So the big society came and went.
Not much mention of it in Manchester.
Seems that stomachs, power cuts and Neets were in vogue.
Not much policy either. Even though the recovery is still some way off achieving growth levels last seen before the bankers ate all the pies and created an international pie shortage.
Indeed we are told that the problem is being solved, just another five years of austerity, five years of further attacks on the poorest in our society, five years of less welfare and lower taxes for the wealthy and gosh!
We'll all be feeling better.
So what has the party conference season taught us?
Not very much it seems.
Other than to recognise a clearer difference now between the offers on the table.
Woolly old liberals in their sandals in Glasgow managed to put on a show, even though, like Methodists, there are fewer of them than ever.
The leadership spoke defiantly about how, with their 9% of support and just a handful of MP's, they should now be judged as a party of Government?
Their big offer was free lunches for schoolchildren. But given that in terms of support they now come fourth after UKIP it was hard to see how their claim could be taken seriously, like a desperate suitor the leaders speech was little more than drawing back the duvet to see who might snuggle in with him.
In Manchester it became clear that there is little new on offer, the Eton Mess will continue to be served up in the hope that we will all somehow eventually feel a bit better and then elect the Tories outright to continue to do what they always seem to refer to as 'the right thing' unless of course we all wise up and realise that it is a slip of the tongue and what Mr Cameron really means to say is 'right wing'.
Because that is the offer being made, less government, corn for the rich and chaff for the poor.
The minimum wage has slipped behind inflation, there are increasing numbers of people on benefits who are working which means that the government is effectively subsidising employers and forfeiting tax income which when inflation is factored in becomes a triple whammy for the poorest and an unacknowledged benefit for others.
And, as the Tories introduce policies not thought possible by the Thatcher and Major administrations the rhetoric of disdain is used to decry the 'socialism' of the Labour leader.
The Daily Mail has taken the initiative seeking to damn Milliband by association with his Father.
Well, all that anyone can sensibly do, is seek to make their vote count and remember that, as the cost of living has risen, (inflation), so the average income has been reduced in order to reward the shareholders an directors of businesses by increasing dividends.
There are societies where the option for the poor determines the policies pursued by Governments, societies where justice is seen as a greater good than profit, surely that is the kind of society we wish to become?
Not much mention of it in Manchester.
Seems that stomachs, power cuts and Neets were in vogue.
Not much policy either. Even though the recovery is still some way off achieving growth levels last seen before the bankers ate all the pies and created an international pie shortage.
Indeed we are told that the problem is being solved, just another five years of austerity, five years of further attacks on the poorest in our society, five years of less welfare and lower taxes for the wealthy and gosh!
We'll all be feeling better.
So what has the party conference season taught us?
Not very much it seems.
Other than to recognise a clearer difference now between the offers on the table.
Woolly old liberals in their sandals in Glasgow managed to put on a show, even though, like Methodists, there are fewer of them than ever.
The leadership spoke defiantly about how, with their 9% of support and just a handful of MP's, they should now be judged as a party of Government?
Their big offer was free lunches for schoolchildren. But given that in terms of support they now come fourth after UKIP it was hard to see how their claim could be taken seriously, like a desperate suitor the leaders speech was little more than drawing back the duvet to see who might snuggle in with him.
In Manchester it became clear that there is little new on offer, the Eton Mess will continue to be served up in the hope that we will all somehow eventually feel a bit better and then elect the Tories outright to continue to do what they always seem to refer to as 'the right thing' unless of course we all wise up and realise that it is a slip of the tongue and what Mr Cameron really means to say is 'right wing'.
Because that is the offer being made, less government, corn for the rich and chaff for the poor.
The minimum wage has slipped behind inflation, there are increasing numbers of people on benefits who are working which means that the government is effectively subsidising employers and forfeiting tax income which when inflation is factored in becomes a triple whammy for the poorest and an unacknowledged benefit for others.
And, as the Tories introduce policies not thought possible by the Thatcher and Major administrations the rhetoric of disdain is used to decry the 'socialism' of the Labour leader.
The Daily Mail has taken the initiative seeking to damn Milliband by association with his Father.
Well, all that anyone can sensibly do, is seek to make their vote count and remember that, as the cost of living has risen, (inflation), so the average income has been reduced in order to reward the shareholders an directors of businesses by increasing dividends.
There are societies where the option for the poor determines the policies pursued by Governments, societies where justice is seen as a greater good than profit, surely that is the kind of society we wish to become?
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