• Labour's John McDonnell whips out Mao's Little Red Book and reads from it in parliament
    34 replies, posted
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2KsuENx8rI[/media] [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwVJTHtqs9Y[/media] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34925962[/url] [quote]Shadow chancellor John McDonnell accused George Osborne of "sheer economic illiteracy" in a Spending Review speech that also saw him quote Chairman Mao to the chancellor. Mr McDonnell produced a copy of the Chinese Communist leader's Little Red Book after claiming public assets were being sold to the Chinese government. He also attacked austerity and claimed a Labour victory over police cuts. Mr Osborne said Labour was a "deadly threat to the economy".[/quote]
This seems more like a slam contest than a political discussion. [editline]25th November 2015[/editline] Thanks politics
Awesome response from Osborne
You know, when watching the clip in full, it seems okay. But he seems to forget that a) this clip won't be watched in full by most people b) Mao is a mass murderer and c) literally anyone but him and Corbyn can get away with a joke like that, but because of his political position, he cannot do this.
whenever i watch videos of parliament all i can fucking think of is a bunch of rich tossers treating the government like a fucking game i mean for gods sake they boo and cheer like football hooligans. what kind of professionalism is that?
[QUOTE=lintz;49187274]whenever i watch videos of parliament all i can fucking think of is a bunch of rich tossers treating the government like a fucking game i mean for gods sake they boo and cheer like football hooligans. what kind of professionalism is that?[/QUOTE] [t]https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2432/3990265098_b02c9e8623_b.jpg[/t]
[QUOTE=lintz;49187274]whenever i watch videos of parliament all i can fucking think of is a bunch of rich tossers treating the government like a fucking game i mean for gods sake they boo and cheer like football hooligans. what kind of professionalism is that?[/QUOTE] I used to think like this, but I think that I actually enjoy it after I saw how dry and boring politics is in other countries.
[QUOTE=FlashMarsh;49187295]I used to think like this, but I think that I actually enjoy it after I saw how dry and boring politics is in other countries.[/QUOTE] It used to be really fun for us, too – Just watch the primaries that lead up to Gerald R. Ford's nomination in the 70's. They even have party hats, foam fingers and those party blowers
[QUOTE=FlashMarsh;49187295]I used to think like this, but I think that I actually enjoy it after I saw how dry and boring politics is in other countries.[/QUOTE] Agreed. Nothing better than watching question time in parliament on the ABC
Kind of awkward quoting Chairman Mao on economic policy given that the Chinese economy sunk during his Great Leap Forward plan which resulted in tens of millions of deaths.
[QUOTE=FlashMarsh;49187295]I used to think like this, but I think that I actually enjoy it after I saw how dry and boring politics is in other countries.[/QUOTE] You mean formal and serious?
I love the UK House of Commons it's so fun to watch
[QUOTE=Antdawg;49187610]I love the UK House of Commons it's so fun to watch[/QUOTE] It's not fun to watch when you realise these are the people deciding the future of the country you live in
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;49187601]You mean formal and serious?[/QUOTE] The UK House of Commons is serious 95% of the time. Question time is where most or all of the members of the House are present, and it's all only a show for the public where each side tries to make the other look bad. Nothing like this happens in the U.S. because the U.S. doesn't have a question time.
[QUOTE=Morbo!!!;49187623]It's not fun to watch when you realise these are the people deciding the future of the country you live in[/QUOTE] What should your ideal politician look and behave like then? Leaving ideology out of it.
[QUOTE=Morbo!!!;49187623]It's not fun to watch when you realise these are the people deciding the future of the country you live in[/QUOTE] I don't think you realise that these are people too, and that question time is rarely if ever serious. It's only a show for the public.
[QUOTE=Morbo!!!;49187623]It's not fun to watch when you realise these are the people deciding the future of the country you live in[/QUOTE] It's just a bit of governmental banter.
[QUOTE=lintz;49187274]whenever i watch videos of parliament all i can fucking think of is a bunch of rich tossers treating the government like a fucking game i mean for gods sake they boo and cheer like football hooligans. what kind of professionalism is that?[/QUOTE] At least your lawmakers show up to work in the morning.
Holy fuck the Labour PR team are probably shitting themselves right now What a stooge
Some of the reactions from other MPs on the opposition benches are gold
[QUOTE]Shadow chancellor[/QUOTE] Even if the guy currently sitting on this post is bad (I've no idea if he is, just saying), that is a fucking rad title to have. I'd wish we had the same in Denmark.
Considering the fact that Chairman Mao was a rather horrible person when it comes to governing (with the whole Cultural Revolution Fiasco), I personally think that the little red book should be read only as a reminder of how NOT to govern a nation. Still, British politics is an odd but highly amusing sort. Way better than our sleeping congress.
I have never watched the UK parliament and I must say it's entertaining as fuck
I can't stop replaying Speaker Bercow egging on McDonnell, Bercow is like the best parliamentarian the world has ever seen.
[QUOTE=Spetsnaz95;49187809]Even if the guy currently sitting on this post is bad (I've no idea if he is, just saying), that is a fucking rad title to have. I'd wish we had the same in Denmark.[/QUOTE] The UK, as well as having a Government (made up of members of the party or parties who won the election), has a Shadow Government. This is comprised of members of the [I]second[/I] party; in the UK the main two parties are Labour and the Conservatives, so generally it's either Labour if the Conservatives won, or the Conservatives if Labour won. They basically provide an idea of what that party would be like as the Government because they give their reactions to any decisions made by their Government counterparts. [editline]26th November 2015[/editline] One thing I like about Jeremy Corbyn is that he takes things relatively seriously but doesn't let himself become boring. I do wish Cameron would stop acting like a lad, though.
[QUOTE=FlashMarsh;49187631]What should your ideal politician look and behave like then? Leaving ideology out of it.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Antdawg;49187642]It's only a show for the public.[/QUOTE] This is my problem. Politicians should be politicians first, not entertainers. The fact it's packaged as entertainment means your average viewer isn't going to take the important parts seriously and will just be waiting for the next zinger.
[QUOTE=Morbo!!!;49197419]This is my problem. Politicians should be politicians first, not entertainers. The fact it's packaged as entertainment means your average viewer isn't going to take the important parts seriously and will just be waiting for the next zinger.[/QUOTE] My problem with this is that people complain that their politicians are too professional but when they try and show any humanity what so ever, they're deemed to be not professional enough.
[QUOTE=The mouse;49197566]My problem with this is that people complain that their politicians are too professional but when they try and show any humanity what so ever, they're deemed to be not professional enough.[/QUOTE] Theres a time and a place imo. PMQ is sort of a farce, its nice to see people having fun but imo legit issues are forgotten in the desire to 1 up the other party or seem like the "bigger lad". Someone making a joke in an interview, fine 100% cool. It's when the banter undermines serious discussion that I have an issue.
[QUOTE=The mouse;49197566]My problem with this is that people complain that their politicians are too professional but when they try and show any humanity what so ever, they're deemed to be not professional enough.[/QUOTE] There's a difference between humanity and childish jeering though. [editline]27th November 2015[/editline] The point he was making here was a relatively sound one. That our country is selling off its assets to the Chinese state, and ironically it's the Tories who are nationalising. It was a pretty decent zinger. Pretty easy thing to take out of context though, given that a lot of people listen to the commentary, not the actual content, he should have known better. The Tories are very good at pretending not to get jokes, remember the thing with the 'sorry there's no money left' note left by the outgoing treasury chief in 2010 that Cameron kept reproducing at the last election, as if somehow the note was inferring that it was Labour's fault that there was a global financial crisis.
[QUOTE=The mouse;49197566]My problem with this is that people complain that their politicians are too professional but when they try and show any humanity what so ever, they're deemed to be not professional enough.[/QUOTE] I don't think I've ever heard someone complain that a politician is too professional. They usually complain that they're too political.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.