Brand could have anticipated the question as its one which people who believe that Parliament is a part of the solution rather than the problem, always ask.
He could of course rubbed the politicians noses in it if he were fleet of foot, or if he had an army of advsiers, they'd probably have briefed him.
We all know how publicity hungry politicians are, and how desperate they are to attach themselves to celebrities if they think they can get some reflected assoication. Despite Cameron proclaiming his dislike of this trait in opposition he's done the exact opposite in government and his attempts to find a replacement for Boris as mayor are hysterical. We also know how insanely jealous politicians are of people who can reach out and engage a bigger numerical audience than they can.
As voter turn out falls and more and more and people disengage with lending their support to this rotten process the political classes have been desparately scrambling around to shore up their mandate (they need us, more than we need them remember). They've introduced postal votes, and have been examining on-line voting, lowering the age, and even introducing voting booths in supermarkets. All Brand had to do is taunt them with the fact that he's got more twitter followers, than the Labour party has voters, why would he want to get himself immersed in the Westminster morrass and lose his connection. He could go further and say that the political classes are becoming less and less relevant and that people are finding their expressions through other media of which he's a part. This sort of thing plays on their insecurities (and MP's have them in bucket loads) as they're essentially a hunted specie and know deep down that they live in a sheltered world and are terrified of being thought to be out of touch. He could go so far as to taunt Penny Mourdant by suggesting that he'll have overtaken them by the next election too. He should perhaps have followed up by feigning some humility that the platform of a stand up commedian (not a very funny one) might hand him the advantage, but equally remind the audience that she shouldn't try to mimmick him if she was serious about being a publicly funded comedian by honouring a bet struck in the officers mess for her TA, by slipping the word '****' into her speech six times. He could have appealed to his followers to download Penny Mourdants risible speech and ask themselves why on earth anyone who cared for the real issues of the day, effecting real people, would want to engage and lend an endorsement to this pantomime, and suggest it is symptomatic of the contempt for which the political classes hold the people who put them into power. He should have slaughtered her. She couldn't even make a stump speech as it happens, she had to read it out
He could legitmiately point out that single seat MP's achieve very little, other than tokenism. The establishment would rather take them in where they can do less. As I said, Green causes have gone backwards under this government despite Caroline Lucas taking her seat. The more telling example of course is Martin Bell. Remember the anti-sleaze candidate of Tatton who defeated Conservative Trade Minister Neil Hamilton? Within a decade of Bell leaving, we have the Expesnes Scandal. Not sure Bell has a legacy (unless you count George Osborne!).
Finally Brand could have come clean and simply said he'd struggle to do the constiuency work (which he would) he just hasn't got the skills set to do it, and if he explained why, I suspect most people would understand. In any event, if Mourdant's attempts at comedy are an indication of what he'd achieve in politics
Oh just look at this speech of hers..... doesn't it make you proud of our parliamentary process
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/pol...enny-Mordaunts-****-speech-to-Parliament.html
He could of course rubbed the politicians noses in it if he were fleet of foot, or if he had an army of advsiers, they'd probably have briefed him.
We all know how publicity hungry politicians are, and how desperate they are to attach themselves to celebrities if they think they can get some reflected assoication. Despite Cameron proclaiming his dislike of this trait in opposition he's done the exact opposite in government and his attempts to find a replacement for Boris as mayor are hysterical. We also know how insanely jealous politicians are of people who can reach out and engage a bigger numerical audience than they can.
As voter turn out falls and more and more and people disengage with lending their support to this rotten process the political classes have been desparately scrambling around to shore up their mandate (they need us, more than we need them remember). They've introduced postal votes, and have been examining on-line voting, lowering the age, and even introducing voting booths in supermarkets. All Brand had to do is taunt them with the fact that he's got more twitter followers, than the Labour party has voters, why would he want to get himself immersed in the Westminster morrass and lose his connection. He could go further and say that the political classes are becoming less and less relevant and that people are finding their expressions through other media of which he's a part. This sort of thing plays on their insecurities (and MP's have them in bucket loads) as they're essentially a hunted specie and know deep down that they live in a sheltered world and are terrified of being thought to be out of touch. He could go so far as to taunt Penny Mourdant by suggesting that he'll have overtaken them by the next election too. He should perhaps have followed up by feigning some humility that the platform of a stand up commedian (not a very funny one) might hand him the advantage, but equally remind the audience that she shouldn't try to mimmick him if she was serious about being a publicly funded comedian by honouring a bet struck in the officers mess for her TA, by slipping the word '****' into her speech six times. He could have appealed to his followers to download Penny Mourdants risible speech and ask themselves why on earth anyone who cared for the real issues of the day, effecting real people, would want to engage and lend an endorsement to this pantomime, and suggest it is symptomatic of the contempt for which the political classes hold the people who put them into power. He should have slaughtered her. She couldn't even make a stump speech as it happens, she had to read it out
He could legitmiately point out that single seat MP's achieve very little, other than tokenism. The establishment would rather take them in where they can do less. As I said, Green causes have gone backwards under this government despite Caroline Lucas taking her seat. The more telling example of course is Martin Bell. Remember the anti-sleaze candidate of Tatton who defeated Conservative Trade Minister Neil Hamilton? Within a decade of Bell leaving, we have the Expesnes Scandal. Not sure Bell has a legacy (unless you count George Osborne!).
Finally Brand could have come clean and simply said he'd struggle to do the constiuency work (which he would) he just hasn't got the skills set to do it, and if he explained why, I suspect most people would understand. In any event, if Mourdant's attempts at comedy are an indication of what he'd achieve in politics
Oh just look at this speech of hers..... doesn't it make you proud of our parliamentary process
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/pol...enny-Mordaunts-****-speech-to-Parliament.html
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