Categories: uncategorized
Date: 31 December 2007 09:41:45
I've just been reading Nick Cleggs new year message, (see BBC News for a proper summary of the main points) and I have to say if the party think that it is jingoistic spin which is to "reach beyond the stale two-party system" I want no part of it.
Within the speech Clegg is constantly referring to "British families" and "British people", well I'm not British - I'm English. I have to say that as far as Britain is concerned yes it's on my passport but as Billy Bragg said in Take Down the Union Jack, "it's just an economic union which is past it's sell by date".
I did like that he wanted to put families back "in control of their time, not fighting to make space for family life between the demands of work and the burden of bills" in a set of soundbites which suggested he felt this would be achieved by moving away from the nanny state. However, it sounded slightly hollow when immeadiately followed by a soundbite on wanting to control the advertisments toddlers were exposed to.
As for the ID cards thing, I'm a liberal I agree they are not good because of the ways they could potentially be used (misused) by the state. However, I am getting to the stage where I'm thinking that the state already holds so much info on us anyway they may not be that big a deal.
"Giving power and responsibility to families - of every shape and size, of every background - is the only way to make sure everyone has a fair chance in life." is a lovely sound bite which I totally endorse but even though it seeks to be inclusive it is already excluding the growing number of single people who don't view themselves to be a "family" in our society.
Where he does get me interested and fill me with hope is when he says, "I will not tolerate a country in which the poorest people die 13 years sooner than the richest, lone parent families are twice as likely to get attacked or burgled, and the poorest pupils are twice as likely to fail their GCSEs. I believe no-one should be condemned by the circumstances of their birth. And I am certain that is what the British people believe, too. We are a nation with a strong sense of fair play, and natural justice."
If you cut out the jingoistic bits of it at the end it sums up the basic argument I have as to why Christians particularly have a duty to take politics seriously, (whatever party they end up thinking has the best answers). I was a bit shocked to learn that I am twice as likely to get attacked or burgled, but then I realised that lone parents are more likely to live in poorer areas and it is actually those living in the poorer areas who are more likely to be attacked or burgled and so it made sense.
As to the answers on how you achieve this fairer and more just society Clegg got a bit fuzzy. He talked about investment in education and giving tax cuts to those on lowest incomes, but didn't give any indication of how this would be financed. It may seem like electoral suicide but I think it is time that people came up with answers on how they will pay for the investment which is needed but also how they will change cultures because a change of culture is what would benefit far more than just throwing money which could be misused at problems.
He did refer to this a little when looking at flexible working, but again as somebody who has seen the results of "positive discrimination" and "family friendly policies" I have to say I'm not convinced.
He then went for a bit of Tory bashing, which I don't fully condone. I feel we have too much negative politics in this country.
Oh and my final moan about it all I wish he would get a tie. The open necked picture used makes him look more like an early 90's chat show host than a credible political leader.
If all that sounds just a tad negative well it is but only because I care about all the things he does. I just don't think they can be solved by spin and I do think the constant appeal to Britishness is dangerous. Don't get me wrong I understand the wisdom in it all. We are trying to appeal to Tory voters with families and the vast numbers of people with no fixed allegiance who are ready to vote Tory in the next election. He is also trying to appeal to those people who feel so disenfranchised that they won't vote atall or will be seduced by those minority parties which seek to scapegoat minorities.
So yet again as we go into the new year I am left disappointed that we no longer have any credible socialist party in this country whom I can give my support to. The Lib Dems, in my view, remain slightly left of New Labour and so they will continue to have my allegiance and my money but......