Dale’s Personal Blog

Just taking a break and tuning into PMQs live from the House of Commons. I have to say I really cannot see how this is helping us run the country better. David Cameron is using selective facts and misinformation to take cheap shots at Brown, just like a child would when trying to get their sibling in trouble with their parents.

The real sad thing about it is that many of us have issues with some of the way the government is handling things, so it should not be that hard to challenge the Prime Minister based on reasoned analysis and argument. Yet Cameron would rather make stuff up and twist things around to drive trivial point scoring than engage on substance.

The truth is that Brown’s performance may leave a lot to be desired, but he is actually having a go at coming up with solutions to some pretty mega problems, and a quite a bit of what he has done has been alright. The only conclusion I can draw is that Cameron either lacks the confidence or insight to have a sensible discussion around such substantial areas that are typically not black and white and require grown-up judgement calls.

It reminds me of those people we come across in the workplace who are continually moaning about the way senior management is running the company, but don’t come up with any informed and balanced alternative options. You know damn well that if they were plonked into the shoes of an exec they are criticising, they wouldn’t even know where to start. Life really ain’t that easy when the buck stops with you on the big stuff.

My big fear at the moment is that Cameron will win the next election for all the wrong reasons. He will enter power with no coherent plan, then start making things up as he goes along, and undo some things that are actually working well simply because he criticised them for points scoring reasons when in opposition and can’t be seen to back-track.

This really is a sad time in British politics.

With this poor state of affairs, it doesn’t surprise me that the BNP is capturing attention. And on that specific note, for those who think that common sense and reasonable values mean the appearance of this right wing extremist party on BBC Question Time will just lead to it being shown up as loony, I urge them to look to the US. Just tune into Fox News or listen to some of local radio station phone in shows on the internet, and you’ll see how totally mad extremist views that would not stand up to five minutes of cross examination from a normal intelligent human being have the ability to gain traction by appealing to hang-ups and prejudices, and exploiting peoples’ tendency to selectively listen.

Rant over. Back to work.