Tag Archives: Minister

Ministerial quality

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A newspaper article today by someone sitting in the Press gallery of the House of Commons brands the Education Secretary as being rather, shall we say, useless. I can’t comment as I have no personal experience of her, although it makes me wonder, as she has only been an MP for a few years, how well equipped she is to be a Government minister.

That aside, though, as I am trying to make up my mind as to how I should vote at the upcoming General Election, I do see a great lack of Ministerial quality throughout the parties. Whereas, a few years ago, there were some outstanding examples, whether or not one agreed with their policies, and political flavour. They were convincing, passionate orators, with sharp brains and wit, who made one feel that they could handle the many and varied aspects of their job.

It simply adds another doubt in the thinking, as I try to form a non-partisan opinion about those who would seek to govern us.

The voting dilemma

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As the General Election approaches, I find that, in addition to trying to decide for whom I should vote, I am wondering about the priorities which should affect my thinking. Should my priority be how my personal and family life will be affected by the next Government, or should the effects on my business be uppermost in my mind. There could well be a conflict of interest there.

For example, the Labour Party has recently been harangued in the, mainly, Tory press as being “anti-business.” How true is that in the overall scheme of things. If it’s true is it a valid blanket statement? Or does it only refer to those larger businesses which have a direct impact on the UK economy, as opposed to the micro-business, which, frankly, only causes a ripple on the local pond.

However, if I vote Tory, because of the previous paragraph, could I and my family be worse off (not just financially) as a result? And will I be promoting the continuation of the nuclear deterrent? Do we need one? Should we be beefing up our defences?

Which future Prime Minister will make the best international statesman (or woman)? Or is the UK heading to be an irrelevance on the international stage? Should we continue to be the US’s poodle or align ourselves more closely with the iron Chancellor of Europe?

These are real issues for the serious voter, and, at the moment, I simply can’t make up my mind.