Over the next few weeks we will hear a lot of rhetoric from all the political parties involved in the UK General Election.
Of all of them, the Conservatives’ claims over “Broken Britain” irritate me the most. Claims that are wholly unfounded. Societies across the world experience differences in relative peace and prosperity. The way in which the government of the day makes laws to make sense of those differences shows the value of that government. You cannot sweep away those differences – but you can manage them well.
Yesterday afternoon, on my street in the garden of some nearby social housing, one of the inhabitants started what has become a frequent drunken tirade at the world. On this occasion, with children still awake and out at play in the good weather, the language and the actions became a little worrying, verging on the violent. A neighbour called the police.
The Conservatives will have you believe at this point that we would have had no chance of seeing a police officer for days.
Two patrol cars arrived within 20 minutes – bear in mind we are in a small village around 20 minutes from the nearest big towns. We don’t know what was said or how the situation was handled but we do know this – the police came; the man stopped his abusive and frightening behaviour at once; and the neighbour who called them received a courtesy call back from the police to inform her of what had happened.
Does that sound like “Broken Britain” to you? Sure, we live in a rural village and maybe the response would have been different in a densely populated urban environment. I’m sure there are estates and places throughout the country in which to find yourself would produce fear and intimidation.
But, for the most part, and to the greatest extent any society can possibly hope for, this country is not broken. And when the Conservatives say that it is, they are playing on people’s fears in exactly the same way the BNP do. And that’s a disgusting way to run a political campaign.
Filed under: Politics
