Wednesday 12 May 2010

Political Pragmatism and Cricket


So the actual deal done was Tory / Lib-Dem, which I imagine will piss off a large proportion of the Lib-Dem voters.

Strategically it was the best option for Labour. They can now sit back and wait for the cracks to appear in the coalition while getting their own house back in order. A minority coalition would never last long anyway, and Cameron can now be blamed for any ill effects resulting from the necessary and inevitable tax hikes.

Given the Lib-Dems are essentially left-of-centre, I would imagine they will be severely punished at the next election, by which time David Cameron will be about as popular as pope Benedict at a children’s home.

However, having said that, the Lib-Dems had to do a deal with someone, as it was the only way to press through voting reform, and if you’re forced into doing a deal then it’s best to go for the largest party in the knowledge that the deal will have greater longevity than one reliant on a motley collection of minorities having a vitriolic dislike for England and making totally unrealistic demands like the banning of the bowler hat.

My car radio has gone squonk and I’ve lost the ability to pick up FM. This means I can only obtain Radio 4 on long wave. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the misfortune to listen to Radio 4 on long wave – it’s wall-to-wall cricket at present, no matter what time of the day you tune in.

I can’t see why people get so excited about the game, it’s not as if anything actually happens – it’s simply a bunch of blokes ambling around a cricket field. I’ve seen more exciting church sermons and more activity in a Post Office pension queue.

Talking of sport, I wonder if any spectators are going to South Africa to watch the Wold Cup. I don’t know of a single individual who intends to go and yet FIFA is predicting it’s going to beat all box-office records.


2 comments:

Alan Burnett said...

It could have been me speaking today, Frank, all of it. Which means either that you are mellowing with age or ... I can't even think about the alternative. Joshua

Andrew said...

I think this is a lot less about electoral reform & far more about desperation for a shot at power in any shape or form.

The latter part applies to both bedfellows naturally.