Frankly it comes as something of a relief that the waiting is finally over. And what a long wait it's been. Although, in the two-and-a-half years since the 'Election that never was', we have not been short of shenanigans to keep us amused; from Donorgate to Lobbygate via the Parliamentary expenses scandals, and all against the background of a financial meltdown of quite eye-watering proportions.
But later this morning Gordon Brown will bite the bullet & bring to an end possibly the longest 'phoney war' in British political history. There is but a brief hiatus of calm between the confirmation of the election date & the opening salvos of the campaign proper - a chance to draw breath & stiffen our sinews against the coming onslaught of spin, half-truths, evasions, smears, petty deceits, claims, counter-claims, assertions, rebuttals & massaged statistics that constitute a General Election.
As Churchill remarked to a nervous but resigned nation some seventy years ago "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
And so with the beginning over & the battle ahead, the opinion polls indecisive & the pundits polarised, we pause momentarily, pray silently to our gods & steel ourselves against the flood of bullshit we are, depressingly, due. Chiz.
But later this morning Gordon Brown will bite the bullet & bring to an end possibly the longest 'phoney war' in British political history. There is but a brief hiatus of calm between the confirmation of the election date & the opening salvos of the campaign proper - a chance to draw breath & stiffen our sinews against the coming onslaught of spin, half-truths, evasions, smears, petty deceits, claims, counter-claims, assertions, rebuttals & massaged statistics that constitute a General Election.
As Churchill remarked to a nervous but resigned nation some seventy years ago "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
And so with the beginning over & the battle ahead, the opinion polls indecisive & the pundits polarised, we pause momentarily, pray silently to our gods & steel ourselves against the flood of bullshit we are, depressingly, due. Chiz.
1 comment:
Funny, I thought all the spinning started weeks ago. Of course I'm thousands of miles away and even I picked up on it. But hey, nothing like a 30 day campaign is there? Much better than the rubbish we put up with for two years.
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