by Angelika Rusbridge Sunday 1 March, 2015
There is always going to be a lot to talk about politics when a General Election has been called. This is excellent news for someone like me who is rather obsessed with the stuff, and since the only thing I arguably like more than politics, is talking about it, I present to you my very first installment of :
My Thoughts On Some Stuff That Happened This Week In Politics
First of all, I want to talk about the unfortunate case of Natalie Bennett and her interview with LBC’s Nick Ferrari on Tuesday, the 24th of February.
Everyone, including Ms Bennett, has pretty much agreed that the interview was a disaster. I was listening to it via the BBC early that same morning, and couldn’t help but cringe.
Though many, like Graeme Archer from the Telegraph, were harsh but sympathetic – I mean, how would ‘we’ do during a live interview, the prevailing sense was still that as a party leader she should have the basic facts of one of the key issues from her own, at the time only just released, manifesto down pat.
Ms Bennett herself admits; “On Tuesday morning I gave a terrible interview on LBC – let’s not pretend it was anything else. If you cringed listening to the show, than (sic) I’m sure you can imagine what I felt like.”
I am fond of the Green Party and (I like to think) I can empathize with people, but this interview was shocking. As the figurehead for a political party trying to wrestle the protest vote away from UKIP, she must understand that knowing the basics of her manifesto and being prepared for pivotal interviews is absolutely necessary.
Honestly, I could hear Malcolm Tucker in the background, screaming: “You ******g c***, I can’t believe I ****** in the ******!! ****!!! ********* **** *** **** you!”
Next up is the MP vote on second jobs, which seemed to dominate Prime Ministers Questions this week.
That is, when the Tories weren’t pandering to Mr Cameron by mentioning his LONG-TERM ECONOMIC PLAN and how well it is doing. Andrew Stephenson, Sir Richard Ottaway, Sir Peter Tapsell – Father of the House, and Sir Tony Baldry were the culprits, although the Father of the House did so with his tongue in his cheek, claiming; “Banning MPs from having second jobs would result in the House of Commons being dominated by ‘obsessive crackpots’.”
I would like to point out that Ed Miliband is often just as guilty of this kind of pandering, it was merely showcased more strongly on the Tory side this week, as they went on to waste precious time that could have been used by others with something substantial to say – but that’s just my opinion.
The question of second jobs, or more specifically holding paid directorships or consultancies, was later defeated in the House of Commons on the grounds that it was poorly formulated, even though Mr Miliband made it clear that he wasn’t saying MP’s shouldn’t be dentists, or teachers, or run family businesses, as mentioned by Mr Cameron, merely that the Rifkind/Snow scandal has damaged trust in MP’s.
And, oh, you know, that maybe, just maybe, MP’s shouldn’t work for the very people whom they are trying to tax and regulate.
And of course, lastly, I have to talk about tuition fees. Ed Miliband has announced that he would lower tuition fees, like he promised in 2011, if (though I’m sure he’d happily assume when) he is elected. They would be reduced from £9,000 to £6,000.
Oh my, the controversy!
Martin Lewis, of moneysavingexpert.com, claims it is a “financially illiterate” move. He seems to disagree with the way it’s being implemented, not with the decision itself, having previously said the £9,000 yearly fees were a psychological deterrent for students. He claims the move is populist and focus group based, and fears the ramifications of where the money will be coming from.
And where is the money going to come from? Well, one way is to reduce the rate of tax relief on people earning more than £150,000, which is difficult to disagree with too much – unless of course you earn that much money.
Maximum annual pension pots contribution would be lowered from £40,000 to £30,000, which admittedly could hurt some people who wouldn’t exactly fall under the category of “high earners”. I hate to admit it, because I personally dislike Mr Osborne for reasons I can’t quite explain (maybe his face? Probably his face, I mean, just look at it), but this could very well turn out to be true.
Mr Osborne spluttered his indignation, saying: “Far from hitting only the richest as Ed Miliband claimed, his new tax on pensions will hit many people on middle incomes including nurses, teachers and firefighters. So a tuition fees policy that only benefits better off students is being paid for by hard-working taxpayers on middle incomes.”
All in all, the policy needs some ironing out, and I look forward to following developments, as when asked if the promise was cast-iron, Mr Miliband exclaimed: “Yes, yes, yes.”
Cast-iron promises make for good politics, and even better possible angry tirades.
All in all, an interesting week, and as the General Election creeps closer, I look forward to more muck-ups, which is inevitable as people are interviewing more often, more promises, and maybe even a session of PMQ’s where we are spared the braying of indignant MP’s.
Wait, who am I kidding, that’ll never happen, even the Speaker can’t help but laugh – what else can you do?
Here are a few interesting articles you might want to read, just in case this wasn’t enough:
Angelika's Corner 