Backbench Malaise

A quick thought - granted Britain has 659 MPs to our 308, but I find it surprising that more discontented rumblings haven't emerged in the seats behind the Prime Minister, especially after vaulting the Liberal-for-a-day Belinda Stronach into Cabinet.

Blair scores a majority in the 60s here, and the speculation immediately becomes whether he will be able to face down the rebels in his caucus that habitually vote against him on crucial issues. Here we have a situation in which just one independent voice is set to shape, quite profoundly, things to come. And not a single maverick Liberal hints at a sense of betrayal, or concern about the direction of the Government? [Kilgour made his move a few weeks ago, before the stark implications of this vote were fully known.] Has Harper even tried asking any of them out for "dinner"?

Perhaps it represents just another example of the robustness of British Parliamentary democracy over its Canadian equivalent [in line with Coyne's past comparison of the respective Question Periods]. All rather lamentable.