In our system of government, an opposition party doesn't have the ability to pass legislation, but it has the ability to massively screw things up.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Oppositions are not there to get legislation through. Oppositions are there to hold the government to account.
We in the Labour party know better than most that opposition is the easy part. What's more difficult is governing and setting out an agenda for government.
When a party is in opposition, it opposes. That's its job. But when it comes to power, it must govern. Easy rhetoric is over, the press of reality becomes irresistible. By necessity, it adopts some of the policies it had once denounced. And a new national consensus is born.
Individuals have little opportunity to get elected to Parliament under the label of the government party... unless they are in good standing with the Prime Minister and pledged to be cooperative.
I think the Democratic Party has to learn how to be a party of opposition.
Things said by political parties are different from the decisions of the government which are taken to uphold the rule of law. The government takes decisions that are best for the country.
Major political parties have a role, but they are incapable of initiating fundamental change because they are fundamentally tied to the status quo. They are the status quo.
And under our system, much like you see in the U.K., of course, a party working with another party can form a coalition and govern the country.
There is nothing so marginal as a party that has been in power for 18 years and slides into opposition. You influence nothing.
Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, it is possible for other parties to change the direction of a government without bringing a government down.