Many people have asked me what I think about McBride and his foul insinuations in emails about leading Tory politicians.
Of course these are the tactics of a politician in despair, and the fact that he was once a civil servant working for Brown at the Treasury, does not mean that he isn’t (and wasn’t) a politician thinly disguised as a civil servant. The desperate man is the Prime Minister, of course, who must take responsibility for the actions of his creature. He won’t, though!
I fear the next election may see a lot of dirty tricks from our friends on the Left. If past form is anything to go by, they won’t be limited to the Labour Party or to Parliamentary elections. I still have in my possession a copy of a letter purporting to come from one of our Conservative councillors, of Asian origin, announcing his intention to quit the party during the local election campaign in 2002. I know that the candidate himself didn’t write it, but I still spend the odd idle hour wondering who did……….
Of course many people in politics will have been aware of the ‘dirty tricks’ departments that thrive within our political system. In fact, Gordon Brown was rumoured to have had one of the best, how ironic that is should then bite him in the backside.
But the problem goes further than this issue. Politicians from all sides have to deal with voter apathy, many have lost trust and confidence in MP’s and this is a serious challenge. All too often, MP’s, especially Labour cabinet ministers, lecture, rather than engage with the people of this country. But, because they are always in the media doing their thing, the electorate is beginning to believe that they represent what MP’s do, say and think.
In all honesty, I have never witnessed such despair by the public in our politicians, not because of the economy (although that is a factor), but because the people of this country feel helpless, as if they are on a roller coaster and cannot get off. If the major parties do not want to witness a coming of age for the smaller parties, then they need to engage and listen to the electorate, not just when they want our votes, but throughout their term in office.
I agree with you entirely. especially about engaging with and listening to the electorate throughout a term of office. It must be understood, however, that ‘listen to’ cannot always mean ‘agree with’ and that, even in a ward like mine, all 7000 electors are unlikely to share the same opinion on any issue, so there’ll always be someone who can accuse you of not listening to them.