Cameron: Poor are to Blame for their own Poverty
By GulfStreamBlues on Tuesday, July 8 2008, 13:19 - Permalink
The difference between the Labour and Conservative parties in the UK
has become increasingly blurred over the last 15 years. But yesterday
David Cameron, the Conservative leader who is leading the charge to
bring the party further to the centre, unleashed some of the old class
divisions that have historically defined the parties by saying that poor people have themselves to blame for their poverty. The comments were part of a wider speech about society's increased permissiveness and a lack of personal responsibility.
It's
of course an old familiar refrain by the right, but it seems to run
contrary to Cameron's attempts to redefine the party. It may be,
however, that with Labour doing so poorly in the polls and with an
election still likely a year off, Cameron is feeling confident enough
to throw the older, more conservative members of the party a bone.
The fact that the comments were made in Glasgow East is significant. There is a by-election
being held in the district soon, which could determine the fate of
Gordon Brown once and for all. Glasgow East is the poorest area in
Western Europe, with the lowest life expectancy at a shocking 63. The
area is a traditional Labour stronghold and 'Conservative' is still a
dirty word here after Margaret Thatcher's reforms did great damage to
Glasgow in the 1980's. But Labour's low polls nationally mean that the
Scottish National Party, the party that wants Scottish independence and
recently won control of the Scottish parliament, could win the
by-election. That would certainly be a disaster for Labour prime
minister Gordon Brown, and analysts say that if that were to happen, he
would likely have to step down.
Labour is now running a
canvassing operation in Glasgow for the first time in its history, an
unprecedented act which shows that they are desperate not to lose here.
Though the area is still solidly Labour, after speaking with a few of
my Scottish friends I think they may be in trouble. Even the ones who
say they are solidly Labour and will be all their lives say that if
they lived in Glasgow East they would likely vote Lib Dem just to send
Labour a message.
These are trying times indeed for Labour when they have to fight to maintain a seat in Glasgow East.
Comments
Context, context, context!
http://www.davidcameronmp.com/artic...
"I think the time has come for me to speak out about something that has been troubling me for a long time. I have not found the words to say it sensitively. And then I realised, that is the whole point.
"We as a society have been far too sensitive. In order to avoid injury to people's feelings, in order to avoid appearing judgemental, we have failed to say what needs to be said. We have seen a decades-long erosion of responsibility, of social virtue, of self-discipline, respect for others, deferring gratification instead of instant gratification.
"Instead we prefer moral neutrality, a refusal to make judgments about what is good and bad behaviour, right and wrong behaviour. Bad. Good. Right. Wrong. These are words that our political system and our public sector scarcely dare use any more.
"Of course as soon as a politician says this there is a clamour - "but what about all of you?" And let me say now, yes, we are human, flawed and frequently screw up.
"Our relationships crack up, our marriages break down, we fail as parents and as citizens just like everyone else. But if the result of this is a stultifying silence about things that really matter, we re-double the failure. Refusing to use these words - right and wrong - means a denial of personal responsibility and the concept of a moral choice.
"We talk about people being "at risk of obesity" instead of talking about people who eat too much and take too little exercise. We talk about people being at risk of poverty, or social exclusion: it's as if these things - obesity, alcohol abuse, drug addiction - are purely external events like a plague or bad weather.
"Of course, circumstances - where you are born, your neighbourhood, your school, and the choices your parents make - have a huge impact. But social problems are often the consequence of the choices that people make.
"There is a danger of becoming quite literally a de-moralised society, where nobody will tell the truth anymore about what is good and bad, right and wrong. That is why children are growing up without boundaries, thinking they can do as they please, and why no adult will intervene to stop them - including, often, their parents. If we are going to get any where near solving some of these problems, that has to stop."