Sunday Telegraph, 13 September 2010
IFOWONRO, obviously, but at the risk of being a party pooper, I suspect rumours of our rural invasion are somewhat exaggerated.
No matter how many New Paradigms we have, I can guarantee that Bluster and its great mate Bullshit will remain the life of the party (such as it is) in parliament for as long as parties in parliament persist (probably perpetuity). Bluster and Bullshit are built in to the system to give everyone something to do between votes, which is when Mathematics has a small window in which to pop in and straighten the place up while they’re tapping the next keg.
So just keep in mind that when anyone says they have a mandate, that is probably bluster, and when someone says that the result of a vote carried out according to the rules is illegitimate, that is best described as bullshit.
The main effect of a hung parliament is that people start thinking that bluster and bullshit have some actual effect rather than just being an opportunity to kill time, and they may well be right. So look forward to, if not an improvement in quality of B&B, at the very least a marked increase in volume and stench.