Is This Parliament The Worst Ever?

[sp1814]

If so - how have we got here?

If not - why?

So many times I've turned on the evening news and thought, "So who's been caught out in a scandal?" (lobbying, bullying, corruption), or "whose been suspended as a sex pest?" (take your pick)

Summarised here it genuinely looks like we've got the worst parliament ever

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/30/is-this-parliament-worst-ever-westminster-badly-needs-reform

Is this overblown or have we finally reached the bottom of the Westminster barrel?

[Zacs-Master]

1. I think the general public are more ‘savvy’ in seeing through politicians’ lies than they were in the past.
2. Journalists and opposing parties are very quick to point out / expose the mistakes of MPs.
3. As I’ve pointed out on here a few times, the Tories had a spell where there was (and, largely, still is) no credible opposition which allowed them to behave in ways previous governments never have.

They’re just a few examples of why we find ourselves in the situation we are. Fortunately, business has a way of forging ahead irrespective of the corruption (and sometimes with the benefit of that corruption) deceit and lies.

[Gromit]

The May Government set an high bar for being dysfunctional mainly due to her own party not letting her govern. The result was chaos, paralysis and not much getting done.
Much the same happened under Johnson, but a new element was introduced His lack of judgement, lack of truth, and promoting loyalty over talent. The result was chaos, paralysis and not much getting done x 10.
My impression is that things have slightly improved under Sunak. The Government is still not good, but it isn’t as bad as it was. However, Sunak lacks leadership and ducks many issues that he should deal with.

[douglas9401]

It's our own fault for letting the rich kids have the keys.

Lazy, chinless time-servers with absolutely no interest in public service but won't sign on the dole.

[ynnafymmi]

Same up here in Scotland,sp.A bunch of nationalist aerosols down in Westminster running/ruining the country into the ground and up here in Scotland a bunch of nationalist aerosols running/ruining the country into the ground.We used to have parliaments of"all the talents",now we have parliaments of the biggest waste of spacers ever recorded in the history of the world.At least Johnson has gone,at least we have Sturgeon gone.Their replacements however are just as bad as these pair of Heidbangers.

[10ClarionSt]

On the face of it, people would probably agree that it is the worst Parliament ever, but we are now in the era of high tech media and instant news, so we get to know things much, much quicker than in the past. Previous Parliaments may have had similar things going on but because of the situation then, we didn't get to know lots of things until the proverbial memoirs were published.

[ToraToraTora]

no, I'd say the Long parliament the short parliament and the rump parliament were all much worse.

[fiveleaves]

Easily the most wicked and immoral government of my lifetime and i lived through the Thatcher era. If i was feeling mean i would say the public gets what the public deserves. There are still many good people out there, but as a nation we are becoming increasingly selfish, greedy, materialistic, immoral and Godless

[Lie-in King]

I don't understand why folk get so exercised about the wrongdoings of those that *we* put in charge of us. Ooh, another somebody - or was it a nobody? - did something bad. Is anyone *really* surprised any more?

I also don't understand why folk don't get that the electorate - *every time* - simply react to what just happened, rather than ever actually seeming to try to look ahead to what *could* happen if the current set of governors were allowed to do what they propose (which may or may not be what's actually needed/best/wanted - let's see, eh?) & conversely, what *could* happen if another set of overlords were elected.

Oh no, some taxpayers' money has been misappropriated/misused/just plain nicked - nothing new under the sun there. Really, ok, so what? That's *never* going to change, no matter who's in charge. It isn't right, it's often heinous, but it'll never stop.

It doesn't mean the people at the top shouldn't be held to account, but it's all too often an utterly pointless exercise. The hierarchy might change as a result, but it'll not be long before the new chiefs are being chased from pillar to post because the voters don't like what they're doing, while conveniently forgetting that it was their Xs that put them in power. "You lied! I trusted you!" Boo-bloody-hoo.

It comes down to the fact that it *doesn't matter* who's in charge. Very few of our elected representatives appear to have their constituents' best wishes at heart. Even if they *are* genuinely trying their best, from the top to the bottom, party-wide, they're *all* still in it for themselves.

For the kudos ("I'm an MP/Councillor/whatever, you know!"), for that very line on their CV to possibly advance their progress after their tenure is up, for how much they can snatch from the system before they find they've reached the bottom of the OP's barrel, when it becomes "I want to spend more time with my family" or some such platitude.

I love the idea of democracy & I'm not clever enough to come up with anything better, but as long as those with a vote continue to demonstrate blatant idiocy at almost every turn, we're screwed. All of us. For now & forever. Suck it up, folks.

That's off my chest, thank you to sp for the chance to do it & no, I shan't be responding further.

[ynnafymmi]

Thanks for that diatibe,LIK.However how do you propose to rectify the present system?Short of some kind of revolution,what do you propose to do to change the current situation?

[Lie-in King]

ynna - this will be my only response. What part of "...I'm not clever enough to come up with anything better..." did you not understand?

[gulliver1]

Never ever thought there could ever be a Tory Govt worse than Thatchers lot.
But this load of professional Cons take the biscuit. they are in it for themselves only.... and stuff Joe public.

[THECORBYLOON]

YNNAFYMMI, how would you choose the best folk to govern us?

[gulliver1]

Douglas 13.21"It's our fault for letting the rich kids have the keys"
.........Spot on....

[Old_Geezer]

They are all the worst ever. But a lot of the problem today is the whole of Westminster; as, on the whole, we clearly have the worst politicians ever. Few believe in democracy for the people, many are anti-nationalistic, all are dead keen on spreading woke idiocy, and in preventing progress rather than doing their job and supporting improvement for the nation and it's citizens' lives. And the few that aren't and get power are so inexperienced that they push their extreme preferred solutions immediately and upset the economy.

[ynnafymmi]

@14.05.Considering you were (and probably still are)one of the more clever and intelligent posters on this site,if you dont know the solution to this problem then there is no hope for any of the rest of us ABers either.

[ynnafymmi]

@14.07.Aye,Thatcher,eh,gulliver,as enabled by the SNP(the Tartan Tories)back in 1979.Nationalists,eh?

[ynnafymmi]

@14.09.I dinna ken,TCL.Just some kind of system that doesnt propel aerosols like Johnson or Sturgeon into any roles of power.What do you propose?

[Geoffrey13]

It's a chicken/egg question. The moral climate of the whole country has declined - the question is did it start at the top and trickle down or vice versa . You choose.

[THECORBYLOON]

YNNAFYMMI, I've not expressed an opinion. You've suggested, "some sort of revolution" but what form would that take?

[Stableford]

No Parliament was worse than the last one.