Alexei Sayle

THIS WEEK
" And us, the people, are left on the outside, trying to analyse runes and signs.

"Tell us, O Lord, tell us! What does the pink tie mean? What does the pink tie mean?" "
Alexei Sayle

Who decides who's going to be PM? It is the people, or the Party? Writer and comedian Alexei Sayle gives us his Take Of The Week.

" Hope, as Emily Dickinson wrote, is that thing with feathers.

Now, I thought I was completely without feathers, and so was very shocked at the disappointment I felt when Gordon Brown announced earlier in the week that he was in favour of ID cards, compulsory torture and a 200ft statue of Tony Blair bestriding Whitehall like a giant golden Colossus.

As a left-winger, I supposed I shouldn't have allowed myself to hope. But I had read into Gordon Brown's grumpy silence that maybe he would introduce some more socialist policies.

But there's something about elites - there's something about power where people want to hang on to it.

And in the end, every elite with power, whether it's a fishing club or a book group, always turns into the Politburo of the Soviet Union.

So let's go and look at what's going on out there.

Checks and balances

In Western democracies, we have checks and balances to try and counteract the actions of power-hungry people like Blair and Brown.

But you can see the way they're trying to circumvent them; they're trying to fix the succession. Charles Clarke mentions the dual premiership; Brown denies it; but already the story's out there.

And us, the people, are left on the outside, trying to analyse runes and signs. "Tell us, O Lord, tell us! What does the pink tie mean? What does the pink tie mean?"

Na zdorovje!

So, as they say in boxing, the fix is in. But if Brown does become Prime Minister, will he be a good one? Indeed, will Blair let it happen?

Or will Brown have a mysterious accident in his bath with an electronic porridge maker, and will a smoother version of Blair - Comrade Miliband, perhaps - be elected in his place?

We'll wait and see. Na zdorovje! "

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Alexei Sayle
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