The Election "Punch and Judy"

[james_tigerwoods]

I know the Election is important and there has to be debate and figures put out, etc.

However, can it not be done without the usual Punch and Judy show that is usually PMQs? A fine example of this is the budgetary issues - Labour says X, Tories say Y and Lib Dems say Z - they then spend more time rubbishing the others policies than anything else.

I fully intend to vote, but it's this that is really off putting to the voters - or is it just me that thinks this?

[ludo]

james_tigerwoods said:

I know the Election is important and there has to be debate and figures put out, etc.

However, can it not be done without the usual Punch and Judy show that is usually PMQs? A fine example of this is the budgetary issues - Labour says X, Tories say Y and Lib Dems say Z - they then spend more time rubbishing the others policies than anything else.

I fully intend to vote, but it's this that is really off putting to the voters - or is it just me that thinks this?

no

ETA: Being good at criticizing the other parties does though suggest they would all be good in opposition, but I don't think that is what they are aiming for!

Edited by ludo on Wednesday 14th April 19:43

[rs1952]

james_tigerwoods said:

I know the Election is important and there has to be debate and figures put out, etc.

However, can it not be done without the usual Punch and Judy show that is usually PMQs? A fine example of this is the budgetary issues - Labour says X, Tories say Y and Lib Dems say Z - they then spend more time rubbishing the others policies than anything else.

I fully intend to vote, but it's this that is really off putting to the voters - or is it just me that thinks this?

I was watching BBC Points West this evening. They were interviewing some brain dead in Swindon over their voting intentions, or lack of them.

One particular Toc H lamp said that "nobody had explained politics to people like her"

This comment did make me think that the "Punch & Judy" style of politics, and indeed electioneering in gneral, may actually help to put people off voting because this very style adds to the confusion.

An analogy - you think you might want to become a Roman Catholic, so you go along to find out what the local priest has to say, and you make a value judgment after hearing his "sales pitch."

If you think you might want to becaome a catholic, you don't go and ask a bleedin' rabbi what he thinks, do you ?

[Somewhatfoolish]

It would not be in the interests of any of the major parties to explain their evil illiberal policies...

[JagLover]

Given that Labour has spent the last thirteen years systematically f*cking up the country's economy, public finances and society you would have thought the duty of any good opposition party would be to point this out.

Where the Tories actually agree with a past Labour policy they have said so. During their manifesto launch for example the shadow schools secretary praised what the early labour government did with academy schools.