Saturday 2 February 2013

2nd February 2013

The Big Society continues to elude Mr Cameron.

Indeed if his opponents in the Conservative Party have their way he will soon be in charge of a very small society indeed.

According to at least one paper, and today I have read three, the membership of the Conservative Party has plummeted, from 300,000 to 177,000.

So that's half and if that half has gone on to join or vote for Ukip then that's it!

Up with Nigel and down with Dave and his Chancellor.

It's not in my interest really to try to persuade these former members of the Tory Party to return to the fold but it seems that somewhere in their minds they are fixed on the notion that the public really approves of their right wing policies.

More austerity, leaving the European Union, anti gay marriage, benefit bashing, this is the recipe that right wing Tories seem to believe will win them the next election.

Well if this blog shaped even one opinion, if it was a right wing homophobic Tory opinion, I might say go for it, but I wouldn't want to be misunderstand, irony doesn't always translate.

So I will continue to argue that the way forward to a more humane and liberal society in which the wealthiest benefit proportionately and the poorest are accorded a standard of living consistent with human dignity and flourishing. In which we maintain a place amongst our European Neighbours and support the rights of individual, whatever their gender or sexuality to commit themselves in love to their choice of partner.

That will be a big society.

A society of which we can be proud and in which individuals can flourish.

All the terrible caricatures of Tory Members, harrumphing and complaining through their walrus moustaches about immigrants and benefit scroungers, tend to focus on a Colonel usually called Blimp.

A 1930's cartoon character, Blimp has been called a satire on the reactionary opinions of the 1930's and 40's in Britain.

The creator of the Blimp character, cartoonist David Low, first drew Colonel Blimp for the Evening Standard in the 1930's to satirise a kind of pompous, irascible, jingoistic and stereotypically British upper class type, who seemed to have posed for the cartoon whilst sitting in a Turkish Bath.

Or in the case of Ukip appearing on Question Time.

(You never know with the BBC whether its just a very clever left wing strategy to warn us of whats in store or whether they think it just means more viewers for a late night current affairs programme or whether someone, somewhere, deep in the bowels of broadcasting house really believes the nonsense that is broadcast and thinks that the argument, if it is an argument will carry the day?).

It will be interesting to see, as many in Britain despair of the failing policies being imposed by the right wing coalition, whether the new smaller society, aka the Con Party, will shake off its jingoistic irascibility and suddenly adopt the false charm of people hoping against hope to hang on to power, viz George Osborne's comment that coming out in favour of Gay Marriage didn't do President Obama any harm!

Or whether the irascible bunch will go Ukip?

Or whether to paraphrase an early Low cartoon, the Colonel will call out from his Turkish Bath: Gad, Sir! Nigel is Right. This Cameron fellow is marching the party over an abyss, we must all march solidly behind him!

Whatever the outcome, the big society promised by Mr Cameron has become the small party he hopes will march behind him in the next election and deliver five more years of policies that will continue to roll back the successes of the post war settlement and return Britain to the depression style economy of the 1930's.

As they say in the pantomime, Oh yes he does! And as you doubtless respond, Oh no he doesn't!

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