[Omah]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/ar...#ixzz1wm4UukKg

The truth is that the Prime Minister looks more out of his depth with every day that passes.

He never seems to have considered the potentially serious consequences of his relationships with senior executives of News Corp, two of whom now face criminal prosecutions.

One, charged this week with perjury, is his former director of communications, Andy Coulson.

Of course the former editor of the News of the World is innocent until proved guilty: but his appointment by Mr Cameron when the Tories were still in opposition was controversial because he had left his job as editor of the Sunday red-top after its royal reporter was jailed for phone-hacking.

Mr Coulson’s arrest and subsequent charge have raised questions about Mr Cameron’s judgment.

It is known that Tory colleagues advised him against the choice in 2007, and again in 2010 when appointing Mr Coulson to an official government post after the Coalition was formed.

In a whole range of areas — not just the Budget, or ministers’ relations with the Murdoch empire, but in wider issues of economic management and the ability to sense the public mood — the question returns time and again to the quality of ministers’ judgments.

There is a callowness and lack of experience on the part of many in the Government. Gone are the days when MPs would serve a long spell on the back benches and then in junior posts before being chosen to join the Cabinet.

Mr Hunt, for example, became a Cabinet minister just five years after being first elected as an MP.

When Steve Hilton, Mr Cameron’s former chief policy adviser, left Downing Street a few weeks ago, his friends said that he was becoming frustrated by his boss’s refusal to take advice. He is not alone in that view. Many in the Tory Party consider Mr Cameron’s circle of advisers to be worryingly out of touch.

By nature, Mr Cameron is someone who has a profound aversion to anyone who disagrees with him — and an even greater aversion to those who have the intelligence, articulacy and courage of their convictions to challenge him.

I am lovin' this guy's work .....

[Kizzy]

In the cabinet after 5 years as an MP? ......Are you a yes man?...Yes! ...you're in!

[Omah]

Originally Posted by kizzy

In the cabinet after 5 years as an MP? ......Are you a yes man?...Yes! ...you're in!

Unblevable, isn't it - I am reminded of the newly appointed (teenage) Prime Minister, Pitt the Younger in Blackadder III .....

http://ics-www.leeds.ac.uk/papers/vp...185&paper=1186

At Mrs. Miggins' home

E: Well, Mrs. Miggins, at last we can return to sanity. The hustings are
over, the bunting is down, the mad hysteria is at an end. After the
chaos of a general election, we can return to normal.

M: Oh, has there been a general election, then, Mr. Blackadder?

E: Indeed there has, Mrs. Miggins.

M: Oh, well, I never heard about it.

E: Well of course you didn't; you're not eligible to vote.

M: So, who are they electing when they have these elections?

E: Ah, the same old fat tory landowners who get made MPs when
they reach a certain weight; raving revolutionaries who think that just
because they do a day's work that somehow gives them the right to get
paid... Basically, it's a right old mess. Toffs at the top, plebs at the
bottom, and me in the middle making a fat pile of cash out of both of them.

M: Oh, you'd better watch out, Mr. Blackadder; things are bound to change.

E: Not while Pitt the Elder's Prime Minister they aren't. He's about as
effective as a catflap in an elephant house. As long as his feet are warm
and he gets a nice cup of milky tea in the sun before his morning nap,
he doesn't bother anyone until his potty needs emptying.

In the House of Commons (occasionally, sheep are heard in the background)

(a voice, the Speaker)

S: Honourable members of the House of Commons, I call upon the new Prime
Minister of Great Britain and Her Empires: Mr. William Pitt, the Younger.

P: Mr. Speaker, members of the House: I shall be brief, as I have, rather
unfortunately, become Prime Minister right in the middle of my exams.
I look forward to fulfilling my duty in a manner of which Nanny would
be proud. I shall introduce legislation to utterly destory three enemies
of the State. The first is that evil dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte.

(Members shout `Here here!!')

P: The second is my old Geography master, (Benonabreast Switchanks?).
But most of all, sirs, I intend to pursue that utter slob, The Prince of
Wales! Why, this year alone, he has spent 15,000 pounds on banqueting
(shouts of `boo! boo!'), 20,000 pounds on perfume (members all hold their
noses), and -- most astonishing of all -- an astonishing 59,000 pounds on
socks! Therefore, my three main policy priorities are: 1) War with France;
2) Tougher sentences for geography teachers; and 3) A right royal kick of
the Prince's backside!!

(all members shout affirmatively)

P: I now put upon the leader of the Opposition to test me on my Latin vocab.