Speaking of leaders

Thursday, 20th November 2008

Lloyd Evans compares the parliamentary styles of Brown, Cameron and Clegg

But the defining issue that he needs — parliamentary reform — may yet be his for the taking. Last February he incurred the Speaker’s wrath for attacking ‘the clapped-out 19th century procedures’ of the Commons. Since then he has complained that arcane rules prevented him from showing Gordon Brown the combat medals surrendered to him by protesting Ghurkas. Well, the best way to complain about such rules is to break them. Smuggle the medals into the chamber, Clegg, and bung them at the PM. Do that and you establish yourself as a serious reformer, and in a way that appeals not just to the awkward-squad eccentrics who make up your party but to that part of the country that still applauds the hooligan spirit when employed in a worthy cause. But Clegg is too cautious, too much the career-politician, for such a stunt. His tragedy is that he joined the wrong party. He calls himself a liberal but he looks like a centre-left Conservative. Though he claims to deplore ‘broken politics’, that’s exactly what he wants: a democratic breakdown, a hung Parliament. If the Tories win the election without a clear majority, Clegg will be the most powerful Liberal leader since Jeremy Thorpe. That, of course, is highly unlikely. And if Parliament isn’t hung, Clegg will be.

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Kram Ekosum

November 20th, 2008 4:50pm Report this comment

Erudite and interestingly painted images of the three leaders. It is a huge shame that the majority of the "intelligentsia" do not share your perspicacity

Jim

November 20th, 2008 5:27pm Report this comment

You seem to be distracted by the show.

What links them all together us that they don't yet realise the gravity of the problems facing the country. Therefore they don't have any solutions.

They can't bring back justice because of the European Union. They are all thinking taxes will have to rise after the election to pay off our debts, but the tax base is collapsing.

New companies can't start up because of regulatory burdens and already high tax. So something has to give to enable change.

None of them offer me any reason to sell my gold and start a new business. I don't really see the attitude and legislative changes necessary to make me think about doing that.

You should remember that the public has to force change in how we are governed before any new business has a chance of being successful. We won't be at that stage for many years I fear.

In the meantime you may be good at describing them, but there is nothing inside their heads, and that is what is important.