David Cameron invented the phrase "Broken Britain" to describe a type of social collapse that he supposed characterised the Labour years and which was an outcome of Labour philosophy.
Irony of ironies, it seems to have taken only a year of Mr Cameron's Premiership to actually break Britain....
Cutting jobs and services and police numbers is coming home to roost, as Nick Clegg predicted and Boris Johnson highlights...
London's burning... and so are Manchester, Salford, Birmingham, Liverpool........
Parts of Britain are indeed broken... and the chickens are coming home to roost for the inventor of the slogan....
Showing posts with label broken britain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label broken britain. Show all posts
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Thursday, 15 July 2010
The Lie of Broken Britain....
"Broken Britain" was one of David Cameron's mantras, playing on the fear of crime that is so often exaggerated and inflamed by the Tory tabloids. But the crime figures released today show that crime is down to below the levels of 1981. This BBC Graph shows that crime in England and Wales shot up under the Conservatives in the 1980s and early 90s, and has fallen steadily under Labour. It is now at levels not seen since before the Thatcher Government. So much for the Tories as the so-called Party of Law and Order!
It's ironic that Cameron made so much of the fear of crime when his party drives crime up and Labour brings it down...
It's the same with the economy of course, and there's another Tory version of "Broken Britain", the one that says the economy needs such massive and early cuts that the Welfare State can no longer be afforded. This case is not accepted by the majority of economists and is clearly driven by right-wing Tory ideology.
And the Tory claim that There Is No Alternative (TINA) to the cuts, is not necesarilly true either. This document, The Great Tax Parachute, spells out some alternative ways to cut the deficit by raising taxes and by recovering some of the estimated £100 billion that is lost to the Exchequer by deliberate tax evasion, non-paymet and tax avoidance strategies.
It is issued by a group calling themselves The Green New Deal. I'm no economist, but the ideas that this group espouse seem to me to be at least worth considering. If we really are losing £100 billion a year through unpaid taxes, it must be worth trying to get some of it back from the thieves who are stealing it...
It's ironic that Cameron made so much of the fear of crime when his party drives crime up and Labour brings it down...
It's the same with the economy of course, and there's another Tory version of "Broken Britain", the one that says the economy needs such massive and early cuts that the Welfare State can no longer be afforded. This case is not accepted by the majority of economists and is clearly driven by right-wing Tory ideology.
And the Tory claim that There Is No Alternative (TINA) to the cuts, is not necesarilly true either. This document, The Great Tax Parachute, spells out some alternative ways to cut the deficit by raising taxes and by recovering some of the estimated £100 billion that is lost to the Exchequer by deliberate tax evasion, non-paymet and tax avoidance strategies.
It is issued by a group calling themselves The Green New Deal. I'm no economist, but the ideas that this group espouse seem to me to be at least worth considering. If we really are losing £100 billion a year through unpaid taxes, it must be worth trying to get some of it back from the thieves who are stealing it...
Monday, 15 February 2010
Why are the Tories so keen to portray Broken Britain, that they have to invent statistics?
Two weeks ago the Conservatives, in an attempt to support their Daily Mail "Broken Britain" thesis, issued statistics to their candidates on violent crime (see here) but had to withdraw them after the Head of The Office of National Statistics pointed out that they were wrong, and violent crime was actually reducing.
Last week they issued their infamous "Death Tax" poster, (here) attacking attempts to fund Social Care for the Elderly, only for it to be revealed that the Health spokesmen of Labour, Tories and LibDems had been in talks about gaining a consensus on this important policy area. Only nobody had told the Tory PR department or its head of operations, (one D. Cameron) or if they did, D. Cameron didn't care. Anyway, now the chance of a sensible consensus on this policy has been effectively destroyed. Maybe that's what David Cameron wanted in the first place...?
Today they have issued a press release claiming that 54% of young women in deprived areas are getting pregnant. The real figure is 5.4%!. Then they claimed that, even so, this shows an increase in teenage pregnacies, only for the true statistics to show that there has been a decrease from 6% in 1998.
If David Cameron wants to see examples of Broken Britain, he should dig out some newsreel of the 1980's when his lot tried to destroy society (in fact "society" didn't exist according to their philosophy).
Now, according to the David Cameron, the country is going to the dogs in any way you care to mention. But if it isn't, well, just invent the numbers.......
Last week they issued their infamous "Death Tax" poster, (here) attacking attempts to fund Social Care for the Elderly, only for it to be revealed that the Health spokesmen of Labour, Tories and LibDems had been in talks about gaining a consensus on this important policy area. Only nobody had told the Tory PR department or its head of operations, (one D. Cameron) or if they did, D. Cameron didn't care. Anyway, now the chance of a sensible consensus on this policy has been effectively destroyed. Maybe that's what David Cameron wanted in the first place...?
Today they have issued a press release claiming that 54% of young women in deprived areas are getting pregnant. The real figure is 5.4%!. Then they claimed that, even so, this shows an increase in teenage pregnacies, only for the true statistics to show that there has been a decrease from 6% in 1998.
If David Cameron wants to see examples of Broken Britain, he should dig out some newsreel of the 1980's when his lot tried to destroy society (in fact "society" didn't exist according to their philosophy).
Now, according to the David Cameron, the country is going to the dogs in any way you care to mention. But if it isn't, well, just invent the numbers.......
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Broken Britain, or Wishful Thinking
Just what is it about the Conservative party and the spreading of fear and panic? Why do they think a fearful electorate will run to them?
The Tories have been banging on about what they call "Broken Britain" for months now. According to their analysis the UK is a crumbling society: crime is rising, children are being killed in unprecedented numbers by "beasts" and the public should be trembling with fear.... until Dave rides to the rescue....
Except.... Chris Grayling, the Shadow Home Secretary, has been rebuked by the head of the Office of Statistics for issuing statistics for campaigning Torys that show violent crime rising. In fact the basis for gathering and reporting the stats was changed in 2002. Violent crime is actually falling, but Grayling's figures give a false impression of the actual level of violent crime. Now why would the Tories want people to think that violent crime is rising when it's not?
read more here
Another thread of the "Broken Britain" narrative has unravelled today with a report which shows that the violent deaths of children have decreased by 40%-50% since 1974. And the main reason identified was the interventions and actions of social workers.
The Conservatives have a real cheek pursuing this thread. Under Mrs Thatcher crime and poverty doubled. Violent crime increased. There was a great deal of social disorder, with riots in the streets of the major cities of England in 1981, 1982 and 1987. If Dave wants a paradigm of a "Broken Britain", he should dig up his old diaries of the time when he was a back room boy at Smith Square.
Crime, poverty, violence all up, and riots in the streets.
Now that's broken.
The Tories have been banging on about what they call "Broken Britain" for months now. According to their analysis the UK is a crumbling society: crime is rising, children are being killed in unprecedented numbers by "beasts" and the public should be trembling with fear.... until Dave rides to the rescue....
Except.... Chris Grayling, the Shadow Home Secretary, has been rebuked by the head of the Office of Statistics for issuing statistics for campaigning Torys that show violent crime rising. In fact the basis for gathering and reporting the stats was changed in 2002. Violent crime is actually falling, but Grayling's figures give a false impression of the actual level of violent crime. Now why would the Tories want people to think that violent crime is rising when it's not?
read more here
Another thread of the "Broken Britain" narrative has unravelled today with a report which shows that the violent deaths of children have decreased by 40%-50% since 1974. And the main reason identified was the interventions and actions of social workers.
The Conservatives have a real cheek pursuing this thread. Under Mrs Thatcher crime and poverty doubled. Violent crime increased. There was a great deal of social disorder, with riots in the streets of the major cities of England in 1981, 1982 and 1987. If Dave wants a paradigm of a "Broken Britain", he should dig up his old diaries of the time when he was a back room boy at Smith Square.
Crime, poverty, violence all up, and riots in the streets.
Now that's broken.
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