A day of infamy
April 1st is the day in the year when the powerless play tricks on the powerful. The twist this year was that it was the powerful playing some very dirty tricks on the weak. April 1st 2013 will be the date that historians look back to and declare that this was when current politics in the UK crossed a watershed.
Why so?
It was the day when the infamous ‘bedroom tax’ was introduced - with many more ‘cuts’ (if you are poor), ‘savings’ if you are wealthy, to follow. The actual amount of ‘savings’ are minuscule in the grand scheme of things. Barely a flicker on Vodaphone’s horizon, or Amazon’s, and not even the price of packaging for the Trident missile system.
It was the day the NHS ceased to be a national health service. Over 200 commissioning groups begin spending the cash - and many will turn to private medicine providers for help.
It was also the day that legal aid was cut by 75%. No coincidence that this has come in to coincide with the benefit cuts. The reduction leaves the powerless even more bereft. Louise Christian, a notable Human Rights lawyer with a brilliant track record of standing up for the weak and dispossessed, declared yesterday to be the ‘saddest day of her life.’ She also castigated all three political parties for their collusion with this attack on the weak.
Our political elite, so exemplified by Miliband senior: School –– Oxbridge –– Parliament (as a Special Adviser) –– Parliament sitting in a safe seat –– Cabinet/Shadow Cabinet, have lost whatever decency they once had.
As they so rarely meet people who live outside the bubble, this is not such a surprise. And the shame of it is that this applies to all parties, from the Nasty Tories (no surprise there) to their quisling accomplices, the LibDems, leaving the Labour Party cowering in the corner under a blanket, desperate not to be noticed that they did not really oppose any of this, offering token resistance at best, and collusion at worst. Their leaders are also part of the bubble.
As they so rarely meet people who live outside the bubble, this is not such a surprise. And the shame of it is that this applies to all parties, from the Nasty Tories (no surprise there) to their quisling accomplices, the LibDems, leaving the Labour Party cowering in the corner under a blanket, desperate not to be noticed that they did not really oppose any of this, offering token resistance at best, and collusion at worst. Their leaders are also part of the bubble.
As Louise Christian said, we need a Labour Party with backbone and values - or we need another party that will stand up for the great majority of the people who are not rich, not powerful, not well-connected and who are not supported by the mainstream media.
Yesterday confirmed that our politics stink.
Time for change.
Massive change.
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