Friday, November 21, 2008

Winning the argument could be more important than winning the next election

Have I lost my mind ?

Well not as far as I can tell, let me try to justify such a worrying statement.

What matters is the changes that need to made to the UK. A slightly different shade of rosy blue will not sort our country's problems.

Having recovered from the drastic medical and painful surgical treatment of our economy that was needed to save the UK in the 80's ( remember Britain was known as the sick man of Europe then ), the patient let itself go in the late 90's and 00's.

New age treatments were tried ( the third way / New Labour et al ), the diets that allowed you to eat all you wanted and told you it would be OK ( the personal debt bubble, increase govt investment spending ) were pushed by a very slick sales organisation ( Messers Mandelson, Campbell, Draper, Wheelan & associates ). What mattered was people feeling happy (the narrative ), facts that hinted at other 'realities' were wrong and needed to be suppressed (helpful left news organisations like the BBC), bullied to silence (little old ladies complaining about hospitals ), arrests (using anti-terrorism legislation on a man who escaped the holocaust at a Labour party conference ).

There were many in the private establishment who were willing to snuggle up to the new masters. Especially when favours in terms of light regulation or regulations that would help suppress competition from upstarts were on offer. ( The close relationship between finance and the Labour party is one of the great untold stories of the last twelve years. Since those who tell stories are signed up to "the project" it will be some time before we get to hear it. )

And finally, having tried everything else and having been smeared by an outrageous lie at the 2005 election about reducing spending by £4billion leading to every nurse and doctor getting sacked (copyright 2005 Gordon Brown - used without permission ) the Conservative party bowed to the peer pressure.

But now the real state of the patient has become impossible to ignore. Indeed the general public might ask themselves if they haven't been deceived not only by their politicians, but also by the 'professional media' and academics who never barked in the night.

Labour plans are for hair of the dog as the nations liver finally succumbs to the sclerosis of borrowing and debt.

Its time for the painful, and also unpopular news to be spelt out ( because they have been the same thing for over a decade - the messenger gets shot every time in UK politics now we have the marketing dominated professionalisation of politics ).

Only then, having been straight with the public, can the solution be proposed. I suspect this is along the line suggested today by Andrew Haldenby in his article Fiscal stimulus will prolong the recession.

It might mean we lose the next election. But at this time it might be worse to win but without the mandate to do what's necessary. If Labour cling to power they will be a minority government that will be too weak to govern effectively, they will also push their policies to the point that their bankruptcy is obvious to the voters. Such a government would not last two years.

What matters is not just winning - but winning with the mandate to save our country. Otherwise everyone loses.

I propose Country before Party and that requires a firmer economic and governing philosophy, that the pampered patient will not accept until they accept the charlatans for what they are.

I don't expect these views to be popular, especially with the hard working people who are standing for election and are giving their all. But nether the less we must be straight with the public about how bad things are.

( Of course Labour is doing damage in other areas than the economy. The destabilisation of society and the destruction of education need to be stopped - and are badly served by every further minute of this Labour government ).

1 comment:

Unknown said...

A brilliant post and as you point out, prescient.