The Radio 4 programme this week came from the Tory heartlands of Aldborough, a village near Harrogate in North Yorkshire. The programme had a wider range of panelists than is usual (see below). Matters took off when the topic of the exploited jobseekers at the Jubilee came up. The Smurghers (smug burghers) erupted with waves of derision and anger when Salma Yaqoob thought that Lord (!) Prescott had been right to challenge the government about the matter. Quite clearly in the view of some present, these were feckless scroungers who should be grateful for the chance to stand under a bridge in the small hours, get thoroughly soaked and chilled to the bone while helping control the masses at the royal shindig. And all for the prospect of a non-job with yet another company making a fortune out of government grants.
Similar outrage was expressed when Alan Johnson identified the collapse of Lehman Brothers as the start of the financial meltdown. This does not square with Tory mythology that it was all the fault of NewLabour, conveniently ignoring their demands for even less regulation, and that de-regulation began in the 80’s - when their beloved Thatcher was in charge..........thereby unleashing greed in the board rooms.
Despite the programme being broadcast from the parish church there was little compassion, tolerance or understanding on show. The Daily Hate must sell well in the area.
[Douglas Murray (Eton and Oxford), David Davies (Tory MP - ex Shadow Home Sec) Alan Johnson MP (working class, ex Home Sec) and Salma Yaqoob (British born leader of the Respect party)].
No comments:
Post a Comment