Put your dog whistle down, David
Earlier this afternoon, David Cameron told BBC1′s Politics Show
“The moment a burglar steps over your threshold, and invades your property, with all the threat that gives to you, your family and your livelihood, I think they leave their human rights outside.”
To many people, dismayed by recent headline court cases, I expect this sounds really good. Although closer examination as to what Chris Graying is proposing shows that the difference between ‘reasonable’ and disproportionate’ is negligible, I believe Cameron has no intention of making a real change to existing law. The driving force is to continue to promote his ‘broken Britain’ rhetoric and scare voters into backing the Tories. As one commentator at ConservativeHome said gleefully:
“Whether a few criminals end up dead as a result of this doesn’t really matter and is really quite a sideshow to the main issue and a trivial point no-one really cares about. The net effect of this announcement is that it will win the Tory Party loads and loads of votes. And there’s absolutely nothing Labour can do about it. Nothing at all.”
Putting aside whether it does matter if ’a few criminals end up dead’, do we really want the election to be decided by who is the scariest? Put your dog whistle down David, it’s frequency has dropped too low to get away with it.
Related posts:
- Do criminals have human rights?
- Forget it Dave, the wedding's off
- Cameron must investigate Conservative's trail of harassment and abuse
Comments
31 January 2010, 3:57 pm
I’ve blogged about this today too – it chilled me to the bone.
The Tories we’re going to get in the next Parliament are the nasty type. It is worth being scared about what they might do.
31 January 2010, 7:13 pm
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31 January 2010, 8:02 pm
This feels like a tabloid issue designed to excite armchair lunatics to come out for the Blues in their armed and dangerous masses.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s electoral toxicity presents an excellent opportunity for the LibDems to make major gains. The Conservatives only lead current polls because the LibDems appear to add ‘me too’ to popular positions on every argument. What the party needs is a departure from the current narrow Westminster consensus. The timing is good for a liberal agenda.
We voters want a message of hope and change. A new deal from government that restores and defends personal liberty, cuts taxes, gets people working, and delivers real improvements in quality of life to ordinary people. Policies that actually improve schools instead of lowering exam standards. Industrial policies which cut long term unemployment instead of hiking benefits to the unskilled while hollowing out industry. Policies which restore accountability and civic pride into local government; At the very least, we need traffic courts to curb rapacious wardens.
This new deal must include a credible strategy for shrinking government, cutting taxes, and helping small business. The welfare state, which costs the taxpayers more than the GDP of Egypt every year, needs close attention. The Treasury says that we spend more on policing (3p on the pound) than we do on defense (2.5p); we spend three times that on welfare and income support (including 11p per £ on the dole). Government needs to show respect for taxpayers’ funds.
The party that recognizes that most people in this country make their money through personal achievement, and want others to benefit and achieve also, will win points with today’s voters.
We desperately need a new deal. Please could the LibDems step up and offer us one?