I'm not sure what I'm going to do now the election is all but over. We are still dissecting what has actually happened and how this affects us. There appears to be a great feeling of positivity but thankfully it isn't the dumb acceptance that "things can only get better" as in the Blair election victory. I have some hopeful optimism, now my disbelief has settled.
Conservatives doing a deal with the Libdems? Never happen and then lo and behold, it did. I have to admit that my first feeling was anger, I wanted a decisive Governement and a coalition is not something that we English do. Watered down politics and backroom deals is not democracy, it's something we laugh at the European nations about. However, in the cold light of day, David Cameron has pulled a masterstroke. He has potentially negated the need for a Labour party, rebranded the Conservatives into an all encompassing party and shared the hate and the pain that is to come, between the two parties.
Being English, suspicion is a part of our nature. I can't help but look at the Camron deal and wonder what is left for the Libdems after the honeymoon is over. Come the next election, would they really go gracefully back to opposition of the opposition, the third place guys that mean nothing? From power to nowhere in one easy stroke. Their future is far more in doubt and providing this coalition lasts the 5 years, I will be interested to see what happens next.
The plus side to this coalition is that it showed who the decent and honourable members of the Labour Party are. John Reid, David Blunkett and Diane Abbot deserve a special mention for not trying to crap on the electorate. Peter Mandelson and Alastair Campbell are now shown to be the maggots that we all thought they are and I am pleased that David Cameron has out manouveured them.
Being a sceptic on Europe and the euro, I am heartened to see that some of my faith in the pound has been justified. I do feel sorry for the poor old Germans and the other nations that were dragged into this huge power grab on our economies and way of life but from where I'm sitting, there but for the grace of God go I! Greece, Spain, Portugal, it seems that the euro is in a very dangerous place. There is little enough money to go around without having to bail out economies that potentially shouldn't have been in the euro to start with. If I was a member state, I would be asking some very probing questions on the who's and why's. I guess that once you have an unelected Governing body, who do you ask? Democracy is a delicate balance and once that balance has been steam rollered, it is difficult to put it back short of civil unrest or revolution, unless you're English and then you suck it up, complain alot and do very little. The French take to streets, burn sheep and blockade ports over the slightest thing. Look at the Greeks, all retiring from the civil service at 40, pensions for life that are passed on to their families in the event of their death and they are rioting, burning banks and pregnant women because they feel hard done by. I think that I may prefer the English way, it spares women and sheep and the changes may come slower, but they do come.
I'm not too sure what I am going to do now the election is over. Life is looking dull after all the excitement. I do have one consolation though, I do not follow football except that every 4 years I become a rabid fan of the World Cup, and as that is only a month away, I shall ensure that my England T-shirts are washed and pressed and I shall be singing Rule Britannia whilst trying to remember how the hell I drank so much of this goddawful beer in my youth and later, more importantly, as I lie there vomitting with my head on the rim of the toilet......why?
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