Bel is thinking

I don’t know about you, but I feel totally underwhelmed by the Queen’s Speech. Not because most of the measures had already been announced by Gordon Brown months ago. I think it’s simply that I’m totally fed up with the cynicism and dishonesty of politics.

I am not blaming only the Labour Party here, but of course, being the party in Government, their acts are more to the fore. In particular, I am thinking of promises that are made with no intention of being kept - you know the type, those that are forgotten as soon as they leave the lips of the speaker.

I am thinking also about the way this Government has encroached on our civil rights, even as, with stony face, they maintain the impression that theirs is a Government committed to defence of the same.

I am thinking also about the dire state of our public services despite insane levels of public spending in the past ten years - it is widely accepted that the money has made relatively little difference.

I am thinking about many other things besides, none of which fill me with hope for the current or future leadership of this country. We are being ill-served by a Government that has run out of ideas, and is committed to nothing more than hanging on to office for as long as possible.

So I didn’t pay particular attention to the Queen’s Speech. As to the promised legislation, let’s just wait and see, shall we? We can safely assume that none of the ‘goodies’ (if any) shall materialise as promised. And as for the more worrying ‘promises’ (such as raising the school leaving age), let us hope that decent and principled MPs will gather together to defeat such plans. If they do so, and the Bill fails, well and good. And if they don’t, and the Bill passes into law, we should examine ourselves and consider whether we did after all get the Government we deserved.