"Activate the Queen"

[diarytypething]

It's all over. I think I now have a much better idea of how it felt to be a person with remotely sane politics in America in November 2000. It's less fun watching this kind of thing unfold on your own patch. I'm also starting to better understand the logic of my flatmate's strange Tory brother's belief that the Queen is an essential figure in

Comments

[stubbleupdate]

Did you post the link to Johann Hari's article about Compassionate Conservatism in Hammersmith council, i.e. charging the disabled for their care, sending the homeless out of shelters and closing the park for a month of the year for polo?

His article about "What we'll lose if we reject Labour" was also worth reading, but sadmaking.

[ibid]

I fear the next few years would have been hell no matter who got in. There would have to have been drastic cuts on spending anyway Tory or Labour - the only difference being labour would have done it more gradually.

If Brown had gone 6 months ago labour would have had a sporting chance but alas no.

I am resigning myself and wondering if I can go to Uraguay for 5 years.

[diarytypething]

I'm no fan of New Labour, and realise that there would have to be spending cuts regardless of who's in government, but a lot of the proposed cuts are ideological and will affect people who are already short on options. If the now-ubiquitous Johann Hari article is to be believed, and Hammersmith is the Tories' demonstration model, then the future sounds pretty grim. One of their plans is to sell off all of social housing in the borough because it undermines The Market, forcing thousands of people to relocate to private sector housing outside of London. Considering that the reason that most people apply for council housing in the first place is that they can't afford the private sector, it all seems like an irresponsible price to pay for a few minor tax cuts.

[ibid]

If Cameron had been serious then he would have had the Thatcherite elements in the party shot. I just don't see how they can justify tax cuts a this time, I can only conclude the UK is doomed if no party is willing to change ideology.

[bohemiabythesea]

Just popping in to say: this is a very perceptive post! And I wish things would get better. This will not help much, but I really wish we wouldn't all lose hope (given that my country is going down a similar route).

[diarytypething]

I seem to have been making a lot of "perceptive" statements recently...

[bohemiabythesea]

Oh, true! Well, I mean it in the sense of sharp-witted. It's a very well-argued post, and I like those on my flist. You know, next to the other, flaily squee-ey fangirly ones, with the spelling mistakes and the capslock-overuse...

[miss_hididi]

Good critique of Big Society concept. Maybe I should start suggesting to Support Worker candidates that they'd like to work for free and pay their mortgages, well, some other way?

[diarytypething]

Considering that someone who does volunteer work full-time can't sign on because they aren't making themselves available for paid work, that's an interesting question. You might find it difficult to recruit anyone on a long-term basis if those are the terms and conditions you're offering. Thanks for mentioning this, because it's an important point - even though some people might really want to spend more time on unpaid caring, not everyone can afford to do it.