I saw Vince Cable the Business Secretary on Marr this morning and his vision of a majority Tory government next year is probably one of the most frightening visions of the future for my country I have ever encountered.
Having grown up in a country which has traditionally cared for all it’s citizens under either a historically reluctant patrician caring Tory government which recognised that to maintain power they needed to appease the poor or a left wing taxing, spending Labour government, life was assured for those of us who had little and the inability to earn little. Free education, a welfare safety net and free health service ensured that all received care irrespective of one’s place in society.
Fast forward to the “aspiring, hard working” Thatcher view of Britain and all of a sudden this changed and people caught up by the safety net became scroungers and cheats, feckless and lazy. This mantra infected the nouveau riche as well as the traditional middle classes of the public schools and paid for university places and private medicine. Now we hear exactly the same from Cameron and cronies.
What lies behind the Tory adage of “We are the party of the aspiring and hard working great British public?”
Simply put, the Tories want as small a government as possible. Less free health care, less free education, less benefits and all achieved by the cry to cut the deficit. This is a lie being sold to us as ethical and prudent government and hiding a basic Tory political philosophy which historically has been around since the first Tory minority government of Lord Derby and this is the first opportunity since then for them to radicalise our country in this way under the guise of prudence whilst blaming the excesses of previous Labour governments.
Let’s examine the effects of a future 2015 majority Tory government on what we know so far.
Smaller government means a smaller police service. Crime will rise. The police will only police high volume crime and Neighbourhood policing will suffer. Those with money will employ their own security and retreat behind gated communities as they now do in USA and are already probably doing in parts of the country now. The vulnerable will be serviced by an overstretched, underfunded police service and subject to the impact of much higher crime resulting in less security and safety for those who cannot afford private security. Two tier policing.
Immigration the great bogeyman of all our ills according to the Tory/Ukippers, will mean once we have withdrawn from Europe and bunkered down behind our traditional xenophobic channel barrier that the Mo Farahs and Amir Khans of this world will no longer be British and bring us such joy and pride in OUR country.
Health will become the privilege of the rich who can pay large sums for excellent health care which attracts the best clinicians and the lower tier free service will be less accessible, have less quality and leave the poorest and most vulnerable in a two tier health system, where the best drugs and procedures will be the privilege of the rich. Where if one is fat or smokes then you do not deserve the benefit of free healthcare. Two tier health.
Education is already suffering. 7% of the population achieving through their wealth, networks and private education and best universities all the plum positions in society in commerce, media, law, civil service and government. The few, governing the majority, telling us what we need and how to live our lives. As Winston Churchill once said, “Never have the few achieved so much”. Two tier education.
And on this bedrock the society we can expect is one where class and privilege once again determine your opportunities, your longevity, your lifetime income, and any aspirations you may have are in the hands of those with the power to give or withhold.
Utopian Britain? Well for some of us anyway, about 7% !!!!