Sinn Fein have 5 seats and they don't sit in Westminster on principle, so maybe 323/324 might be enough. So to get there you need to add the SNP into the mix.
They might - just might - be anti-Conservative enough to join in, but then you have SIX parties in coalition and still only just creep over the line. Three more from Plaid Cymru and you're a little further but have seven parties involved.
In other words, it's not going to happen... at least not realistically, because such a coalition would last just a few months and it probably isn't in all their interests to get an electoral reform referendum underway in that time anyway.
So assuming that's no-go (although not missing by much), that means either there's a ConLib of sorts, or there's some kind of weak Conservative minority for a few months, and then another election. And if there's another election, what would happen?
That is the key question for Clegg: if he has to choose between some ConLib deal without a PR referendum OR have another election soon (and I think those are the two choices that he has), what does he do? I have no idea, but if I was Nick Clegg I'd be pretty nervous about going to the polls again given the number of seats they *just* held on to from the Conservatives.
Friday, May 07, 2010
7 May 2010: Offer
David Cameron says he'll make a 'comprehensive offer' to the Lib Dems.
For those who are wondering why and how this could happen, given that the two parties are about as far apart as anything in UK party politics, it's worth thinking about the nature of the various parties. The Conservatives tend to want to be in government, and don't like having to rely on semi-formal relationships with their Friends In Northern Irelend (FINI) - but they like strong government. You might say 'surely all parties want that' - not quite so: the politics of the left in the UK (and generally) is more along the lines of 'we're happy to be out for a while if it results in better ideology, and then we'll come in and sort it out'; it's also more likely to be fragmented. The politics of the right is more tending to be united (hard to believe Heath and Thatcher, for instance, were in the same party) and will do surprising things in order to remain. This is why the Conservatives got rid of Thatcher in 1990 after the Poll Tax, despite she being their most successful leader since Churchill (perhaps more so, since she never lost an election). It's also why Tony Blair and New Labour, interestingly, can be legitimately classified as conservative.
Whether the promised 'Committee of Inquiry' into electoral reform is enough for the Lib Dems remains to be seen: Labour (Brown or otherwise) will presumably offer the Lib Dems an immediate referendum on electoral reform. Nick Robinson says the Lib Dems may not go for full coalition but might go item-by-item and let him govern for a bit, prior to the next election in the next few months or possibly years. Still, you have to imagine Cameron's team sounded the Lib Dems out before making this offer.
Results still not yet in, of course. And they may not be for some considerable time.
Odds on next election date? November or perhaps next May? Probably depends on how Nick Clegg responds to David Cameron's offer. Nothing other than a Con-Lib agreement will prevent another election pretty darn soon.
For those who are wondering why and how this could happen, given that the two parties are about as far apart as anything in UK party politics, it's worth thinking about the nature of the various parties. The Conservatives tend to want to be in government, and don't like having to rely on semi-formal relationships with their Friends In Northern Irelend (FINI) - but they like strong government. You might say 'surely all parties want that' - not quite so: the politics of the left in the UK (and generally) is more along the lines of 'we're happy to be out for a while if it results in better ideology, and then we'll come in and sort it out'; it's also more likely to be fragmented. The politics of the right is more tending to be united (hard to believe Heath and Thatcher, for instance, were in the same party) and will do surprising things in order to remain. This is why the Conservatives got rid of Thatcher in 1990 after the Poll Tax, despite she being their most successful leader since Churchill (perhaps more so, since she never lost an election). It's also why Tony Blair and New Labour, interestingly, can be legitimately classified as conservative.
Whether the promised 'Committee of Inquiry' into electoral reform is enough for the Lib Dems remains to be seen: Labour (Brown or otherwise) will presumably offer the Lib Dems an immediate referendum on electoral reform. Nick Robinson says the Lib Dems may not go for full coalition but might go item-by-item and let him govern for a bit, prior to the next election in the next few months or possibly years. Still, you have to imagine Cameron's team sounded the Lib Dems out before making this offer.
Results still not yet in, of course. And they may not be for some considerable time.
Odds on next election date? November or perhaps next May? Probably depends on how Nick Clegg responds to David Cameron's offer. Nothing other than a Con-Lib agreement will prevent another election pretty darn soon.
7 May 2010: Hung
Well, that was a mess of an election. And I don't just mean the polling station debacle, which may yet lead to legal challenges in a significant number of constituencies (although I don't know if these are marginals or not, so it may not matter, but it may).
I write this at 12.43am eastern, coming up to 6am in the UK, and it still hangs on a knife-edge as to whether the Conservatives (maybe plus some friends from Northern Ireland) will have more seats than Labour plus Lib Dem. Neither faction will have enough (predicted the BBC, whose coverage is being carried without commercial interruption by C-SPAN over here) to form a government. So, let the horse-trading begin.
There are some questions I have at this point that Dimbleby et al haven't really looked at yet: like what if LibLab happens but they also need some friends in Northern Ireland, and yet Sinn Fein (who tend to take seats that the SDLP used to take) don't sit in Westminster on principle? I suppose they're counting on Plaid and the SNP. Or what if Cameron's Ulster support isn't quite enough? Edit (7.45am): even though the LibDems were a deep disappointment after Cleggmania, it's been pointed by (by David Owen of all people) that the only way to actually get a strong government out of this is Con-Lib pact of some kind, and so it may not be quite as out-of-the-question as possible. Those two just seem so, so far apart though.
And the Green Party winning a seat in Brighton? If nothing else a triumph despite the system rather than because of it. But you know what I think of first-past-the-post. Maybe she'll have the deciding vote in the new Parliament?
Oh, and vote share of course... second in a row that no party gets over 40% of the vote.
But here's the thing for right now: already we can see that whatever happens in the next few minutes/hours/days/weeks, there will one day be another election. And tonight's weird, sometimes freakish results have left more than several constituencies suddenly as marginals that are held (mainly by Conservatives, although there are a few others) that will look very shaky if we ever get back to 'politics as usual' in the future.
And maybe that's the question: given that the really big story of the day (aside from Pompey of course) is the debt crisis spreading from Greece across various other states in the Eurozone, will there be room for politics as usual? Who's going to sort out the huge deficit that was borrowed to dig Britain out of the hole?
1am. C-SPAN just stopped their live BBC feed and probably time for me to go to sleep.
On the upside, Esther Rantzen lost her deposit.
I write this at 12.43am eastern, coming up to 6am in the UK, and it still hangs on a knife-edge as to whether the Conservatives (maybe plus some friends from Northern Ireland) will have more seats than Labour plus Lib Dem. Neither faction will have enough (predicted the BBC, whose coverage is being carried without commercial interruption by C-SPAN over here) to form a government. So, let the horse-trading begin.
There are some questions I have at this point that Dimbleby et al haven't really looked at yet: like what if LibLab happens but they also need some friends in Northern Ireland, and yet Sinn Fein (who tend to take seats that the SDLP used to take) don't sit in Westminster on principle? I suppose they're counting on Plaid and the SNP. Or what if Cameron's Ulster support isn't quite enough? Edit (7.45am): even though the LibDems were a deep disappointment after Cleggmania, it's been pointed by (by David Owen of all people) that the only way to actually get a strong government out of this is Con-Lib pact of some kind, and so it may not be quite as out-of-the-question as possible. Those two just seem so, so far apart though.
And the Green Party winning a seat in Brighton? If nothing else a triumph despite the system rather than because of it. But you know what I think of first-past-the-post. Maybe she'll have the deciding vote in the new Parliament?
Oh, and vote share of course... second in a row that no party gets over 40% of the vote.
But here's the thing for right now: already we can see that whatever happens in the next few minutes/hours/days/weeks, there will one day be another election. And tonight's weird, sometimes freakish results have left more than several constituencies suddenly as marginals that are held (mainly by Conservatives, although there are a few others) that will look very shaky if we ever get back to 'politics as usual' in the future.
And maybe that's the question: given that the really big story of the day (aside from Pompey of course) is the debt crisis spreading from Greece across various other states in the Eurozone, will there be room for politics as usual? Who's going to sort out the huge deficit that was borrowed to dig Britain out of the hole?
1am. C-SPAN just stopped their live BBC feed and probably time for me to go to sleep.
On the upside, Esther Rantzen lost her deposit.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
6 May 2010: Imbalance
Plymouth Argyle have announced Paul Mariner is no longer manager, but will remain on as Head Coach while the new manager search is conducted. No word on his future after that: presumably it'll be up to the new manager.
Meantime Pompey have, seemingly, got away with it. Despite rules and laws against almost everything they've done over the last few months/years, they've now (seemingly) got the agreement of all the creditors, including the HMRC taxman, and also the Football League and Premier League to go for 20p in the pound payment on all non-secured debts (which HMRC have always said they'd never do), and they'll liquidate the old club and start a new one (which the Football League have always said means you drop at least two divisions) and it will all happen with no further penalties or deductions, and they'll be debt-free and can start again. Oh, and they're applying for their place in Europe after all. And all the parties involved are fine with it.
How on earth did they do it? Saints, Bournemouth, Palace, Chester City, Luton, Wimbledon, Aldershot and plenty of others presumably have huge grounds here for legal appeals on the sanctions applied against them for much smaller offences. And isn't trading while insolvent illegal in the UK? Only if you're not Pompey, it would appear. They're special.
It stinks, and today's news makes the stink worse. But it appears nothing will be done, and indeed they've got away with it.
Meantime Pompey have, seemingly, got away with it. Despite rules and laws against almost everything they've done over the last few months/years, they've now (seemingly) got the agreement of all the creditors, including the HMRC taxman, and also the Football League and Premier League to go for 20p in the pound payment on all non-secured debts (which HMRC have always said they'd never do), and they'll liquidate the old club and start a new one (which the Football League have always said means you drop at least two divisions) and it will all happen with no further penalties or deductions, and they'll be debt-free and can start again. Oh, and they're applying for their place in Europe after all. And all the parties involved are fine with it.
How on earth did they do it? Saints, Bournemouth, Palace, Chester City, Luton, Wimbledon, Aldershot and plenty of others presumably have huge grounds here for legal appeals on the sanctions applied against them for much smaller offences. And isn't trading while insolvent illegal in the UK? Only if you're not Pompey, it would appear. They're special.
It stinks, and today's news makes the stink worse. But it appears nothing will be done, and indeed they've got away with it.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
4 May 2010: Sparksy
Apologies for lack of bloggage recently, usual excuse.
However, for those in the Plymouth area (I know this somewhat limits the relevance), you might like to know I got a call from Radio Devon at lunchtime asking if I'd be willing to go on the Gordon Sparks breakfast show, talking about what it's like being A Pilgrim Abroad (Becky's suggested re-title for this blog which I still haven't got around to sorting out). I said 'that's a bit bleddy early' but I suppose fame has its costs. Must be a slow news day over there.
So anyway, it's not (as far as I know) available for 'listen again' on the internet because Sparksy's show is the Plymouth opt-out rather than the main Radio Devon stream, which is the one carried online. Therefore it's a case of blink and you'll miss it, and indeed I was on around 7.30am for a few minutes (I write this just after being on), discussing things ranging from Argyle's hopeless season (the highlight being the Barnsley match where it was abandoned with Argyle 4-1 down, and had to be replayed from the start) to the Indianapolis Colts and Kokomo's gas tower (I guess Sparksy had been reading up on the place). Didn't manage to get a word in for Allie's books (sorry sis), but in case you missed it, she's up for the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance for her first book.
In other news, the new Doctor Who is excellent (except for the Daleks episode), 4Store is to start handling reasoning to some extent, Pompey still haven't been wound up, we're no closer to finding a name for the baby girl due in August, the local health food store in Kokomo have started stocking Traderspoint milk (meaning you can now buy unhomogenized milk in Kokomo), I've damaged my achilles tendon so no Indy half-marathon for me this weekend (boo) and it's time to make more bacon and sausages, as I've finished off the last lot and barbecue season approaches.
Bacon on a barbecue? Yes. Best way to cook it. High up, nice and slow. Fan-blooming-tastic.
However, for those in the Plymouth area (I know this somewhat limits the relevance), you might like to know I got a call from Radio Devon at lunchtime asking if I'd be willing to go on the Gordon Sparks breakfast show, talking about what it's like being A Pilgrim Abroad (Becky's suggested re-title for this blog which I still haven't got around to sorting out). I said 'that's a bit bleddy early' but I suppose fame has its costs. Must be a slow news day over there.
So anyway, it's not (as far as I know) available for 'listen again' on the internet because Sparksy's show is the Plymouth opt-out rather than the main Radio Devon stream, which is the one carried online. Therefore it's a case of blink and you'll miss it, and indeed I was on around 7.30am for a few minutes (I write this just after being on), discussing things ranging from Argyle's hopeless season (the highlight being the Barnsley match where it was abandoned with Argyle 4-1 down, and had to be replayed from the start) to the Indianapolis Colts and Kokomo's gas tower (I guess Sparksy had been reading up on the place). Didn't manage to get a word in for Allie's books (sorry sis), but in case you missed it, she's up for the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance for her first book.
In other news, the new Doctor Who is excellent (except for the Daleks episode), 4Store is to start handling reasoning to some extent, Pompey still haven't been wound up, we're no closer to finding a name for the baby girl due in August, the local health food store in Kokomo have started stocking Traderspoint milk (meaning you can now buy unhomogenized milk in Kokomo), I've damaged my achilles tendon so no Indy half-marathon for me this weekend (boo) and it's time to make more bacon and sausages, as I've finished off the last lot and barbecue season approaches.
Bacon on a barbecue? Yes. Best way to cook it. High up, nice and slow. Fan-blooming-tastic.
Monday, April 19, 2010
19 April 2010: Relegation
It's a sad day when Argyle get relegated, especially from this division.
It's happened twice before in my lifetime: once in 1977 when I was too young to care and once in 1992 when I was there to see it. In 1977 a rising star striker named Paul Mariner left halfway through the season to go on to bigger things with Bobby Robson at Ipswich and then England, leaving the rest of Tony Waiters' team to flounder, going down on the last day of the season away at Sheffield United. In 1992 the culmination of two years of dreadful team-building by David Kemp (putting together a series of starting 11s who never again played league football after leaving Argyle - they were that bad) was an unsurprising 3-1 home defeat by Blackburn Rovers, who were promoted as a result and who within two years had won (bought) the Premier League title.
And today was the third. As high as fourth in the table a couple of seasons ago when Ian "hollow-words" Holloway left after promising to stay forever, and old favourite Paul Sturrock coming in to take over where he left off in 2004. But it was never the same, and despite having a team that in all actuality wasn't too bad in terms of absolute quality (for which read: they're better than David Kemp's team was and may indeed continue to play league football in their careers) they never gelled, and so many players had personal issues of some sort or another (Graham Stack, Simon Walton and thumbs-up boy Marcel Seip spring to mind even before we start getting into the Scottish contingent) that the side never settled, and probably never could. Mariner's return as coach and then manager certainly brought some life to the team - they actually won a game after going behind, which they'd not done in 2 years - but it was still too inconsistent, and too late.
So today, on a warm spring evening in Plymouth, Newcastle United came to town, needing a point to ensure their position as division champions, and happy to take a win if it came their way. Two soft goals later, that was that. Newcastle will be in the Premier League next year, snapping at the heels of the big clubs I'd wager, while Argyle will head back to obscurity for another dozen or so years. They'll think about bouncing straight back of course, and may even challenge for a year or two, but the investment isn't there (the new Japanese owners have failed to provide any money at all and indeed haven't even shown up for a single game) so maybe back down to the fourth tier we'll go.
And it doesn't seem long ago that we were celebrating two promotions in three years, with Sparksy getting cakes in the press box and Trigger and Friio making him proclaim the unforgettable: "TWO nil. THAT'S it. Argyle are UP." Now that work has gone away, phase two never happened (what a surprise) and there's little reason to hope for much for Argyle, in all honesty. Things can always change - there was little reason to hope in the Fat Dan Years - but maybe it's for the best. As John Cleese once wisely opined: I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand.
Surely there can't be a better quote for a Plymouth Argyle fan.
Postscript: Having said that, Rob just sent me a ringtone version of a Dalek saying "would-you-care-for-some-tea" from Saturday's Doctor Who, and that's not a bad quote either. Solves everything, PG Tips.
It's happened twice before in my lifetime: once in 1977 when I was too young to care and once in 1992 when I was there to see it. In 1977 a rising star striker named Paul Mariner left halfway through the season to go on to bigger things with Bobby Robson at Ipswich and then England, leaving the rest of Tony Waiters' team to flounder, going down on the last day of the season away at Sheffield United. In 1992 the culmination of two years of dreadful team-building by David Kemp (putting together a series of starting 11s who never again played league football after leaving Argyle - they were that bad) was an unsurprising 3-1 home defeat by Blackburn Rovers, who were promoted as a result and who within two years had won (bought) the Premier League title.
And today was the third. As high as fourth in the table a couple of seasons ago when Ian "hollow-words" Holloway left after promising to stay forever, and old favourite Paul Sturrock coming in to take over where he left off in 2004. But it was never the same, and despite having a team that in all actuality wasn't too bad in terms of absolute quality (for which read: they're better than David Kemp's team was and may indeed continue to play league football in their careers) they never gelled, and so many players had personal issues of some sort or another (Graham Stack, Simon Walton and thumbs-up boy Marcel Seip spring to mind even before we start getting into the Scottish contingent) that the side never settled, and probably never could. Mariner's return as coach and then manager certainly brought some life to the team - they actually won a game after going behind, which they'd not done in 2 years - but it was still too inconsistent, and too late.
So today, on a warm spring evening in Plymouth, Newcastle United came to town, needing a point to ensure their position as division champions, and happy to take a win if it came their way. Two soft goals later, that was that. Newcastle will be in the Premier League next year, snapping at the heels of the big clubs I'd wager, while Argyle will head back to obscurity for another dozen or so years. They'll think about bouncing straight back of course, and may even challenge for a year or two, but the investment isn't there (the new Japanese owners have failed to provide any money at all and indeed haven't even shown up for a single game) so maybe back down to the fourth tier we'll go.
And it doesn't seem long ago that we were celebrating two promotions in three years, with Sparksy getting cakes in the press box and Trigger and Friio making him proclaim the unforgettable: "TWO nil. THAT'S it. Argyle are UP." Now that work has gone away, phase two never happened (what a surprise) and there's little reason to hope for much for Argyle, in all honesty. Things can always change - there was little reason to hope in the Fat Dan Years - but maybe it's for the best. As John Cleese once wisely opined: I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand.
Surely there can't be a better quote for a Plymouth Argyle fan.
Postscript: Having said that, Rob just sent me a ringtone version of a Dalek saying "would-you-care-for-some-tea" from Saturday's Doctor Who, and that's not a bad quote either. Solves everything, PG Tips.
Monday, April 12, 2010
12 April 2010: Proxy
Back from holidays and it's probably time to update the blog, seeing as the last entry was getting all excited about a midweek chart show from two weeks ago.
So Delirious ended up at number 4 for the week overall, which is pretty good considering their previous highest position in the singles chart was number 16 back in early 1999. Even better considering the band no longer exists. But I couldn't buy a copy since I was abroad, and my many attempts to use UK iTunes accounts all seemed to be found out. I need a nice UK proxy.
Talking of proxies... seems Mr Brown has asked Mrs Queen to dissolve parliament and have a general election, and she presumably agreed with a big sigh, thinking "here we bleddy go again". (Seriously, how many elections has she seen now? She must be bored of them.) I've looked into voting from here and it's curious: mainly because of the constituency system but also partly because it's badly designed. I am eligible to register to vote in the last constituency in which I lived (Southampton Test as I recall) BUT when it comes to actually voting, there are two options: (1) postal ballot and (2) proxy vote. Number 1 isn't an option because they require a turnaround time of five days from start to finish - and it normally takes a week to get stuff from the UK by normal post, so that would mean I'd receive my ballot paper some two days after the election took place, let alone sending it back again. Leaving us with number 2, the proxy vote, and it seems to me that while it's ok for me to waste my time performing my usual vote (click here for details from the last UK election - have I really been blogging that long? Sheesh) it's a little unfair to ask someone else to perform the task on my behalf.
Sidenote on the spoiling thing: Before anyone goes off on one about rights, duties and privileges, I ask you to consider (1) the purpose of having an election with no actual, real choice (they had elections in the USSR, remember), (2) the purpose of representative democracy (am I represented?) and (3) Lord Hailsham's seemingly timeless remark on the UK as an "elective dictatorship", or a place which is a democracy, but only for one single day every five years.
May be different this time, due to the possibilities of a hung parliament (despite its promising name, this doesn't involve the execution of politicians, but instead means no single party has overall control of our unseparated powers). Andy has some interesting thoughts on the runners and riders from the minor parties so that's something to consider if you'd like your vote to count. But don't forget, it's first past the post in each constituency so for your Green/UKIP/Reptile vote to count, you'd need that candidate to win in your constituency before they get around to being king-makers in any minority government. Still, if just one percent of the population protest...
No, hang on, that was Doctor Who, not the actual election. Is it just me or did 'The Beast Below' fit in very nicely with the overall election theme? What is your choice: to protest about the system and thus bring about the collapse of a corrupt, unfair system or choose to forget about it for another five years and carry on in ignorance like nothing is wrong? Steven Moffat would have known broadcast dates some time in advance, and it wasn't difficult to predict the timing of this election...
No need to say much more on the first two Moffat episodes of Doctor Who, though. They were great, just great, thoroughly enjoyable, fun, deep, everything the RTD stories promised to be and rarely delivered. And Matt Smith is better that I thought he'd be too. They could do with changing the title sequence and music, though...
Finally, if you have any doubts about corrupt politicians, check out recent history of the island of Grand Turk, where I found Cadbury's Whole Nut last week. Now there is a seriously corrupt story... it must be bad when the British government wades in, dissolves the constitution and takes over control from London. We don't do that kind of thing any more... do we? Elections to be held there by mid-2011, say the leaflets from the supermarket.
Wonder if it'll be PR or first past the post?
So Delirious ended up at number 4 for the week overall, which is pretty good considering their previous highest position in the singles chart was number 16 back in early 1999. Even better considering the band no longer exists. But I couldn't buy a copy since I was abroad, and my many attempts to use UK iTunes accounts all seemed to be found out. I need a nice UK proxy.
Talking of proxies... seems Mr Brown has asked Mrs Queen to dissolve parliament and have a general election, and she presumably agreed with a big sigh, thinking "here we bleddy go again". (Seriously, how many elections has she seen now? She must be bored of them.) I've looked into voting from here and it's curious: mainly because of the constituency system but also partly because it's badly designed. I am eligible to register to vote in the last constituency in which I lived (Southampton Test as I recall) BUT when it comes to actually voting, there are two options: (1) postal ballot and (2) proxy vote. Number 1 isn't an option because they require a turnaround time of five days from start to finish - and it normally takes a week to get stuff from the UK by normal post, so that would mean I'd receive my ballot paper some two days after the election took place, let alone sending it back again. Leaving us with number 2, the proxy vote, and it seems to me that while it's ok for me to waste my time performing my usual vote (click here for details from the last UK election - have I really been blogging that long? Sheesh) it's a little unfair to ask someone else to perform the task on my behalf.
Sidenote on the spoiling thing: Before anyone goes off on one about rights, duties and privileges, I ask you to consider (1) the purpose of having an election with no actual, real choice (they had elections in the USSR, remember), (2) the purpose of representative democracy (am I represented?) and (3) Lord Hailsham's seemingly timeless remark on the UK as an "elective dictatorship", or a place which is a democracy, but only for one single day every five years.
May be different this time, due to the possibilities of a hung parliament (despite its promising name, this doesn't involve the execution of politicians, but instead means no single party has overall control of our unseparated powers). Andy has some interesting thoughts on the runners and riders from the minor parties so that's something to consider if you'd like your vote to count. But don't forget, it's first past the post in each constituency so for your Green/UKIP/Reptile vote to count, you'd need that candidate to win in your constituency before they get around to being king-makers in any minority government. Still, if just one percent of the population protest...
No, hang on, that was Doctor Who, not the actual election. Is it just me or did 'The Beast Below' fit in very nicely with the overall election theme? What is your choice: to protest about the system and thus bring about the collapse of a corrupt, unfair system or choose to forget about it for another five years and carry on in ignorance like nothing is wrong? Steven Moffat would have known broadcast dates some time in advance, and it wasn't difficult to predict the timing of this election...
No need to say much more on the first two Moffat episodes of Doctor Who, though. They were great, just great, thoroughly enjoyable, fun, deep, everything the RTD stories promised to be and rarely delivered. And Matt Smith is better that I thought he'd be too. They could do with changing the title sequence and music, though...
Finally, if you have any doubts about corrupt politicians, check out recent history of the island of Grand Turk, where I found Cadbury's Whole Nut last week. Now there is a seriously corrupt story... it must be bad when the British government wades in, dissolves the constitution and takes over control from London. We don't do that kind of thing any more... do we? Elections to be held there by mid-2011, say the leaflets from the supermarket.
Wonder if it'll be PR or first past the post?
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