Wednesday, August 22, 2012
In the thick of the coalition
As summer comes to an end (did it ever start?), there is good news on the Televison front, with a new series of Dr. Who and the imminent return of The Thick of it, based around the coalition government.
Rather disturbingly, today's Independent suggests that the scriptwriters have had the benefit of the inside track from Nick Clegg's office. They say that aides to the Deputy Prime Minister have been only too keen to leak embarrassing details of life as the Government’s junior partners.
I do hope so. The Liberal Democrats have always been able to laugh at themselves, though now we are actually exercising power, perhaps that stance is not so appropriate. Still the new series looks like a real treat:
Real life is reflected with the Opposition now in government but forced to share office-space with their ambitious junior coalition partners, known as “The Inbetweeners”.
Malcolm Tucker, the fearsome former No 10 enforcer, is at bay. In a shock turn of events, Nicola Murray, the previous “Dosac” department minister, has become Leader of the Opposition after accidentally winning an election through a block vote mechanism no-one can quite understand. Murray, although no less inept, is now Tucker’s boss.
There are big changes in Whitehall, where Peter Mannion, the world-weary opposition MP with more than a touch of Kenneth Clarke, finally takes over the Social Affairs department. But he has to live with a “Lib Dem” junior minister, keen to make his mark, who publicly contradicts any policies Mannion dares to put forward.
I cannot wait.
Rather disturbingly, today's Independent suggests that the scriptwriters have had the benefit of the inside track from Nick Clegg's office. They say that aides to the Deputy Prime Minister have been only too keen to leak embarrassing details of life as the Government’s junior partners.
I do hope so. The Liberal Democrats have always been able to laugh at themselves, though now we are actually exercising power, perhaps that stance is not so appropriate. Still the new series looks like a real treat:
Real life is reflected with the Opposition now in government but forced to share office-space with their ambitious junior coalition partners, known as “The Inbetweeners”.
Malcolm Tucker, the fearsome former No 10 enforcer, is at bay. In a shock turn of events, Nicola Murray, the previous “Dosac” department minister, has become Leader of the Opposition after accidentally winning an election through a block vote mechanism no-one can quite understand. Murray, although no less inept, is now Tucker’s boss.
There are big changes in Whitehall, where Peter Mannion, the world-weary opposition MP with more than a touch of Kenneth Clarke, finally takes over the Social Affairs department. But he has to live with a “Lib Dem” junior minister, keen to make his mark, who publicly contradicts any policies Mannion dares to put forward.
I cannot wait.
