Barrie Nicoll wrote:AS I said, I have no more time for the last lot than I have for this lot, blair was a joke, albeit not a very funny one, and he walked out into a very cosy future, leaving the country in the hands of brown. The legacy they have left us with seems to me to be that if you get elected, there will always be someone to support your policies, no matter how misguided they are, due to tribalism or partisan voting, and when it all hits the fan four or five years after the election just make sure you have found your seat on the gravy train, whatever party you are in. Look at blair and mandelson, just as two examples of people who should not have a job anywhere near politics, set for life and never having to answer for any of their misdemeanours. If the tories don't get in next time, plenty on here will be able to use the same sentence with different names as they run off to feather their nests. If you really think these clowns are in politics for the good of the country, us, I feel you are very much mistaken.
Actually there is a lot in what you say.
The problem is that having democratically elected politicians is just the better of a poor lot of options - the alternative governmental systems are simply worse.
The weakness of the system is that they need votes and there are two ways to get votes - to promise the earth to those groups who shout loudest and can deliver most votes (promises that also end up costing the earth)... or to stand by a set of principals and go out to convince the public you are right to get votes providing leadership.
Ever since the days of Mrs T we have had too much of the former and too little of the latter. The last leader to lay out what she believed as a conviction politician and actually led was Mrs T.
When it comes what party to support it comes down to the one that is least untrustworthy, that has the basics for the right policies and has a chance of getting elected - that is the Conservative Party.
Why on earth would anyone who distrusts politicians vote for one of the Parties that wants to spend more money and interfere most in our lives - that is what Labour and the LibDems have in common. You can add to Labour a history of unparalleled incompetence not just on the economy but look at immigration, the Human Right Act and so on.... They are simply unfit for government the results from every term they have had in government speaks for itself.