Joanna Plays Gordon Like A Steinway

Hats off to ballsy Briton Joanna Lumley, who has - with the support of the UK media and public - effectively played the PM and UK government like a grand piano over the last few weeks. Granted, the Gurkhas case is rock-solid (I signed the petition). And Ms Lumley has brought her great reputation and prodigious talents to bear to force a reversal on what has to be the worst political decision since Sir Peter Viggers signed his expenses claim for Duck Island. But I really do hope that this doesn't signal the beginning of a significant shift towards celebrity politics. Granted, many so-called "Celebs" are just too shit-thick to have much to contribute to post-millennial political debate. But there's always the possibility that our debauched politicians might look at the failure of executive dictatorship, consider the possibility of real reform, and fall back on the default position of hauling in a few of the "right"celebrities to try to buy back some credibility in our tired eyes. We'll know soon enough. Signals might include celebrity policy endorsements. Maybe even a few "new brooms," being parachuted into safe seats to give the various PLPs a fresh look ahead of next year's General Election. But I really hope not. There was a debate on Radio 5 earlier in the week about the value of an elected Speaker. The real reason the current nong is leaving is because when he apologised to the House on 18th May, the bumbling ferl...feel...fool didn't have a clue about Parliamentary procedure and had to ask the Clerk. The second last thing we need is an elected Speaker that constantly has to asked wigged officials "...what should I do now?" The last thing we need is the "Celebritisation" of British politics.