The Interview, cont.: Part III

KathyR's questions continue:

3. You were a political operative here in the states. Other than writing your pointy open letters to Tony Blair, have you gotten involved in politics in any hands-on way Over There?

Interesting question, KathyR! I enjoyed my time playing politics so much in the States I hated to leave, and was briefly—very briefly—consoled by the idea that with an election coming up here, I might help an MP get elected. But I soon discovered that politics here is very, very different from that practiced in the States.

For one thing, the parliamentary system means that the party with the most representatives—Members of Parliament, or MPs—gets to form a government. The leader of the party becomes prime minister, which isn't nearly as much fun as the rough and tumble presidential elections we have in the U.S. Plus, most folks here aren't nearly as passionate about politics as we are in the States. (I guess they aren't nearly as passionate about anything, but that's another question.)

One thing I really like about elections here is that there is no television or radio advertising. Much less money is spent on elections; however, there are no limits to party contributions, which means a few wealthy people are the main contributors to the parties. Some people contribute millions of pounds, and then are rewarded with honours—a process referred to her as the "Cash for Honours" scandal.

Another thing I like about British elections is that MP candidates get out and walk the streets. With smaller constituencies than Congressional districts, candidates are more likely to knock at your door. In fact, if I were a British citizen I'd probably consider running myself, something I'd never imagine doing in the U.S.

An interesting note about the recent council elections: they were all about rubbish. That is, every incumbant who lost did so in a council that instituted fortnightly rubbish collection. People reacted by tossing the bums out. That sort of paints a wider picture of the political environment here: they seem to get hung up on minor events, trivial complaints that, compared to the major problems we're having in the U.S. at the moment—45 million without health care, a two trillion-dollar war, a politicized justice department—are almost laughable. One of the big scandals right after I arrived was when the Home Office minister expedited a visa application for his girlfriend's nanny—gasp! Recently the education minister was lambasted in the press for sending her learning disabled son to a private school. Get a life, people.

So the answer to your question is no. I listen, and watch, and am mostly amused by the half-hearted efforts of David Cameron to take on first Tony, and now Gordon. Although I'm no fan of Tony Blair myself, the mistakes his government has made pale in comparison to those of our own administration.

However, if they consider going to fortnightly rubbish collection here, I may change my mind.

Comments

[Mike]

if they consider going to fortnightly rubbish collection here, I may change my mind

You know, the way people in the UK seem to have reacted to this whole thing irritates me. I say 'seem to have' because I read a lot of media reports about it, but I don't honestly know how most people feel.

Generally, however, it appears that most people think that being required to recycle more of their crap is right up there with being handed yellow stars and being shipped off to the camps, and that if they have to wait an extra week to have their rubbish picked up we're going to lose a quarter of Europe to the Black Death again.

I have a family of 5, with three teenagers and a dog. We fit a week's rubbish quite easily into our single wheely-bin. We put out anywhere from 2 to 4 tubs of recyling every week, which, from examining the pavement as I bicycle to work on rubbish-pickup morning, must be some kind of record around here. If we actually used the composter that sits alongside our house, and were a bit more industrious in our recycling efforts, I don't think we'd have a great deal of trouble making it 2 weeks between rubbish pickups.

I certainly don't think that any family with only 1 or 2 kids couldn't make it.

What people need to do is to shut up and stop buying overpackaged crap, or, if they do buy it, to take a couple of minutes to reduce it to component parts and recycle it when it's done with.

What the Government need to do is to force manufacturers to pay the cost of recyling their overpackaged crap, and to take back things like televisions, computers, NiCd batteries, washers, fridges, etc., when they reach the end of their lives, and to prohibit them from passing the recycling costs along to their consumers.

I don't see what the point of living in an elected dictatorship is if they can't do something draconian and actually useful once in awhile.

[KathyF]

Wait--you have a wheely bin? I don't have one of those! We just put our bags out on the curb.

Actually, I agree with all you say. And, to add to it, why the heck can't they recycle more plastic here? They don't pick up any plastic here in Bucks, nor does the centre take it.

[Mike]

Oh, well, Buckinghamshire...

West Oxfordshire actually does pretty well (juice boxes and rechargeable batteries would be nice additions, though).

Unfortunately, it does vary considerably from one county to the next. Westminster is going to have to standardise this sort of thing and put up some money if they want to get serious about it. Maybe they could do with one or two fewer Trident missiles....

[KathyF]

Can I bring my plastics over? We only do paper, glass and tin here. I can't find anywhere to recycle plastics!

Which, of course, is why we drink wine instead of things that come in plastic. Always thinking ecologically, we are.