The man on the right could be Britain’s next Prime Minister, scary isn’t it?

By The Ubiquitous Librarian

Today’s PMQs shows again that Cameron, even if you disagree with him politically, has leadership qualities, whereas Ed Miliband couldn’t be trusted to run a grocer’s shop, never mind running the country. The Speaker has had to be firm with the House of Commons which sounded like a rabble during the questions from Ed to the PM, explaining that those who were shouting would not be missed if they could not contain themselves. They can and did calm down and listen, they are of course adults and not the rowdy children they sounded like. Of course there is a tradition of shouting out in Parliament, and we all enjoy PMQs as an example of holding the Government to account and asking the awkward questions.

These people are supposed to be our leaders, the best this country can produce in the way of politicians, to govern this country as a democracy. When my cousin visited from South Africa in the Apartheid years and found me and my sister calling a politician “piano-teeth” because of his protruding teeth; she looked to my parents to discipline us for our dangerous talk. We told her that in this country it was ok to criticise and poke fun of politicians, Her Majesty had an official Opposition as well as a Government.

I used to be proud that we had strong leaders of both the Conservative and Labour Parties, and a space for the Liberals and other minority views. I could imagine either Tories or Labour forming a government then, I would agree with one more than the other, but neither would be an unmitigated disaster. I opposed the grocer’s daughter when she took the top job, but at least she knew her own mind and didn’t rely on focus groups to tell her what to think and do and say. Today I feel sad and ashamed at what has become of our once-great country, and in particular of the Labour Party. My stepmother was a Northener who voted Labour all her life, I’m glad she didn’t live to see this day. Britain deserves better than the current incarnation of the Labour Party, and Labour deserve a leader that is better than ‘Weird’ Ed Miliband.