Who is the do nothing party?

By Bill Dewison

Although it is all very entertaining, especially to those of a political mind, what exactly has happened in the past month with regard to the running of the country? We’ve had duck houses, backstabbing, cries for political reform and the constant drone of ‘Election Now, Election Now’. But has anything been achieved?

We have a country deep in recession and job losses growing every day, but our politicians on all sides are so busy scoring points against each other in PMQs, so eager to make themselves more popular with the public by using ‘soundbite’ politics. But nothing is getting done.

It is all very well speculating on whether Gordon will survive the week, who will be in his cabinet and whether politicians who have resigned their posts were right or wrong to do so, but this doesn’t alter the real world situation of rising repossessions: people losing their careers and the inevitable strain this is putting on families and individuals. It doesn’t reduce energy bills, fuel prices or food bills and with every day of political upset. And it is pushing people further and further away from politics.

The longer this internal battle within the Labour Party continues, the more damage will be done to British politics as a whole, the more damage will be done to an already fragile economy and ultimately the more damage will be done to the country. We need confidence in our politicians, that they can lead us through crisis, but at the moment all I am seeing is that they are fighting desperately to save their own careers with little or no consideration for the long-lasting chaos they are dumping on the electorate. Add to that what this is doing to our position internationally, the confidence the world has in Britain is diminishing by the hour.

At this very moment I don’t want Gordon Brown to put the Labour Party first and I definitely don’t want him to put himself first. I want him to put the country and the well-being of the electorate at the top of the agenda. It is irrelevant whether MPs or the media believe he can do the job, what matters is whether the British people are confident in his leadership.

If Gordon is to continue as Prime Minister for the next 12 months, will anything get done? Will any of the real issues affecting the British people be addressed or are we going to be subjected to another year of political infighting?