HERE WE GO AGAIN - ANOTHER WEEK OF POLITICAL GAFFS

Prominent MPs certainly seem to have a knack of putting their feet firmly in the mire. While this might raise some public anger, it might even give some of us a rare cause to chuckle at their gross stupidity – but you know, the worst part is that they never seem to learn from any of this.

Brown’s monumental gaff when he called 66-year old widow Gillian Duffy a ‘bigot’ after spending some time having a perfectly reasonable conversation with the lady was unforgivable. That cost Brown dearly; and not only in terms of dear Mrs Duffy's vote. Yet, Harriett Harman seemed to have forgotten how her prime minister had exposed himself (in a non-literal sense) to reveal his character flaws when she referred to Danny Alexander, the Chief Treasury Secretary, as a ‘ginger rodent’ at the Scottish Labour Party Conference. Perhaps Harman considered it amusing to say: “Now, many of us in the Labour Party are conservationists – and we all love the red squirrel, but there is one ginger rodent which we never want to see again – Danny Alexander.” This was quite pathetic really.

But it was even more of a surprise when Prime Minister David Cameron appeared to have forgotten how we are all being expected to tighten our belts again amidst his promises for greater transparency and accountability when it was announced that his private photographer was being funded by us. The tale refers to a former Conservative Party employee, Andrew Parsons, once a Press Association photographer, who has been given a civil service post. In a rare moment of comedy, opposition leader Ed Milliband broke from his normal moribund quizzing of the PM to announce: “There’s good news for the Prime Minister – apparently he does a nice line in airbrushing” referring of course to the election campaign poster that showed Cameron as having been ‘touched up’.

Nothing much changes then in Parliament? It looks as if we are about to embark once more on the silly season when the opposition can do no better than to trade insults with the coalition. At least it helps fill the newspapers.

ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT BROKEN BRITAIN?

As a prelude to the book I am writing, I have posted a new blog to discuss the social and political issues of the Britain we live in today. The country has been dubbed 'Broken Britain' by the think tank Centre for Social Justice not without justification considering the changes in Britain's infrastructure that have occurred during the last decade.

Opinions are mixed. Whether you agree that Britain is broken or not more often than not will depend on individual circumstances. The poor generally will be on the 'front line' and most affected by cuts in social spending, inadequate housing, health issues and other factors, while the better off usually will be afforded protection from life's many injustices. But, we are all now in this together and none us can ignore the difficulties our country faces in the foreseeable future. One thing is certain; too many years of mismanagement, social neglect and personal greed must be addressed - and quickly.

My new book attempts to deal with the many social and political difficulties the Conservative-Lib Democrat alliance faces as they strive to make amends for the legacy of heavy debt the previous Labour administration created. Although they were guilty of a lot of things that have contributed towards the decline, not everything can be attributed to the former government. In the book I will be attempting to describe how mistakes and political events in previous centuries have, in part, contributed to the way our nation has evolved during the first decade of the 21st century.

I am hopeful that you will take an interest in this project and will visit my new blog and add your comments to inspire some lively debate. I am looking forward to your contributions.