The hypocrisy and double standards displayed by UK politicians seems to know no bounds.
Today we have Nick Clegg, the man who sold his soul and his party’s integrity for 30 pieces of silver, claiming that ‘wasted talent’ was both an
‘economic and moral crime’.
www.bbc.co.uk...
There was a lot in his speech which I could take issue with but one sentence in particular raised my hackles.
Apparently he called for
"a more dynamic society: one where what matters most is the person you become, not the person you were born".
Now that suggests to me that people born to a ‘lesser’ station in life are somewhat below those born of a higher social standing, but they can
somehow become a better person by becoming a success – in effect success is a benchmark of how good a person is.
I can not begin to express just how arrogant these politicians are and how little regard they have for ordinary, working people.
He goes on to state that social mobility is ‘key for the economy’ .
Now that’s all well and good but this government, of which he is the Deputy Prime Minister, has substantially increased university fees and thus
making it increasingly harder for people from working class backgrounds to attend any university let alone the top Russell Group of Universities.
www.russellgroup.ac.uk...
It also seems that Cleggs only motivation for enabling improved social mobility is to increase the UK’s GDP.
Apparently the Sutton Trust
has suggested that boosting poor educational attainment up to the UK average would increase GDP by £140bn by 2050, and increase long-run trend
growth by 0.4 percentage points. Social mobility is a long-term growth strategy."
www.suttontrust.com...
Absolutely no mention of reducing the gap between the have’s and the have not’s which under successive governments has been widening.
Today we have a government that is introducing drastic cuts in social healthcare, policing, education and every other area of public spending yet we
have seen a reduction in tax levels for the upper earners, (something that has been proven to have absolutely no positive impact whatsoever on the
economy).
We then get the Labour Leader Of The Opposition seeking to gain political points by criticising this government for it’s policies by saying
life chances were "sliding backwards".
and
"Tackling social mobility is a huge mountain to climb and the last Labour government took some important steps.
"But... this government seems to think we can let those at the top take whatever rewards they think fit and somehow everyone else can just play
catch-up."
Well sorry Mr Miliband I must have missed that one.
This from a Labour government that had more privately educated Public schoolboys in it’s ranks than any other government since the good old
Victorian times.
Strange sort of social mobility that.
To be fair though, they were soon out done by Cameron as his administration has even more Oxbridge, Eton etc alumni than New Labour did.
People seem quite sceptical when I accuse this government of being intent on dragging us back to Victorian like times.
But let’s look at some facts;
1. Unemployment on the increase.
2. The ‘working classes’ earning less money in real terms year in year out.
3. The wealthier sections of society earning more.
4. Policies implemented to encourage the gap between the wealthy and the not so wealthy to continue growing.
5. Increased university fees limiting opportunity for poorer sections of society to attend university.
And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Only yesterday we had Vince Cable finally rediscovering his spine and morals speaking out about the governments apparent support for The Beecroft
Report which recommends making it far easier to sack employees and other regressive policies which are heavily loaded in favour of employers and shows
little regard for employee rights.
www.bbc.co.uk...
There is controversy over the content of this report with suggestions it has been ‘doctored’ by The Conservative Party to support their proposed
policies.
www.bbc.co.uk...
It seems so obvious to me that despite all the political spin and the rhetorical sound bites Cameron and his buddies are hell bent on taking this
country backwards.
They resent the advances in employment law, education, health care etc that have benefitted the working people of this country and helped improve
their standard of living and quality of life.
Of course there are many problems that need addressing in British society and I recognise that I have given a very one sided perspective here – that
was done deliberately in an attempt to redress the balance.
All we see and hear in MSM is the governments and Establishment view that things have gone too far and if ‘the glory days’ are to return then we
need to undo some of these legislations and advancements.
I’m sorry, I don’t see moving backwards to some sort of Victorianeque society with all it’s injustices as progress – we need to be moving
forwards in a positive progressive manner rather than regressing.
Whillst I recognise that social mobility is an integral part of society and that the lack of opportunity is a major problem we are still failing to
address what for me is the bigger problem and the core issue; why there is such a gulf within society in the first place and why such social mobility
is required.