12.46, Wednesday 13 Jun 2001

The House of Commons is just the Oxford Union writ large, complete with pedantic argument based on what was said rather than what was meant, and shallow posturing. Too fucking right. The society at Oxford University is the breeding ground for a style of debate that values above all else preventing the opponent saying anything. How are you supposed to reach correct conclusions when bullshit wins over intelligence every time? It's a bloody mess. So says George Monbiot in the Guardian (essentially anyway, he uses a few more words), and I agree: Break the whip.

He even suggests a few remedies: make it illegal for the party to influence the way an MP votes; full state funding of political parties; complete electoral reform -- and more. Spot on.