Nick Clegg knighthood
How the hell can someone who promised so much to young people and didn’t deliver be given a knighthood? The very same person whom his own constituents didn’t think was good enough to represent them as an MP.
Amazing. It must be time to kick the honours list process into touch!
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I agree and as for Ringo Starr don't even start me.
It's jobs for the boys. The guy who was the Lib Dem chief secretary to the Treasury (Chancellors deputy) was a guy called Danny Alexander (looks like Beeker from the muppets). He lost his seat in 2015, got a knighthood, and then managed to get a really well paid job as the Vice-President of the Asian reconstruction bank (he was nominated by George Osbourne - presumably for keeping his mouth shut). His previous experience before being in parliament for less 10 years? He was the press officer for Cairngorns National Park! Understanably the chinese have not exactly been impressed with his appointment.
This is a football forum rather than a political one - blue- so short answer
1) is it time to get rid of honour system - yes
2) while we have it is clegg a worthy recipient - good grief yes. Best prime minister we never had imho.
Really? You may just find yourself in aminority there Dev.
a minority
Better to be right but in a minority than simply to run with the herd....
Look objectively at what the Libs achieved for the poorer members and other minorities of our society while merely junior members of a coalition, and perhaps you will reconsider.
Nothing to say about May chucking a gong to buy the man who can choose whether to replace her?
Well the herd decided to not even vote him in as their MP. He was just Cameron’s rent boy.
Love it, ha,ha ha! There's a petition going at the moment to try and reverse the decision but i can't find it atm but i'll keep plugging on.
They did. The student vote believed corbyn pledge that he would write off their debts. The pledge he denied making immediately after the election. The new mp has hardly covered himself in glory.
Meanwhile as the junior coalition member, the Libs pushed through their policies (not intory manifesto) to massively increase personal allowances taking 3 million out of tax, introduced pupil premium and school leads to give poorer kids a chance of a decent education, improved pensions and got rid of compulsory retirement age, invested in mental health, introduced gay marriage,Pushed green agenda etcetcetc.
Citation needed, citation needed, citation needed, citation needed etc. Obviously I think you’re all wrong, but shades of.
I'm with @DevC on all points.
The honours system is a nonsense. Always has been and always will be. But Clegg is, by the standards of the thing, a worthy recipient. He did a noble job in difficult circumstances and gained what he could for the groups Dev describes while maintaining the integrity of the coalition with commendable honour and integrity. He has since kept a very dignified quiet about the whole thing while others loudly declaim his efforts. I would be happy for all politicians to take a similarly selfless view of their role in the process.
good to have you on board HC.
citation as requested Doc (first bit gives you page numbers for the real thing)
https://whatthehellhavethelibdemsdone.com/
http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge10/man/parties/libdem_manifesto_2010.pdf
I didn't mention that but for Cameron putting party over country and scuppering the PR referendum we could have had a real democracy where your vote actually mattered no matter where you live too.
If only Cameron had not won a majority in 2015, cant help thinking the Uk would be in a much better place than the shambles it is now.
I also agree with DevC. Clegg was naive enough to fall into a trap that was set for him by Cameron and co but he did at least get some progressive policies through - notably raising significantly the level people start paying income tax.
Whether he deserves a knighthood is a different question though. But as anything that throws the system further into disrepute is a step forward to the time nobody gives a shit about it which is real progress in my opinion.
I think Clegg was in a very difficult situation after the 2010 general election, and on that basis I don’t have as much contempt for him as most people seem to. Even so ‘Best prime minster we never had’ seems vastly generous.
He propped up the coalition that imposed austerity, so credit for the things Dev mentions above must be balanced alongside appropriate blame.
I don’t see how he should bear any more responsibility than Cameron or Osbourne though.
5 years of it and people still don’t grasp the idea of what a coalition was or could achieve.
You do realise that the moment it happened neither Tory’s nor Lib Dem’s could impose everything they “promised” in there respective manifestos (especially those that were at odds with each other)?
Had Lib Dem’s won overall power he might have been able to deliver in the manifesto. But they were 3rd and so had no mandate to deliver anything they promised.
The best they could do was limit the Tory’s punching us in the face quote so much as they have done since Tory’s won an overall majority.
Everything Chris said.
Always hated the honours system Knighthoods for career civil servants and big bankers oh and gongs for multi millionaire entertainers and famous sports stars with crumbs thrown to the plebs as the odd lollipop lady gets a tin medal before she pops her cloggs
Can you find a quote where Corbyn actually says he would write off the debt? Corbyn never said it.
That’s the citation I was after.
http://www.nme.com/news/jeremy-corbyn-will-deal-already-burdened-student-debt-2082478
This will probably be the source of what you mention.
Still nothing for Bayo, the rest of the team or Gaz! I have no faith in the Honours system;-)
Or bodger!
Yes, but he doesn't say it will paid off.
Nonetheless, this is, I believe, the origins of this topic of conversation.
Knighthoods should only be offered with the caveat that, in the event of armed conflict, all knights of the realm will be expected to lead the charge into the fray wearing full armour and brandishing a long pointy stick. Lets see if Titchmarsh and Barlow et al are still falling over themselves to get noticed by Liz then...
I just had a flashback to that toady fest Barlow and Lloyd Webber laid on for the queens diamond jubilee i was surprised liz wasn’t taken suddenly unwell after the first few bars
Sir Garfield Tax Dodge, despite the appearance of being a dullard bandwagon jumper whose music sounds like someone else wrote it years ago, is a musical giant. Which is what makes modern life so depressing.