OpEd: UK politics 23-03-15

The commentators 21-03-15

...on UK politics

The Labour leader has gambled on accepting every TV appearance on offer because he is sure he can confound the pitifully low expectations of him. On many measures his ratings are even lower than Gordon Brown’s. Simply by turning up and not falling over he will surprise some. He has already spent seven full days in debate prep, determined to surprise and wow.
- Tim Montgomerie, The Times

Ed Miliband, devoid of credible policies or natural authority, has turned negative campaigning against the Tories into the central theme of his dismal leadership. In place of any positive message, all we have heard from him is the miserable soundtrack of class war. Throughout the last five years, he has relentlessly portrayed the Conservative party as a nasty bunch of privileged toffs.
- Leo McKinstrey, Daily Express

It is now undeniable that our upper caste has come to believe that the law, ethical constraints, accountability and retribution apply only to those beneath them. They feel entitled to take bribes, exploit the system and people, aid and abet tax avoidance, cheat and lie and not be called out. We do have decent MPs and peers but few of them ever rock the boat. After endless revelations about the moral deficit of so many people in power, we must now ask if corruption is rife in British politics, though often well hidden.
- Yasmin Alibhai Brown, The Independent

Our society is actually getting not just absolutely richer in years, but fairer, more just, more equal – and therefore, in my view, better. That is a tremendous achievement, to be ranked up there with record employment and record growth. We should shout it from the rooftops – because I don’t think we will hear much about it from the miserablists on the Left.
- Boris Johnson, Daily Telegraph

We still have more than six weeks of campaigning to go before polling day, and already the monotony of the language used by the competing parties is causing many of us to reach for the off-button on our radios and televisions.
- Dominic Lawson, Daily Mail

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The acquittal of four senior Sun journalists who paid contacts for tips is a cause for celebration in our community. We are appalled at what they and their families were put through for doing their jobs – but we should not forget that the evidence against them came from the employer they sought to serve.
- Whistle-blowing and the Press