ties or tieless

The ghastly Bercow - otherwise known as the Speaker of the House of Commons - has given permission for MP's to remove their ties.

This 'tieless' move is -I suppose- yet another example of the 'dumbing down' of every aspect of public life. I think it was Tony Blair who begun it all with his shallow 'folksy' image of being 'one of the lads.'  Cameron then took it all a step further - taking his coat and tie off and rolling up his sleeves with the idea - I suppose - of hoping everyone would think he was hardworking chap -rather than what most of them actually thought - that he was a complete phoney- which of course he was/is.

For it is an odd thing about your average Brit that they actually rather like you to 'dress the part.'  We want our Prime Minister to look and behave like a Prime Minister not like a second rate accountant on a day off.  We also -I think - want our MP's to look and behave like MP's (OK I know that's wishful thinking.) 

But there is more to 'dressing up' than just looking the part - I believe the dress you wear helps you to be  the part.  Those of us who remember when policemen where smart as paint also remember that they were very polite and  were admired the world over - now they look like slobs and more often than not behave like slobs and I can't help thinking that discipline in schools would be enormously improved if masters once more wore gowns and mortar boards.