Has British politics hit an all time low?

I was reading , with a sense of some despair, the opinion polls over the weekend which give the Conservative Party a 17 point lead over Labour, the worst situation Labour has found itself in for over twenty years. If only the Conservative Party had done anything to deserve such a lead it might not be so hard to take. But they haven't.

I know it is commonly said that Governments lose elections, oppositions don't win them and surely it cannot ever have been more true of the current state of the polls. Its a damn good job Gordon Brown has two more years before he is compelled to hold an election for as things stand he will need all that time and more.

The Conservative Party is still led by a chinless wonder who appears to drift with the wind. Cameron is 'sound bite man' who seems to be led by the nose by some current fad.



The Conservatives seem to disagree among themselves on elements of party policy - Phillip Hammond, their Treasury spokesman, appearing to have a slightly different agenda to David Cameron and George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor. In times where Britain was led by a strong competent government this opposition would disappear without trace.

But it's not. Gordon Brown has proved, so far, to be an ineffectual leader and a grave disappointment. Last week's defensive budget seemed to bring all those Gordon Brown inspired chickens home to roost and where poor Alistair Darling, given no room to manoeuvre, was left holding the baby. We have borrowed so much during the course of Brown's stewardship of the Exchequer that now it is all coming back to haunt us. This Labour Government seems to be as full of soundbites and 'off the cuff' ideas as Cameron's mob but without any sound strategic plan for our future. They have backed off many of Blair's policy committments (wisely in some cases) and replaced them with nothing.

We seem to have a government floundering from day to day with some pretty lightweight politicians in the top jobs. We need an effective Deputy Leader for a start, someone with charisma and clout, who can rally the troops. Where is Prezza anyway? Anyone would be an improvement on the dreadful Harman. We need desperately to get a grip on the Home Office. Almost every decision emanating from that office appears to have been a bummer of late, especially police pay, and I'm not sure Jacqui Smith is up to the job.





But most of all Gordon Brown, who will never be a charismatic animal like Blair, simply needs to appear competent and in control...and at present he doesn't.




I don't know if it's in him or whether he needs to turn Mr Tough Guy and do a night of the long knives but Labour desperately needs to reassert itself with the electorate. Because at present a fourth successive term is a long way off and the Party is going down with a whimper to one of the worst oppositions in history. God help the UK!!