As most know I'm sure HM Queen Elizabeth II has appointed a new Prime Minister, David Cameron of the Conservative Party, who will rule through a coalition with the Liberal Democrats after the vaguely reptilian Gordon Brown failed to cobble together an agreement that would let him cling to power. My initial response was one of expectations fulfilled. Most expected the Conservatives to win, as I did, and given how liberal overall the electorate is I also did not expect a landslide majority. The fact that a coalition was worked out between the Tories and the LibDems, supposedly at opposite ends of the political spectrum, also reinforces my opinion that the few differences between the major parties in the UK are simply over the degree to which they wish to pursue the same policies. The fact is, if either the LibDems or the Tories had any real convictions about what they are supposed to stand for they would be completely unable to ever form a coalition government.So, no surprises there. I was a bit taken aback by the casual certainty given to the term length of this government. Did I miss something? Is it not the Queen who is supposed to say when governments come and go? I realize it is a purely ceremonial thing these days but still -that ceremony and symbolism is supposed to mean something -right? I will admit, British politics makes me more weary than it probably should since I grew up with such an outdated, idyllic image of Great Britain in my mind. But, regardless of that it does infuriate me that in one of the most powerful, successful and respected nations in world history there seems to be pitiful lack of true pride and patriotism. Of course, this does not include the readers of this blog as it is the serious monarchists who are the noble exception to this trend.
To quote one of my favorite British patriotic songs, "Red, white and blue; what does it mean to you?" Not what it used to for the majority or at the very least the ruling elite these days. Am I the only one who died a little inside when the competitors for the PM job (especially Nicky and Gordie) spoke about how Britain desperately needed the EU to survive? My God man! Bite your tongues! Is this the nation that conquered India? The nation that spanned Africa from the Cape to Cairo? The proud island that stood firm against the Nazi war machine and which ruled the seven seas for centuries on end? Let that proud, patriotic spirit soar again! It was never a bad or destructive thing. Certainly from time to time Britain was in the wrong, but it was in the right probably more often than not. I have often joked that these days the only ardent British patriots seem to be in Northern Ireland rather than Britain. I hope that is not the case, and I know there are diehards holding out in these troubled times but despite the joy I have at seeing Brown evicted from No.10 this was no great victory. It cannot be too soon that the whole crop of spineless, lefty, 'one Europe - one world' political slime are wiped out and the United Kingdom returned to the spirit, the faith and the true constitutional monarchy that made them the greatest maritime empire in history. God Save the Queen!
I have said it once, and I'll say it again. When it comes to the Continent, it's been nothing more than a source of bother for Britain. Nothing has changed. They're better off out.
ReplyDeleteI have also previously said that all of the "reforms" proposed do nothing whatsoever to rectify the horrific concentration of power in the hands of the House of Commons. The Commons can be the dominant House, but it needs to have checks against it, lest it be tempted to corruption and tyranny (and if you doubt that the British politician is tempted, just think that they've made treason [i]legal[/i], and the little matter of the expenses scandal as well). A Senate wouldn't change anything. It's a matter of the powers of the Upper House, not its name or selection method.
And I've also heard the spectre of fixed terms come up. I shudder at the thought.
Britain is a mess, and everyone who wants to "fix" it wants to take apart what works, which is frankly not helping.
Then again, if they get rid of the hereditary Lords, the a new Lords could be constituted by the monarch and the people when these people finally get chased onto the Continent they'd rather belong to.
And only too right on history, and the justifiable pride the British can take in it and the contempt of the elites for that pride (a contempt that is not limited to the UK, I am sad to say).
And if I may take from Gough Whitlam (oh how I love to take the words of the Left and use them to smash them!), well may we say God save the Queen, because nothing will save the Prime Minister.
I know many in the US tend to think America invented "checks and balances" but it was a basic framework inherited from Great Britain and actually existed in numerous (actually most) monarchial states in Europe going all the way back. It is terrible that today it is being forgotten. Few people seem to consider that everytime the monarch or the hereditary lords lose some power -that power has to go to somebody and it is going to the politician-class and even increasingly these days to Brussels.
ReplyDeletei think thats the point. Politicians love Reform because it gives them oersonally mroe power. They also love the Socualist vision of a United World as seen throuh the Romantic notions of 18th,19th and early 20th Century Philosophers, and even though this doesn't match the reality ever, still adhere to it.
ReplyDeleteVery, very true. It is noteworthy that "reform" never seems to work does it? That may sound silly but consider how many times "reforms" have been carried out and yet, down the road, the cries for additional reforms always rises up. That is why I tend to detest dealing with the revolutionary types at all. It has happened over and over all around the world; you give them their way and they want more, you give them that and they demand still more with the revolutionary side always taking and the traditionalist side always giving. It has to stop! And so it may sometime soon simply because their destructive policies will bring down everyone.
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