The top ten, according to ePolitix are: Oldham East & Saddleworth; the March budget; a fightback by the Unions; the AV referendum and local elections due in May; the NHS and prison reforms; the party conferences; David Laws 'comeback' and unexpected events. As an example of political incisive thinking it leaves a lot to be desired, but is, unfortunately, par for the course amongst the media and 'accepted' political 'informative' blog sites.
That the OE&S byelection and the local elections in May will be used by the electorate to register a protest against the sitting government and that, generally, local issues will be forgotten with tribal voting also playing a part, hardly forms a 'political test'. The AV referendum may well not draw much response from the electorate being a referendum they do not particularly care about as it is not the referendum that they want. NHS and prison reform have not received much coverage in the media and party conferences have become something of a joke.
The only event that is worth concentrating on is the possible return to government of David Laws,. coupled with the ramifications of such an event. Were he to be readmitted to government, his 'crime' and subsequent punishment may well draw comparisons with the behaviour of Chaytor and Illsley and the punishments suffered by them - and has the potential to cause further embarrassment to our political elite. On a personal note, I see no difference between the crimes of Chaytor and Illsley and that of David Laws and it is a reflection on the state of our democracy that his recall can even be considered a possibility by the political elite.
Au contraire, I would argue that the political tests of 2011 will be how many more directives and regulations that emanate from Brussels will we become more answerable to; how many more EU policies will the Coalition opt-in to without the peoples consent; how many more lies will we be subjected to from our politicians; how much further down the road will our politicians proceed in their total disregard for their electorates views - oh and will 2011 be the year the public, eventually, do take to the streets in protest!
5 comments:
The great Eurozone crisis is rumbling away. We may see sovereign default and another credit crunch this year...or the next.
warlord: Accepted and agreed. I shud have included that in my last para!
Forget Euro Collapse. Before that happens the EU will impose Capital Controls as will the USA.
WE are going to have Managed Economic Zones because the alternative is civil war
I see some kind of financial implosion, be it the Euro collapsing, member states departing form the Euro or the dollar ceasing to be the world's reserve currency.
The first two might seem benign, but should either of them occur, with them will come major civil unrest across Europe, as desperation grips the populace.
The dollar thing would have major remifications on the price of commodities and might well result in a US uprising/civil war/martial law and worldwide protectionism. This might be accompanied by a draconian internet clamp-down, which would p!ss of the world's populace and quite possibly, send many internet companies down the drain.
I doubt it will be a pedestrian year.
Voyager/Fausty: You both have valid points and as I said in an earlier reply perhaps I should have included these too. I was however guity of being the Little Englander and looking at this purely from the position in the UK.
Slapped wrist self-administered!
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