Snap back

Last week, I’d barely posted about the possibility of a snap election and Gordon Brown ruled it out. There won’t be an autumn election, after all. I guess it shows how much I’ve become acclimatised to political life in England. I couldn’t fathom the notion of an autumn election. Oh, pounding the pavements (the sidewalks) in the waning light, the slick layer of damp autumn leaves underfoot, knocking up voters in the gathering gloom. (American readers – that merely means knocking on their doors and asking them to vote.)

But of course, in America we do have Autumn elections. In November – gloomy, gloom, gloom. But it’s a lot different when all you have to do is mail your ballot in on time. Even the campaigning we do as expats (there are at least a quarter of million votes in this country) is largely over by the end of September and is darn right wrapped up by the time we lose daylight savings.

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Speaking of gloomy, gloom, gloom- the press now senses weakness in the Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He was accused of bottling it by calling off the election. And then this week, in the pre-budget report (a sneak preview of the budget announcement later on), the new Chancellor Alistair Darling announced tax policies which had been proposed a mere days earlier at the Conservative Party Conference. The tiniest of tweaks and it’s Government policy. Now one could say that this was Darling’s doings – as he’s supposed to be in charge of matters financial. But no one believes that Gordon Brown, who until recently held that same job for 10 years, doesn’t retain complete control over his old domain.

Now, I don’t mind – because on one policy I’m fairly neutral (a poll tax for non-domiciled residents) and on the other (a rollback on the inheritance tax) – I’m in favor, though it’s not likely to benefit me given the crap financial position of my in-laws. But it does look like blatant political plagiarism – and since these same tax cuts could have been part of an election budget, well it looks like Labour has run out of ideas of their own. And for once the press called them on it.

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne used the announcements to goad Gordon Brown about his decision to abandon thoughts of a snap election.

He said: ‘We all know this report was brought forward so it could be the starting gun for the campaign, before you took the pistol and fired it into your foot. (Metro, 9 October)

Of course, they still seem to have got away without many commenting that it’s a set of measures that will actually raise taxes over all. It’s a strange political magic this Government seems to have, I don’t know how they do it.

On Wednesday, in a sad attempt at humor, Gordon Brown pointed derisively to a petition on the Downing Street Website calling for an autumn election. It had only 26 signatures then. The next day it had over 8,000. Gordon, Gordon, Gordon – don’t call attention to things online that you’re just trying to dismiss.

Everything the PM does now just looks a little bit lame. I knew this would happen eventually, because he is a man of limited soul, a control freak who just isn’t as smart as he thinks he is and he hates fun. But the Labour party faithful are surprised. Surprised, but they’re noticing. Here Iain Dale highlights left wing faithful Polly Toynbee sticking the boot in to Gordon. Et tu, Polly?

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Although the Downing Street petition website does nothing and seems to influence policy not at all, I still think it’s a nice idea. As blogger-supreme Iain Dale once suggested, (if I recall correctly and I’m paraphrasing) it would be a fine thing if say the top ten petitions were presented daily or weekly to the Prime Minister. I agree. There needn’t be an obligation to do anything with the petitions, since these things are obviously subject to manipulation and internet chicanery – but yes, folks in power should be looking at these on a regular basis.

Can you imagine a similar thing for the White House or the Governor’s mansion? Power to the People.

Eye contact

Yesterday I was hanging about with a senior civil servant (very senior) and some other high muckety-mucks.

They were going on about how the Labour party – and indeed Britain – would miss Tony Blair when he was gone. That is, we’d miss him in comparison after we’ve had a while with the dour Gordon Brown (the current Chancellor and heir apparent to the UK Premiership). They talked about Tony Blair’s superstar quality – how he lights up a room, how after he’s smiled at you, you want to swear off washing.

The civil servant said he’d been in a teeny-tiny lift with Gordon Brown and Brown didn’t look at him, didn’t make eye contact and didn’t even say hello. This to a man who’d been in hours long meetings with the Chancellor and was just about to be in a two-hour meeting with him again.

I don’t like Gordon Brown, but I had to acknowledge that I’d do something like that. Not every day, mind, but on one of my bad days I’d be quite likely to do something just like that. The senior civil servant was flabbergasted. I can understand why he felt that way – he doesn’t know me and I was doing some presenting and facilitating yesterday – and was very much “on” – friendly and confident. But I’ve stood in line at the local grocery store next to a quite senior regulator, who I know and like and have worked on projects with and not looked at or acknowledged him until forced to. That was on a bad day. I wasn’t deliberately blanking him, though. Truth be told, I didn’t actually recognise him til he kinda waved his hand in front of my face.

I don’t want to be like that. I just know that I sometimes am. That’s why I can’t go into politics – at least not in a “face” position. On a bad day, I’d offend constituents. Without meaning to. So I understand Gordon Brown, maybe, but unlike him I wouldn’t dream of becoming a politician.

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My husband says that he has a lift-recognition policy. The Vol-in-Law says he will acknowledge, smile and say hello to anyone in an elevator that he recognises by face or anyone who is wearing a suit. He says this has always worked out for him.

See ya

Gordon Brown, the current Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasury Secretary) and heir-apparent to Tony Blair, will likely take the crown before the year is out. A dour Scot and prone to worry, this time he’s going on about the dissolution of the Union.

Yes, well he should worry. A Scot and a Scottish MP who wishes to rule o’er England, too. The Union between the crowns of Scotland and England will this year be 300 years old, but nobody’s celebrating. The Union is in peril and Gordo knows that as the Union goes – so goes his future.

I know I’m not a citizen of this country and even if I were I could never be English, but I have to say “Na, na, na, na, hey, hey, hey goooood-bye.” See ya, Scots. I, for one, have had enough of your English-bashing, your whinging and your scrounging. Take your bloody depleting North Sea oil and go. See how long you can keep your high-spending, low-producing Socialism without English subsidy. I’m tired of being bossed around by people who are even pastier than the English.

I’ve always regretted the prohibition of the possibility of secession in US Constitution. It seemed to lack a certain openness to the potentiality of irreconcilable differences. I hope the Scots seize their opportunity for rerendum for independence – and that they don’t dally.