Common sense for the common man

Knee-jerk reactions are never a good idea but one very good definition of stupidity is 'doing the same thing and expecting a different result'. Another very good definition of stupidity is thinking that winning Eastleigh on just 32% of the vote vindicates the Libdems going into coalition with the Tories and gives them more muscle in negotiations with their bedfellows. Dream on Nick. Your party only retained the seat because the anti-EU, keep-marriage-as-it-is vote was split between UKIP and the Tories. Since Dave seems determined to hang on to what he sees as the 'common ground' (does he even know the meaning of the word 'common'?) and UKIP are now on a roll with their 'common-sense' policies, we can hopefully look forward to right-of-centre voters abandoning the good ship Conservative next time and the country's first UKIP MP. Not that Calton agrees with all UKIP's policies but Nigel Farage is quite right when he says, speaking of the main three parties, that "you can't put a cigarette paper between them on policy". They are also completely out of touch with the common man. Time for a shake-up.

An unconstitutional bill

Sovereignty and self-determination - one way or another they are filling the news these days. Unfortunately some of our politicians don't seem to have grasped the meaning of the words. Cameron has been forced into a referendum promise on the EU because many people feel that we have given away too much sovereignty to Europe. Alex Salmond wants self-determination for Scotland, only to hand it to Brussels instead of London. As Calton understands it, the reason why we don't allow our Monarch to be a Roman Catholic is because Roman Catholics are subject to the Pope, who is not only the Head of the Roman Catholic Church but is also the Head of the Vatican State. If our Monarch was Roman Catholic, it would put our Sovereignty under the rule of the Vatican. (And the Head of the Church of England under the Pope.) So Cameron wants to repatriate powers from Brussels only to potentially hand them to Rome at some future date by abolishing the ban on successors to the throne marrying Roman Catholics. Saying that any children from such a union will not be brought up as Roman Catholics is a nonsense because any decent Roman Catholic will want to educate their children in the Roman Catholic faith. Calton is all for changing the rules of succession to stop girls being ousted by younger brothers but any other change needs to be properly scrutinised, not rushed through parliament without debate, as Cameron and Clegg are now doing. Otherwise the constitutional consequences could be profound. (For more on those consequences read this article by Cranmer.)


PS. Calton often thinks that it would be no bad thing if the Church of England was disestablished, but there's no point in doing so just to replace it with the Church of Rome.

No need to be rude

Calton is pleased to see that Nick Clegg has backed down from calling opponents of same-sex marriage 'bigots'. Such language is not only offensive to those with genuine and deeply held views but is unhelpful in maintaining a dignified debate on the subject. It would be good if Willie Rennie followed his leader's example in this and also refrained from using such inflammatory terms.

Too much rhetoric, not enough information

Calton seconds Nick Clegg's request for the SNP 'to provide answers about what it (independence) means for defence, for taxation, for investment, the currency'. At the moment there's too much rhetoric and not enough hard facts coming from Alex Salmond and his party. Take, for instance, the First Minister's statement that 'we will share a currency ... but we won't have diktats from Westminster for Scotland'. A great soundbite but Calton is not sure how it will work in practice, given that, although the Bank of England was made independent by Gordon Brown, it still answers to Westminster if inflation goes above the Westminster Government's target of 2%. Sounds like Alex wants to have his cake and eat it - just like another European leader Calton can think of.