It is ironic that the Tories, the enemies of ideology and avowed exponents of pragmatism, are starting this election with a much stronger ideological pitch than Labour, normally the proud presenter of an alternative vision. Osborne has gone on the offensive immediately by advocating the balanced budgeting and small state goals of the 1920-30s aimed at shrinking the State and consolidating the power of capital over labour, but which would cripple growth exactly as it did a century ago and restore the Downton Abbey society of that period. It is a hideous scenario and should be hammered to bits, but it does at least offer a scenario of the trajectory of Tory policy, were they to win. For Labour , against that background, the incentive to offer the vision of the new economic order should be compulsive. Continue reading
Tagged with State
There is such thing as society: and I saw it when my child ran away
A couple of days ago something genuinely terrible happened. My eldest child ran away from a park where he was playing with a friend after school. It all happened in a split second; the two boys were messing about, not wanting to go home, much to the irritation of the adults. Then they suddenly vanished.
The boys were missing for two hours – the longest two hours of my life – and luckily were found in one piece about 2 miles from our house. A young couple (whoever you are THANK YOU) handed the two boys into the police and they were delivered home safe and sound.
