There are, of course many good reasons why the Lib Dems in power would be in the interests of our nation, but some of the most intriguing yet have been outlined by David Yelland in a piece for the Guardian’s Comment is Free.
The piece has many telling details of how journalism works in this country these days, but the chilling conclusion of the piece is this:
Over the years the relationships between the media elite and the two main political parties have become closer and closer to the point where, now, one is indistinguishable from the other. Indeed, it is difficult not to think that the lunatics have stopped writing about the asylum and have actually taken it over.
We now live in an era when very serious men and women stay out of politics because our national discourse is conducted by populists with no interest in politics whatsoever. What we have in the UK is a coming together of the political elite and the media in a way that makes people outside London or outside those elites feel disenfranchised and powerless. But all that would go to pot if Clegg were able to somehow pull off his miracle. For he is untainted by it.
Just imagine the scene in many of our national newspaper newsrooms on the morning a Lib-Lab vote has kept the Tories out of office. “Who knows Clegg?” they would say.
There would be a resounding silence.
“Who can put in a call to Gordon?” another would cry.
You would hear a pin drop on the editorial floor.
Go read the whole piece here.
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8 Comments
Another top reason to vote LibDem.
Would it be a good idea to start up a petition to keep our party’s independence from the media elite permanent?
Yet another reason to vote LibDem- marginalise Murdoch & the rightwing press.
Rupert must be worrying about his cross-platform media ownership. Sky or The Sun rupe? hahaha
Are you sure it’s a good publicity to talk about “Lib-Lab vote”? I can’t imagine any selfrespecting liberal would vote for such an authoritarian regime as Labour’s has been lately.
Murdoch and his servants and clones out? That would be goodbye and good riddance… But watch out, those foxes know how to wield their power. They are as capable of creating a Palin as of destroying a Clegg.
A very interesting article, all the more so because it is by a former editor of the Sun.
As MG says Murdoch will not let go of his power easily and will fight as dirty as necessary to hold it. Craig Murray has the story on just how dirty this already is.
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2010/04/yougovmurdoch_d.html#comments
From the Craig Murray link, here is what is apparently a question in a YouGov poll:
“Nick Cleggs says the other parties are to blame for the MP scandals, he has taken money from a criminal on the run, many of his MPs have been found guilty of breaking the rules and his own party issued guidance on how to fiddle the expenses system?”
1) Michael Brown was not “a criminal on the run” when he gave the money because no one (including the police) had discovered his fraud, inadvisable as it was to accept such a large donation from a relative unknown. (Or indeed such a large donation full stop.)
2) “Many” is a fantastic weasel word, because it mean almost any proportion of a total.
3) What on Earth are they referring to when they accuse the Lib Dems of “issuing guidance on how to fiddle the expenses system”? I would appreciate a source for that. (But then I’m a pesky history graduate…).
If this was definitely a question in a poll it should be reported to the British Polling Council as it is clearly trying to steer questioners, with at least one lie as well. I thought better of YouGov.