“Mr
Speaker...
One the peculiar
and perverse things that democracy teaches its discerning observer, and an
occasional participant, is to applaud politicians for breaking their word,
after having wiped the floor with them earlier for making utterly irresponsible
promises.
... we’ve
just learnt that...
Thus, I was
extremely happy that David Cameron failed to keep his word regarding the Prime Minister's Questions and haven't knocked the Punch and
Judy factor out of it. In fact, he has turned out to be the best Punch I’ve seen live on TV in my
whole life.
...in
Scotland more people believe...
The PMQ, one
must realise, is not only about fun. It’s also an important part of the
political debate. Political ideas, political claims and political proposals should be able to withstand all sorts of
tests, including the scrutiny of extra-smart (even if often fallacious), ruthless
ridicule . And the PMQ offers that test.
....in the
Loch Ness Monster....
In the weekly session of their slagging each other off, the Prime Minister and the Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition carry out an important part of a genuine review of the
system: they mercilessly, aptly and justly slag off the whole democratic idea.
...than in his leadership".
P.S.
Actually, even if it was just about fun, the Parliamentarian Punch & Judy may still be one of the strongest
arguments in favour of British democracy I’ve ever heard. (Just by the way: funnily,
most people here seem to believe that all the incoherent & ruinous political mess
going on around them can be defended with that old, evidently fallacious witticism of
Churchill's which made false claims about all sorts of old and superior systems, just
because he happened to be a player in a new, inferior one.)
