Cameron? Anyone?

[Earl Aelfheah]

Ultimately, Cameron's legacy is a lost decade economically, a much more polarised and divided society and a disastrous gamble on our future which he lost. I think the future will judge him, Osborne and boris (and the system of privilege which made their chumocracy possible), very badly.

[????]

the lost decade is a myth - our growth has been way above average to most big developed economies; our employment is stellar compared to southern Europe especially - hence there being plenty of them in our country working and the political pressure that has bought (and they are very welcome by me before people start jumping about screaming). If we are such a basket case why have we created most of the jobs in Europe in the past few years? France? Spain? Italy? their economies booming? The polarisations was there before and just a much of a legacy of the Labour government - hence the incomprehensibility of many that 52% voted Brexit. I preferred the coalition to the Tory govt - they did a good job in almost impossible conditions and the Liberal Democrats got no thanks for it - mainly thanks to the screaming hate filled left. My view is a referendum would have come one way or the other at some point quite soon too. I think the irellevant crap about Privilege undermined Cameron & Osbourne - and you are about to see a much more small minded , parochial, inward looking, illiberal govt than the one the Eton lot gave us.....

[Earl Aelfheah]

GDP, when adjusted for the expanding population hasn't grown since 2008. Wages and productivity have been stagnant and debt continues to rise. We put austerity before growth... A mistake the Conservatives have finally recognised themselves.

[Earl Aelfheah]

The point about the system of privilege is that it allowed a group of unremarkable, inexperienced, but incredibly entitled school chums to find their way into positions of great power.

[Earl Aelfheah]

I agree with you quids re. the lib dens and that Mays government are incredibly backwards looking. But the Eton boys just saw the crash as an opportunity to carry on Thatchers legacy and roll back the state further, seemingly oblivious or unconcerned with warnings that it would halt the recovery and prolong the time needed to reduce the deficit. They were not serious people IMO, a Fleet Street hack and a PR man and they've done a lot of damage as a result. They wouldn't have got near the top jobs they did had they come from different backgrounds and so their journey to the top offices I'd relevant.

[Earl Aelfheah]

The scary thing is that I'm not quite sure where the adults have all gone. Our politics is in a terrible mess. Personally, I think our best (though slim) hope of returning a bit of seriousness into public life is press and voting reform... Two areas btw that Cameron had a unique opportunity to address but where again he roundly failed.

[Jenny1]

I agree rahrahrah. I too have been left wondering what happened to the 'adults'. My hope of a return to balance and seriousness derives either from the Lib Dems being rejuvenated or from a new centrist party emerging from the remains of Labour. I suspect TM may have done enough to stop her own centrist MPs from defecting to a new 'centrist' home. But who knows, if a suitable alternative emerged they might make the move.

[Blah Blah]

Agree with that too. Add with the UKIP fight and you really do wonder where the grown ups are. This is perhaps also the effect of coalition and slim majorities too though. All parties are in a state of confusion of how to get that all important majority of government. The Libdems are chasing their losses. Only the SNP are in the ascendancy, but there are signs they too have peaked.

For too long now, the main parties have to sought to reflect what they think the people want to get elected - hence all those focus groups. Maybe Corbyn is right, that it is time for bold, well thought out policy, for the good of society (rather than the individual) again - even if he personally is missing the mark on what that policy needs to be.