Monday Moan 53



 

Playground spat ……

Ever watched children arguing in the playground by calling each other silly names designed to be insulting and to make their watching friends giggle?  If you want to return to your younger days and experience this kind of thing again then the best way to do it is to watch the UK House of Commons in action.

 

Last week we had the weekly slanging match that is Prime Minister’s Questions, during which the leader of this nation decided against taking the moral high ground by venturing down the road of insults, likening his opponent to Bert, a character from The Muppets.

 

It was pathetic, but it left me with an uneasy feeling that Ed Balls, that most unimpressive and unlovable of politicians, would be unable to resist lowering the tone still further. Sure enough, hectoring Ed decided that the mature way to put over his argument was to compare the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to Bungle and Zippy – apparently characters from the children’s tv series Rainbow.

 

I’d like to think that the nation felt insulted by this childish behaviour, but I’m afraid that the number who felt like that was probably matched by those who thought this was the height of great political debate – and an even greater number were simply unaware or didn’t care.

 

 

Got a question?  Want to hear a debate?  Don’t bother watching this then

Having fallen asleep during the BBC News last Thursday, I woke to find that Question Time was on my screen again.  Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!

 

Here we had the combined intellectual forces of David Willetts, University and Science Minister, Liz Kendall, Shadow Health Secretary, Simon Highes, Deputy Leader of the Lib Dems, Jill Kirby, ex-leader of the Centre for Policy Studies, and Mark Steel, comedian.

 

Unfortunately, the assembled panellists decided to adopt the same approach as just about every other set of panellists I have seen in recent years – no listening to what others had to say, no debate, just regurgitation of entrenched views, talking (often shouting) over the other panellists, and all delivered in a self-righteous way.  The ‘comedian’ (or equivalent) is often the worst, particularly if they bring with them (as in this case) very obvious political views. 

 

And then we have the audience.  Now, we all know that the audience comprises people with political allegiances – that’s how the tickets are distributed, and the BBC says it aims to get an audience representing all political views. Unfortunately, the result if often that the members of the audience who are called upon to speak do so with even more venom and bile than those on the panel.

 

Unedifying and dispiriting.  Wish I’d stayed asleep.

 

 

Revenge is sweet ……………

So, Kevin Rudd, ex-Australian Prime Minister, elbowed aside by Julia Gillard in 2010, got his revenge last week and was re-elected as leader of the Labour Party and, therefore, became Prime Minister again.  Julia Gillard said she would quit politics.

 

Australian men have a reputation for sporting prowess and a generally macho approach to life.

 

And then there is Kevin. 

 

 

 

Glastonbury – kick off the slippers

OK, I’m getting on and I have to accept that I no longer recognise most of the names of the acts who appeared at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.  That’s just the way life goes, and I feel no shame in it at all.

 

But I am confused.  Sir Bruce Forsyth at Glastonbury?  Made the Rolling Stones seem like young kids – joking, of course.  Average age of 69, apparently.  Best act ever at Glastonbury, apparently.  That must make all the headliners from the previous festivals feel great.

 

Best of all was the brief piece on the BBC News interviewing people who had queued the longest to see the Rolling Stones and were happily waiting at the front for most of the day.  They ranged from youngsters whose grandparents probably remember buying Rolling Stones records in the 1960s, to the grandparents themselves – as shown in the picture. 

 

Couldn’t help wondering how they were going to cope with having to stay in their front row position for all of those hours though.  It’s a long way to the toilets, for example.