God's Country

Part Sixty-Six

'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'

Matthew 11:28

"Can the Prime Minister justify the huge amount of new legislation being proposed for this parliament, and explain how he expects this House to consider it all in detail in such limited time?" Brian Strickland demanded, rising from his seat almost twenty minutes into Prime Minister's questions. It had been a fairly muted session up until that moment; the Labour members still hit hard by the election result seemed more subdued than ever. Strickland was still their leader, but everyone presumed he would soon resign and let a new man try and mount a more effective opposition. The fact that he had not done so immediately after his defeat remained something of a surprise.

"Oh...are you still here?" Charles Buckingham smiled broadly as he stood up to the despatch box again, causing the four hundred or so CDP members to convulse with laughter and wave their order papers at Strickland and his embarrassed colleagues in open derision of the other side. PMQ's was a bear pit for any leader in trouble. "I know my right honourable friend will find this rather hard to understand, but our desire to get on with the job swiftly and without any unnecessary delay is justified by something we call a clear mandate. The people of this country have given us their trust and they expect us to get on with things in a timely manner...to get on with our jobs. They do not expect us to sit in this old House and argue endlessly about semantics when we have already told them what we want to do and why, and received their express permission to go ahead. But fear not, he will have a chance to vote against everything he cannot bring himself to support...if he doesn't choose to do the decent thing and let someone more capable have a go at leading his party."

Again, the old building was filled with laughter, with grown men standing up and shaking their fists at the Labour leader, who was quickly back on his feet, but slightly redder in the face. The speaker called for order, several times, before Strickland could make himself heard above the din.

"Will the Prime Minister assure this House that we will be given the necessary time to debate amendments?"

"If the right honourable member means will I allow him to talk out the promises made to the electorate, the answer is no, not on my watch...this House has a mandate and it will make progress. We have suffered ten long years of stagnation as you and the Tory party argued endlessly amongst yourselves, but this government has things to get done. However, any amendments proposed will be considered and answered, but quickly, as our majority allows us to set the pace. In the real world, people expect to see a bang for their buck, not more hot air."

Charles left the House after his hour in the spotlight and returned to Downing Street, the adrenalin still pumping but keen to get on with things. Strickland was right, it was a crowded programme, but they needed to start paving the way for proper reform and there was no time to waste. The parliamentary system could be painfully slow without a clear majority. Every contentious bill could be threatened by a small number of abstentions let alone a rebellion but with such a large majority the Reformists did not have to bargain and compromise. He could force things through the House. But there was still limited time. In the end, the Cabinet had decided to focus on finishing off the age of consent bill and starting on parental responsibility for the actions of their underage children, plus the huge potential minefield of legislation surrounding National Service and giving father's priority in the job market over females. It was not only necessary to produce a new employment bill, they also had to change a lot of benefit legislation and sort out issues with sexual equality and equal rights. The list of things they wanted to do was almost endless. Peter Munroe alone had a list much longer than his own arms, from changing the licensing laws and passing legislation about public decency to amending the divorce law to make it much more difficult for couples to split up. In twelve months, Charles believed they could go a long way towards changing the country forever.