Finally I get a chance to listen directly to our dear Prime Minister to see if this media/social media hype against her/her government is just that a “hype”. Well I can only suggest that for many of us we would have slept better if we had been wise enough to switch off the sound because as it turns out there is NOT much policy but rather plenty of “hype” from the PM herself. The 2 Big Messages of the Day from Prime Minister May are;
- We/I Recognise the Problem
- We are/will be looking into this
So no analysis is really needed here (or anywhere else for that matter) for the interview because there wasn’t much in it in the first place when it comes to actual policy be it on BREXIT or any other matter, merely promises to work hard/fix things. Policy delivery is an organic rather than a conscious process and by God is that NOT a disaster in of itself. This while savvy politicians brag about winning a referendum rather providing a vision forward and complaining when one question’s, because well they won; my friend you’re confusing Democracy (as a process) that encourages analysis, re-evaluation and change with a football game aren’t you. Remember we wouldn’t have had another referendum on EU membership after the one in 1975 where people voted in favour of EC membership, that is if your argument holds.
For me the only observation in the interview is the PM’s attitude which implies she does indeed feel the pressures surrounding her/her government and does not seem to have the confidence necessary to lead. I actually never believed she ever led anything, merely hovered over the Conservative party & the nation. She may like to continue as PM/Conservative Leader but I would be very sceptical if she makes it through the end of this year or early next year unless there is a major turnaround in the negotiations – which is highly unlikely. This not to mention that an increasing number of people are now finally realising that the BREXIT they dreamt about is only accessible through their dreams while in reality the process has every potential of being a Nightmare so either Stay up or Buckle up.
What really bothers me most of all though is the Clan Politics gripping the nation and played by top politicians in the country to score narrow political objectives while using/exacerbating the divisions we see now more than ever in the process. Be it Liberals, Labour, Conservatives or UKIP the important thing is to isolate their clan and play on anxieties/biases/concerns of their followers to drive political narratives that are NOT necessarily accurate but merely used to score political points. It’s called “Divisive Politics” and we seem to have been gullible enough to play right along like a Champions League. So what I am disgusted from are politicians engaged in this kind of behaviour NOT the followers; if I could I would gather people from all parties and political conviction/sit in a room – close the door – and begin by saying “OK, Now Let’s Talk” which is why in previous post I’ve called for a dialogue between different campaign groups. Politics should be about driving through pragmatic solutions that work for the country, NOT ideological/impractical solutions that comfort a few. We should start from a base we all can relate to/believe in and build from there rather engaging in forums specifically designed to demonstrate the differences and encouraging the clan mentality. BREXIT is quite a tiny issue when we compare it with the political system overhaul needed to change how we do policy; we need a new vision and a stream of new politicians from all sides willing/able to take on that challenge and commit on taking off party colours/banners to serve the nation NOT their clan. After all this is NOT just about internal threat but also an external threat to our Democracy where this is the ideal landscape to encourage foreign interference as we know well by now.
At some point we’ll have to wake up and see what’s really happening to our political establishment and how it has been used as tool to divide rather than a mechanism to solve problems; I’ve written many posts about this here in case interested, so flip through and you may find something interesting.
So I can only hope that we can all start smelling that damn coffee!