Who the hell does that unelected arsehole think he is?
The Brit public and now his own Tories have asked time and again for the right to have our say over the EU. Even if he does believe that membership is in our best interests, that is not his call to make. He is a Public Servant, allow me to transpose, he serves the public. We decide what we want then it is his task to manage that. If enough voters register a concern, and they have via the dubya cubed, then it is his sworn duty to seek the truth. Not to arbitrarily decide what is best for us like petulant children. Lets have a referendum, if the public as a majority still want to be a part of the ridiculous conglom run by the nation we stuffed twice and the cowards who spent their time wedged firmly up Fritz’s exhaust then I will gladly eat my own litter tray.
What a condescending, arrogant prick.
Boadicea's Chariot 
I’m with you, Boo boo!
He is not known as Wavy Davy for nothing!
Oops, I actually voted for him, but I have to admit I’m a tad disillusioned with the dear chap.
Actually, Furry, to be fair, referenda have never been part of the constitution, and I think that you may be sadly disappointed if you think otherwise. It is a bit of a treat, but the results can be ignored with impunity.
I’m persuaded that we should have one, however, because my hero Boris thinks the same, and he is rarely wrong.
‘We will give the public a voice on Europe.’ ‘Oh no we won’t’
‘There will be no carbon tax.’ ‘Oh yes there will.’
Lying politicians, whoda thunk it?
Spot on, Ferret.
Ah! Boris is your hero, Araminta. I think the guy is absolutely great.
I rather thought that elections were some sort of referendum. The various parties put up their programs to the electorate and the electorate votes in the party that best suits them – in the expectation that whoever wins will do what they have said they will.
However, since it has become the norm for those who win an election to renege on every one of their election promises it’s time to change the constitution and have a few real and binding referenda on issues that directly effect the way the country is run – most especially on who is to govern them.
There is no reason why the constitution should not be changed – it has moved from a group of 40 shilling freeholders (including in all probability 40 shilling female freeholders) having the vote to an all male electorate to universal suffrage.
I think there is a deeper plot going on myself. The Tories do love selling off national assets. I reckon they’re working on a way to sell this piece of prime property:
They will probably have to soon, not only will its present purpose be redundant, but they will need the cash to help prop up the euro…
In Germany referenda are unconstitutional in most cases. The current document was written up after the war and designed to limit popular input into the governance of the land. It’s part of a long tradition of Germans getting dictated to, not deciding. Thus, I feel no remorse for the country in which I was born, though not one I’m especially fond of. That I will go at the end of the month is more a product of family obligation than desire and will likely be the last trip I ever take to that benighted patch of sod. At least in the UK, despite the useless government, there is still a sense of worth among a number of people. I really don’t care what happens in Germany, though I still somehow care about what happens in the UK. Germany has done itself in again and again and again, always making stupid alliances, always falling for traps, always bringing itself down when anyone with sense knew what would happen. I don’t think it’s necessarily too late for the UK. After all, if China can pick itself up after the Cultural Revolution and Brazil come back after dictatorships and economic/social collapse there is no reason why the UK can’t muddle its way through this.
Not sure why you say he is un-elected, but otherwise I agree with your sentiments.
How rude, Furry! Of course Cameron was elected! He’s an MP, leader of a coalition. Gubmint by referendum is unwieldy and problematical. The wording of a question can change the result. Then what?
Say what you like, the UK is more likely to survive the current world crisis than most so be careful what you wish for. Christopher’s belief that the UK can ‘muddle through’ is correct, if a tad patronising, given Germany’s own exposure to Euro debt.
Janus: I was referring to the UK’s broader problems including social break down and poor education standards, not necessarily eurozone debt.
Boris was my MP until he decided to move on to greater things, Boadicea. At least he has a personality which is more than I can say for his successor whose name escapes me for the moment.
Cash to prop up the Euro – what is this cash business? It’s debt, they are using for this purpose. Just don’t ask me who is doing the lending; I don’t have a clue.
Christopher, you shouldn’t always believe what the (British) media say. Social breakdown? Where? Poor ed standards? Who says?
Hugh,
How can you say he was elected as Prime Minister? The tories didn’t get enough of a majority end of. His party did not receive a mandate to govern even against such criminally poor opposition. They should have romped home in a landslide but their policies were so bloody useless and they were so cocksure of themselves that they did not win the election and therefore Cambuffoon took up residence in his council house in an un-elected capacity.
Unless of course you know different.
Go Boris! At least he earned a living before politics.
Furry, the convention is that the leader of the party with most votes is asked to form a gubmint. Cameron was and did. So ‘elected’ he was.
Erm no he wasn’t. He got the job by default.
Ferret, you lose credibility when you make comments like that. Cameron was elected by the Conservatives to lead the party. The Conservative Party won more seats than any other at the last election. The Liberal Party was invited and agreed to join a coalition government which Cameron would lead. He was therefore, elected Prime Minister of the country. Why do you insist on saying otherwise?
Sipu: Clegg arguably is the leader of the coalition since he seems to be wielding the most influence in the coalition.
Perhaps, but Cameron was elected to the role, not Clegg.
The tories were not chosen by the public vote. Yet somehow that overprivelaged scumbag holds the reins.
Furry One, so who did the electorate choose ? Cameron was the only one who was in a position to negotiate with regard to forming a government, so I don’t understand why you say he was not elected.
I am very puzzled. I appreciate you don’t like him, but I don’t understand why you think he was unelected!
The electorate in the UK have never voted for a specific Prime Minister. That has always been the responsibility of whichever party gets the most seats – they decide who will lead their party and thereby lead the country.
I never understood why so many people complained that Gordon Brown had not been elected to be PM – he was voted into his seat and when Blair departed the Labour party gave him the responsibility of being PM – as has always been the case.
Things are changing – and it seems that UK politics, like here, is going down the ‘personality’ road whereby a vote for a party is seen to be a vote for their designated leader.
Frankly, I abhor the idea – all personality and no substance. Party policies should be far greater than the personality of one man or woman. It concentrates far too much power into the hands of the PM and his chosen few.
The government of the day should be able to continue its policies if the man at the top dies or disappears. The notion that it should topple simply because the original PM is no longer available is a nonsense. The electorate vote in a party not a man.
Well, that is my understanding of the process too, Boadicea. The Queen also has a say in this, constitutionally, and so Cameron was the only one who could possibly be PM; he was the only one capable of forming a government.
Absolutely, Araminta. Had Brown managed to get Clegg on side he would have been ‘asked’ to form the government… and then people really would have complained!