Why a hung Parliament would be a noose around our neck.
So the starting pistol has been fired and the race to Number 10 has begun. Exciting times. Yes this is going to be the most closely fought political contest for a generation - so close that many experts are predicting that there won’t actually be an outright winner. Gulp.
Now I get that there are some upsides to political power sharing (more contentious bills being put on hold for one) but I will take some persuading to believe that the good will ever outweigh the bad.
You’ve only got to look at the last time this happened to see why. Politicians bickered (no change there then) the Conservative leader resigned a non-elected Labour leader took charge (sounds strangely familiar) and then after just eight months we had to go through another General Election.
As fascinating as this election stands to be I am not sure that any of us can stomach the thought of Battle Buses pledges manifestos and speeches about the “Great Ignored” - twice in one year.
You see we’d end up with constant electioneering as opposed to actual governing and this isn’t what our country needs. We’re emerging bleary eyed from a dire recession and we need our leaders to focus on recovery – not opinion polls.
I’m not usually one to hark on about the past but 1974 offers us some interesting lessons. The UK and much of the world was in the middle of a stock market slump plummeting property prices had caused a banking crisis with many lenders needing a bail out and oil prices had rocketed in the wake of the OPEC oil embargo against the US.
Spooky isn’t it? Despite all this the budget of that year saw a freezing of council rents an increase in food subsidies and a rise in certain benefits. Call me a cynic but I’d say that was electioneering – not sensible governing. Wouldn’t you?
From a housing industry perspective we’ve seen many consumers put their house purchasing decisions on hold until they know what the future will hold for the UK i.e. whether we’re going to keep Brown or go blue.
That in itself isn’t doing the nation any good. If we’re going to keep on walking out of this recession we can’t stop for a dither now. We can cope with three weeks of waiting – but eight months? No way.
So there you have it. There really won’t be any winners if we wind up with a hung parliament and I’m not just talking politicians here – I’m talking about the rest of us and we’re the ones that count.
Sue Warwick - National Sales & Marketing Director Miller Homes
Now I get that there are some upsides to political power sharing (more contentious bills being put on hold for one) but I will take some persuading to believe that the good will ever outweigh the bad.
You’ve only got to look at the last time this happened to see why. Politicians bickered (no change there then) the Conservative leader resigned a non-elected Labour leader took charge (sounds strangely familiar) and then after just eight months we had to go through another General Election.
As fascinating as this election stands to be I am not sure that any of us can stomach the thought of Battle Buses pledges manifestos and speeches about the “Great Ignored” - twice in one year.
You see we’d end up with constant electioneering as opposed to actual governing and this isn’t what our country needs. We’re emerging bleary eyed from a dire recession and we need our leaders to focus on recovery – not opinion polls.
I’m not usually one to hark on about the past but 1974 offers us some interesting lessons. The UK and much of the world was in the middle of a stock market slump plummeting property prices had caused a banking crisis with many lenders needing a bail out and oil prices had rocketed in the wake of the OPEC oil embargo against the US.
Spooky isn’t it? Despite all this the budget of that year saw a freezing of council rents an increase in food subsidies and a rise in certain benefits. Call me a cynic but I’d say that was electioneering – not sensible governing. Wouldn’t you?
From a housing industry perspective we’ve seen many consumers put their house purchasing decisions on hold until they know what the future will hold for the UK i.e. whether we’re going to keep Brown or go blue.
That in itself isn’t doing the nation any good. If we’re going to keep on walking out of this recession we can’t stop for a dither now. We can cope with three weeks of waiting – but eight months? No way.
So there you have it. There really won’t be any winners if we wind up with a hung parliament and I’m not just talking politicians here – I’m talking about the rest of us and we’re the ones that count.
Sue Warwick - National Sales & Marketing Director Miller Homes
Published:
09 April 2010
at
04:04