Are you as disgusted with the theatre of Prime Minister’s Question Time, as I am? The body language, especially of David Cameron, when he leans on one elbow, almost as far as the dispatch box, screaming at Brown, makes me think of Playtime in an elementary school playground. All, or almost all of the children are trying to justify their existence, to the TV audience. So much of what the screaming is about is relatively unimportant, except to them, such as the contributions to, and behaviour of other members of the house.’ In this current period of severe distraction from our domestic problems to that of world finance, some of these exchangers we could well do without as they take us no further, just waste parliamentary time.
This business of Obama spending upwards of 150 million to get into office raises that old hackneyed phrase, ‘there is no such thing as a free lunch’. Few if any of those contributions are given without underlying strings, and it clearly applies in all circumstances of today’s life. In this particular case the number of people involved must be huge, and where their influences and demands will take American politics, and consequently that of the world, is a $64 question. It is my firm belief, as we demand unbiased politics, we should be prepared to pay the costs of reasonable electioneering expenses, graded to be commensurate with the neutrally adjudged chances of outcome. I would suggest that a large proportion of the money donated, has actually been provided by the electorate, in its purchases and financial dealings, it had to come from somewhere. From the start, this proposal would stop so much bickering across the Chamber, and the subsequent feeding frenzy in the press. It would also, I would hope, provide a level playing field for the contestants at election time, and concentrate their minds on how best to use the relatively small amount of funds they would now have available. Those, assumed generous benefactors will be keeping their millions, and those parties who are not the flavour of the month might just have a better chance of being seen and heard.