Reasons to be cheerful are few and far between, it seems, so we've got a legislative programme that will concentrate on law and ordure — cue hysteria from the civil liberties lobby — and carbon footprints. There are odds and ends in the Queen's Speech that are long overdue (Crossrail, corporate manslaughter, free bus travel for pensioners) but this is fin de siecle fiddling. "Security" only works for Labour if it's also about working-class confidence, and too much of this stuff is scarifying triangulation that encourages fear. Get it done with, get Gordon in, and then onwards and upwards. I hope.
And sort Iraq. Please. Call me a neo-con if you want, but getting Bashir and the mullahs in doesn't strike me as too sensible. What exactly is wrong with massively upping the military presence, disarming the militias and taking it from there? Too expensive? I'm not an expert. I ask because I want to know.
4 comments:
The Pensions Bill stood out for me (it would!).
You have more than a point about fin de siecle fiddling. Pensions - a major policy headache for just about every developed country there is - should have been addressed long, long ago.
Pensions are a good point, Maria.
Free bus travel for pensioners - off peak only.
Corporate manslaughter - nearly 10 years into a Labour govt, and watered down so its still almost impossible to charge individual directors. No change there.
Sorry to see you are cursed with 'benjamin' excrescence Paul.
If you get haloscan comments facility you can just hit the delete button and be rid of.
Well said on Iraq, and no, that doesn't make you a neocon.
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