Selfsufficientish.com

without wishing to get embroiled in party politics in any way whatsoever, I can't help but find parallels between Gordon Brown and Mugabe - neither have the support of their countrymen, but both will cling to power come what may.......

This is not a fair comparison. Mugabe lost an election and has not accepted the will of the people. If and when the Prime Minister holds a General Election, he will have to accept the people's will. That is democracy here. Mugabe feels he is Zimbabwe, which he may be, and like other African leaders does not have our experience of democracy, developed over centuries. The question is:- How can we help the formation of a pure democracy in African countries? Answer that and you solve many of the problems.

you are of course (as usual) absolutely right! - there IS no comparison whatsoever - some people did vote for Mugabe, NOBODY got to vote Brown in as Prime Minister!

Well it's what they deserve for voting for Tony B Liar!

Martin, I do not particularly like Mr Brown, even though he is a Scot. Labour won the last General election and so have a 4-5 year mandate, that is our democracy. Arguing over whether Labour would have won with him leading is purely a matter for conjecture. Have patience, there will be another election and you can vote as you see fit. Personally, I think Mr Brown will have a mammoth task ahead to win the next election. I remember 1979 when Labour's leader, Mr Callaghan, dithered about the election and lost to Mrs Thatcher. History could repeat itself in a couple of years time.

i'm in favour of Billy Connolly idea
Anyone who wants to be an MP should be banned from holding the post.

also voting should be compulsery but with a "none of the above" box if that wins election vote has to be run again with differt cadedates.




try hard mean well never give up

Another Scot! At least pick another nationality eg ENGLISH, Welsh or Northern Irish.

rampant xenophobia too!

Martin, being a Scot myself, if I am fed up with Scottish Prime Ministers (Blair, Brown) how do the rest of the UK feel. There is a focus on Brown but it must be said a lot of his problems are down to external factors. The financial difficulties are due to US miss-selling of mortgages. Oil demand is increasing with India and China economic growth. Food prices rises are also down to increase demand coupled with drought induced crop failures. Tony Blair would struggle under these conditions.

I like the idea of a "centuries-old" democracy. Would that it were true. In Northern Ireland, it ain't very old at all - and for the rest of the UK, women and the great unwashed lower classes may be a little puzzled by a claim for that degree of maturity.

Our democracy developed over many centuries. In Africa, their experience of democracy is more recent, ie they have not developed as we have. How can we instill our values into their people to provide democracies fit for purpose? I know we have problems in the UK, but less face it Africa has far worse to deal with.

Or, more to the point, how can we help them to develop their own values rather than attempting to instill the Great God Western-style Democracy? Shooting Robert Mugabe in the head goes against my non-violent principles, but it would be a hell of a ghood start.

African leaders, not just Mugabe, are mainly self-serving. When they attain power they take their "fair-share" of the country's wealth to the detriment of the people at large. This is a serious defect. What we need there is a culture of service where leaders truly represent the people. We cannot transplant our values directly but should promote good practice and ensure the funds we give to these countries are properly used.