Happiness

My mother had a saying that has just come to mind: "Little amuses the innocent and fools seldom differ", and another that I am not sure has any relevance in the present situation: "When the head's gone, all's gone." Be that as it may, I am very happy, for it is "the morning after the night before" when I had the good sense to go to bed and wait until the morning for the General Election results. Sometimes I waken in the night, twiddle the knobs on the radio, and listen to, "UP All Night" on BBC Radio 5 Live. But last night I was, "as good as gold" (another of my mother's sayings), and each time I awoke, a deep breath was all that it took to induce a state of unconsciousness. But at half-past six, wha! we were still heading for a hung Parliament.

Now the use of the word "still" is a give-away, for when the polling stations closed at 10 pm, and before going to bed, I sat in the living-room with Jenny and waited for the Exit Poll prediction: that sample of one in ten people who had cast their vote, and whose voting pattern would point to the likely outcome of the elections. So before I went to bed, I knew of the prediction that we would have a "hung parliament" in which the Conservatives would have the greater number of seats; and surprise, surprise, the Liberal Democrats, (from whom so much had been expected given their leaders success in the televised debates), losing seats. Well it wasn't the prospect of success for the Conservative that sent me to bed, but the fact that I was not prepared to wait for the first result to be declared. It was expected in about two hours time, so I would have had to sit there watching the various presenters playing with their graphs, and listen to politicians speculate and state the obvious on their own behalf. Which highlights one of many problems associated with the broadcast media. They could safely have started the election broadcast an hour and a half later, but they were so desperate to be first with the news, even when there was in effect, no news, that they had to begin the moment the polling stations closed.

Well if I was in happy mode getting out of bed I am even happier now, and in my excitement I am not sure that I have got the capacity to put the reasons in order of priority, but, "for better or for worse" I will try.

The Televised Debates: For the first time ever in this election we had head-to-head televised debates (3 of them) between the principal party leaders: Gordon Brown as Prime Minister, David Cameron as leader of the Conservatives, and Nick Clegg for the Liberal Democrats. Though I choose not to watch these debates, I was aware of the buzz that they created in the media, and of the fact that they were no sooner over than the broadcasters were clambering over one another to ask, and answer the question, "Who won?" It was generally agreed that overall, Nick Clegg came out on top, with David Cameron doing well, but not quite as well as was expected; and Gordon Brown doing as well as expected, which was why he came third. But interestingly, when it came to the "phone-ins", according to those who were in the audience for the debates, Gordon Brown came across better in the flesh, than on television.

Well the question that I put to Jenny this morning was, as to whether or not she agreed with me that the TV debates, for all the hype that surrounded them, turned out to be of no consequence, because the Liberal Democrats did not do as well as was expected from these broadcasts? And this was not an easy question, because for the first time in her life Jenny had abandoned the Labour Party in favour of the Liberal Democrats. Well in broad terms her view was, that while the debates gave the Liberal Democrats a higher public profile than otherwise would have been the case, they did focus the public mind on their policies, in particular Clegg's idea of offering an amnesty to illegal immigrants, something that probably did not play well with the electorate. She may be right? But, in respect of the Clegg mania, I am happy, not just because I despise the frenzied asking of the question, "Who won?", but because the election result suggests that it was substance rather than celebrity that triumphed in the end.

The Failure of the Conservative Party to Win: For reasons that will become clear later, I have never been a fan of Gordon Brown, and given that the Labour Party has been in power for 13 years and has had to take much of the flack for the current economic crisis, the Conservatives, who until comparatively recently had a 20 per cent lead in the opinion polls, should have swept the Labour Party out of sight. Instead, and though they are the largest single party in Parliament, on their own, they can not form a majority government. Further evidence if you like, that the public came out to vote in thoughtful mood. And the message, as one political commentator put it, is, that "the public don't want a Labour Party lead by Gordon Brown, nor do they want a Conservative Party lead by David Cameron, that in the present economic crisis, would implement swinging cuts."

And I have a confession to make about my satisfaction at the failure of the Conservatives to secure a parliamentary majority. In my first ever election I voted Conservative, (something that I have always put down to a lack of experience), after which, until this election, I voted Labour. For me, I have never met a man with money, who thought that he had enough, nor have I been able to empathise with those who have so much money, that they need to find a tax haven abroad, from which to invest it. I have preferred instead, a party whose historical roots are in the trades union movement, and in the right of men and women (without influence}, to be heard. Later, I will tell you how I voted, and why it has added to my store of happiness.

The Failure of the Extreme Right, The British National Party or BNP. The most dangerous time for any society is when it is on its knees and people are nursing a sense of grievance, so the situation was ripe for the BNP to exploit the moment and have someone elected to Parliament. Then via the media, they could have continued to flog the notion that they would offer financial inducements to the descendants of immigrants, to return to their ancestral roots, and a lot of other nasty things besides. But their distinct lack of success, speaks volumes for the electorate, and it is yet more proof that they cast their votes in thoughtful mode.

The Failure of UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) They are smooth talkers, and they have some justifiable concerns and are not to be compared to the BNP, but they are "little Englanders" who would take the country out of the European Union, in the belief that we could do just fine on our own. There is no acknowledgement in their thinking of the historical and cultural ties that we have with Europe, or of the driving force behind the original idea associated with the European Union, by those who had lived through the Second World War: that never again, would European nations go to war with one another.

Esther Rantzen: Now this is a tricky one, because I don't want to take delight in the misfortune of any individual human being, and especially someone like Esther who stood on an anti-sleaze ticket without the backing of a political party. She is a household name, who came to prominence with her long running TV show "That's Life"; and she is noted also for the fact that she set up Childline, a confidential telephone service for children so that they can report abuse, (and not necessarily sexual abuse). Well when I heard that Esther was standing for election to Parliament I wasn't pleased. I disliked the idea that as a celebrity, she seemed to feel that the nation needed her to deal with sleaze, or put another way, in the light of the expenses scandal, to clean up politics. But I also disliked the idea of her standing for Parliament, (for reasons of personal prejudice). I have long had misgiving about Childline, (not the idea that children should be protected from abuse), but somehow, the setting up of Childline, it seems to me, has had the unintended consequence of distorting to an unhealthy degree, the balance in the relationship between parents and children.

For me, the relationship between adults and children, starts with the view that children were, and are, (and I include myself in the "were"), little animals, until such time as they are "civilized" by those who have accumulated some experience in life, and know that actions can have consequences. Sadly, there are too many instances of parents who are now afraid to show publicly, a normal and healthy interest in their children. i.e. they have been prevented from taking pictures of their children in school plays, out of fear that they might have an ulterior motive. And we have had the recent and shocking case of a teacher, charged with attempted murder, after he lost control and attacked a pupil who had goaded him by being repeatedly disruptive in class. At his trial, in which he was acquitted of the charge, (he pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm), it emerged that it was common for students in the school to try to humiliate teachers, film it on their mobile phones, and then circulate the footage around the school.

Now I am sure that Esther Rantzen never intended any of these things, when setting up Childline, and she would almost certainly contest my view that there is any connection between the two. That said, I would have been more sympathetic towards her lack of success, if she had stood on a ticket calculated to restore the balance in the relationship between parents and children. She should have known better than to fall into the trap of thinking that she was needed to be the mother of all causes. She was defeated by the Labour Party candidate, and lost her deposit, (because she got less than 5 per cent of the votes cast): another reason why, this morning, I feel good about the electorate.

The Green Party: Now because of changes to the electoral boundaries, we are no longer in the Parliamentary Constituency of Norwich North, (See my blog Living in Norwich North), we are now in Broadland with an electoral make up suggesting that it was a safe Conservative seat. So what was I to do. Well I took a long time to decide, though I must say that the process was fairly leisurely. As there was no prospect of a Labour victory in this new constituency, and much talk of tactical voting, I thought of voting for the Liberal Democrats. That was until I though about the implications in the case of a hung parliament. What, in effect would happen to my vote? And when I realised that there was a distinct possibility that it could end up supporting the Conservatives in a coalition government, I decided to go elsewhere. "Who could I give my vote to" I asked, "as a morale booster?" and looking down the list I decided to give it to the Green, (Ecology) Party, who despite having success in local government, had failed to have candidates elected to Parliament. So I was almost beside myself with happiness, when I was able to add to all the other reasons for being happy, the news that the country now has its first Green Party M.P., Caroline Lucas.

Gordon Brown: Gordon Brown does not belong to the television age, nor does he have a good persona, and he is not particularly articulate. And that apart, his political opponents have spared no energy in trying to discredit him. He has been much reviled for allegedly forcing Tony Blair out of office, on the basis of some agreement or other that they had before Tony Blair came to power in 1997. The agreement was that in time Tony Blair would give way to Gordon Brown as Party Leader, as a consequence of which, he would become Prime Minister. And as Prime Minister he was subjected to endless political abuse because he had not been elected to that office. Very conveniently, those who wanted to see the back of him, choose to ignore the historical fact that John Major, (unelected to the office of Prime Minister), succeeded Margaret Thatcher, who, (as Prime Minister), was forced out of office by her party. Tony Blair on the other hand had resigned before Gordon Brown stepped into his shoes.

Well I have always seen Gordon Brown as a political opportunist, a man who could be ruthless if the need arose; and I have written in a previous blog, about his express willingness to make 100,000 Civil Servants redundant, if it meant upstaging the then Conservative Party leader, Michael Howard. But there is something else that I have often wondered about, in respect of the hostility towards him: as to whether or not, in part, the hostility to Gordon Brown has its roots in bigotry: a deep dislike among the English political class, of things Scottish?

As for myself: Well, I could, before much time has passed, and depending on the deals that are done, have the smile wiped from my face, especially if Nick hops into bed with David. But I will have the satisfaction of knowing that I foresaw the possibility, and gave my vote instead to the Greens. But for now I am happy, for we are in uncharted waters, and whatever it was that the Conservatives hoped to do, at the expense of the not so well off, (should they come to power), will, for some time at least, be held in check.

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© Cormac McCloskey

Details of the court case - here
 
Note: This blog, "Happiness" was first published on Windows Live Spaces, by me, on 7th May 2010