Thursday, June 11, 2009

100 to go

Not sure if my visitor number count is visible to everyone or just me but its up to 29,900. 100 more visits (every one counts!) and it'll hit 30,000. How fabulous is that? In honour of the occasion I thought I'd like to start a discussion going. Will make a change from all the usual humdrum stuff normally on here.

So anyway, I used to think (possibly naively) that the UK was a relatively civilised country full, for the most part, of relatively civilised people. Now we find out that not only are most of our politicians on the make but our police force indulges in torturing suspects too. Have we no shame? We're no better than some third world dictatorship where corruption and torture are rife. We should be ashamed of ourselves and we should vow to tackle it root and branch. Its no good just changing the voting system or kicking out a few top officers. We need to kick them all out. But what guarantees can there ever be that the next lot won't be exactly the same. Its way too depressing to even think about for long. Discuss. J x

5 comments:

fig said...

Kicking them all out and starting again would be worse. Though many of our politicians are duplicitous money grabbing power obsessed liars, this has always been the case. Replacing them all in one foul swoop wouldn't solve that .. all you'd get is a lot of naive ego monkeys elected and then being ordered about by civil servants; the only people who really know the system.

Kathryn said...

Hi Jonathan, It's difficult to know where to start on this one - to some extent I think we get the politicians and police we deserve. Look at turnout in elections, membership of political parties and the general lack of engagement in what I would call "political" (with a small p) issues, such as civil liberties, human rights and so on. All we can do is work to the highest standards of probity ourselves as public servants and encourage others to do the same, and do as much as we reasonably can to engage in the political process. I have also reluctantly come round to the idea of locally elected police chiefs and health boards - these are areas that are lacking terribly in input from the public - particularly when they are at their most vulnerable. sceahvexsrpoclbaouh

Jonathan said...

I don't think it would necessarily be worse. I think sometimes you need to clean out the establishment who, as a rule, just opt for the status quo. Ultimately one needs new people with new ideas in order to progress. With the party system we're never going to get that.

And I agree that we should have a firemen contest where we all get to vote...! J x Sorry, did you say firemen or policemen?

NannyOggandGreebo said...

And now we see why local politics is sooooo uncontrolled....

I think Kathryn is right - people cannot complain about politicans and the system of government unless they are prepared to get out there and get involved themselves. People have to VOTE in local and national elections and if you don't like the parties on offer, start one of your own. Whatever you may think of UKIP, Green Party etc etc, they were started by a handful of people and have their faithful followers. proportional representation would at least mean that some of the smaller parties get a voice. Voting should be mandatory thought how you would police it -

Oh if only I ruled the world

Nanny x

Jonathan said...

Go Nanny. I'll vote for you.... J x