It’s all Cock and Bull…

On the day after the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election the results have been confirmed and, if you couldn’t laugh at the ensuing malaise you’d have to cry…

Both the pre and post event verbal posturing has been almost deafening and as expected, the inter-party rhetoric, along with the critical (unbiased?) analysis by our wonderful media machine was I have to say, highly predictable.

What’s betting the tabloid journalists in EC4 have been burning the midnight oil and in the morning, were nursing headaches resulting from a night inventing crass and tenuous headlines, ready for the sensational crap they churn out. At least pharmacies in and around Fleet Street (and the North West of England), will see an increase in the sale of analgesics. Every little helps in boosting the post-Christmas decline in profit margins I suppose!

Ed Miliband has said Labour’s by-election victory is the “first step in a long journey” for his party. The Labour leader said the party’s win in Oldham East and Saddleworth, with a majority of 3,558 also sent a “clear message” to the government. (BBC News)

It is a well-known fact that; any political party sitting in Government generally has a poor show at a mid-term by-election. It’s all about the unpopularity of governments with the (usually) apathetic electorate. Over at Anna Raccoon today, there was a good and I have to say, a far more realistic examination of the results…

How Can Yvette Cooper say on Radio 4 that the Oldham Result gave a clear message of anger to the Government ? They got just over twenty per cent of the Vote… (Read more)

Meanwhile back at MrG’s media-watch HQ; continuing to scour the day’s offerings on the latest political balls ups (no pun intended), I came across the following…

Telegraph.co.uk: A £24m super school is set to close less than two years after being opened to great fanfare by Labour… Ed Balls, the former Education Secretary, officially opened the comprehensive in January 2009, with local council bosses claiming it was “more than just a school”… (Read more)

This piece simply served to remind me how; much of politics, and the actions of politicians, is about the here and now. A constant toil to court popularity and curry favour with the electorate, with very little concern for the long-term effects upon our society. Cast your mind back to the introduction of the Child Support Agency or the Family Tax Credits system. These two (Labour) government introduced bureaucratic systems, along with many others before and since, have probably failed nearly as many people as they have actually helped.

Government Ministers, irrespective of political colour, continue to crow at every opportunity about “how much their party has done for you!” Conversely the media will usually do their utmost to rubbish any and every claim made by the politicians. And where does this leave the apathetic and confused electorate? Usually climbing aboard the most popular bandwagon, without any real thought process (save what they read in the papers) or indeed any understanding about the repercussions of what they have done. And, as we all live in the here and now, rest assured their won’t be any cognisance taken of historical political events or blunders.

A sad but totally understandable state of affairs after all; humans nearly always gravitate to the people and places they feel most comfortable. Yet another example of the sociopolitical crap we are expected to endure today. All born out of an all too prevalent fuck you jack I’m alright trait within our ‘Big Society‘!

And, as the ITV News at Ten churns out another dose of by-election investigative clap-trap, the journos sit and pontificate about the next ‘exclusive’ scoop over a pint of fizzy in Ye Olde Cock Tavern. Hmmm, there’s an idea… I’m off to the psychology institute for a beer however without some restraint, I’ll be spouting similar cock-and-bull stories to those in Fleet Street.