The "Queen's" Speech

[skua]

I have become numbed by the disregard with which this Government treats its people and the military. Nonetheless I am plunged into further gloom by reading a column in the Newcastle Journal this week, by a columnist named Keith Hann who attended the recent opening of Parliament. He was commenting on the Queen’s Speech, which was of course written by that miserable son of the manse.

He says:

“At a time when Her Majesty’s forces are engaged in two wars, the fact that they received no mention whatsoever seemed little short of amazing. Wondering whether this was some long-established convention, I looked up the speech that the Queen’s father made to open Parliament in November 1942. Then, the exploits of “My Army, Navy and Air Force” featured prominently. Comparing it with the 2007 version was like trying to find similarities between Shakespeare’s Henry V and an Ant and Dec script. “

He adds:

“No wonder politics is so discredited. The truly radical modernisation would be to let the Prime Minister tell his own lies in future. Then the Queen could make a speech of her own, sharing some of the wisdom she has accumulated in 55 years as Head of State.”

Our Government is fit neither to control the armed forces nor to govern the people.


Skua

[samuraimatt]

Our Government is fit neither to control the armed forces nor to govern the people.

So what is your point? Tell Us Something We Don’t Already Know.

[Al R]

You make a good point Skua. Many in fact.

It shows the levels of priorities that the g'ment attaches to those in society who, invariably, are the ones with the most positive characteristics. If the Armed Forces was full of whingeing underachievers, the g'ment might be tempted to allocate it some time. As it is, our 'can do' mentality has often been our own worse enemy.

[goudie]

As it is, our 'can do' mentality has often been our own worse enemy.'

So true. The mealy mouthed politicians know that whatever crap they dish out the Armed Forces will deliver

[Shaft109]

What happens when the British Military no longer has enough people to function?

[Guzlin Adnams]

At some point someone will stand up to Brown and his Treasury....I just hope that it's soon. Even Thatcher was ousted in the end and Brown and his cronies will follow the same route. Has anyone noticed his mannerisms when he's under pressure.......watch the mouth.:mad:
Rant over.....

[Melchett01]

Just a thought (a bit random, but humour me seeing as we are talking about govt), but does anyone else find it mildly concerning the frequency that Brown keeps calling the Cabinet Office COBRA committee together?

I thought this was a committee that sat in time of crisis and emergency such as terrorist attacks. Not a body that was called because a sparrow farts somewhere in Norfolk and the PM and the govt doesn't know what to do about it.

Is this a sign that the PM doesn't really understand what is going on? Is he finally realising that not everything in life can be reduced to a balance sheet? To be quite frank, I find it quite disturbing that the Govt doesn't seem capable of making a decision without calling an emergency committee.

Or, given the fact that COBRA has the power to bypass a lot of the usual administrative and constitutional procedures just an admission that Noo Labour has increased the amount of admin and red tape across so many aspects of life that it now takes an emergency committee sitting to get a simple decision made that should be taken by the relevant Ministry?

Either way, it smacks of the fact that Brown et al couldn't find their arse with both hands and a map and is frankly disturbing.

[threeputt]

Sorry to be pedantic but, I think you will find that the correct acronym is COBR i.e. the Cabinet Office Briefing Room, the A is "silent"so to speak.

Putts 3:ok:

[ORAC]

Sorry to be pedantic but, I think you will find that the correct acronym is COBR i.e. the Cabinet Office Briefing Room, the A is "silent"so to speak. Best tell No 10, according to their website the formal acronym is COBR(A) (http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/facts/cobr.aspx), which stands for "Cabinet Office Briefing Room A". No 10 doesn't bother with the brackets and uses COBRA on all their releases..
e.g. PM chairs COBRA meeting (http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page13168.asp)

[cornish-stormrider]

Says it all really, the gov't needs to use a cool and exciting acronym to generate interest in a dull topic to give the impression that something is happening to the masses before they go back to "I'm a celebrity dancing in the jungle while singing my way to a book deal" or some such tripe.

Still, come the revolution......

[Ghostflyer]

It doesn't matter who you vote for, the government always get in! You could always try a coup.

[Jimlad1]

COBR is very overrated in terms of what it can do - in basic terms it is simply a chance for people from different organisations to get together round the table and talk through the issue and ensure that everyone knows whats going on. Don't panic - its just a meeting!