A letter a day to number 10. No 1,383
Saturday 26 March 2016.
Dear Mr Cameron,
Nothing says we’re all in this together like a holiday in Lanzarote to give yourself ‘time to think’.
Weirdly, I wrote a piece about thinking only two days ago and I have to say that it’s something most of us do pretty much all the time despite so many of us being unable to remember the last time we had a holiday.
I would have thought that thinking was a prerequisite for the job of Prime Minister but I am happy to be proved wrong and, really, that explains a great deal to be honest.
Having watched the behaviour of Osborne and Gove as John McDonnell called for an apology from Osborne over his despicable treatment of disabled people, it seems that thinking is in short supply in your government.
I am not usually one to second guess what others might be thinking, but I have a suspicion that you won’t be thinking about the utter misery you and your government are responsible for causing as a result of your heinous policies, but how to save your own hide.
You might not like disabled people coming along to parliament and protesting about your treatment of them, but that’s what thinking people do and I could wish the BBC had stopped and thought for a moment before terminating their coverage of a protest that was about saving lives, just because some unthinking official jobsworth came over and demanded it.
However, it was refreshing to see that the thinking people’s Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, came out and spoke to the protesters in support of disabled people who are ‘rightfully angry’ at cuts that cost lives. It was hardly some rabid mob he was addressing as they gave him room to speak and a respectful hearing.
McDonnell said, “To propose taking up to £150 a week away from disabled people that helps them to live independently and with dignity is a chilling example of the lengths Osborne is willing to go to in putting his own political career ahead of the long-term good of our nation.” Dignity, now there’s a thoughtful word. You might like to think about that before you get back. Treating people with dignity and, indeed, respect, is the very least one should expect from a public servant. That, as you are so fond of saying, is ‘the right thing to do’.
Fear and Loathing in Great Britain 