Trust. From birth, our whole outlook, reactions and decision-making, no matter how simple or complicated, is dependent upon trust. Until 1939, trust was almost implicit in everything we did. If you found a purse you took it to the police station; overcharging was a rarity and houses were rarely locked through the day. Whether right or not, we trusted our politicians, or most of us did, and we were rewarded by the occasional resignation for some breach of the code for the House of Commons, that to us lay men, seemed excessive and unwarranted in many cases. Now in business, on the Internet, in the home, in fact in every aspect of our lives we cannot afford to be trusting. Old people, young people, all of us, risk being battered for some trumpery item or a handful of cash. It doesn’t stop there, dealing with people today, often remotely, you’re never quite sure whether you will be dealt with fairly, or even honestly. Get out clauses, which seem to be designed for a one-way street, are now common. This lack of trust, this cynical expectation of being diddled, is rampant at all levels of society, except with the totally naive. And now this lack of faith is paramount on a political level, because a proportion of those who should be dedicated to our welfare, are more interested in their career prospects than the truth of the matter. How often has one heard excuses or half truths. Trust is the cement which holds society together, In the last decades it has withered. Why?
Self-Help – A New Party Political policy has become pragmatic and distant, ‘what wins votes is in the manifesto’ irrespective if it is an improvement or not, which of course is then sidetracked. The actual needs of the Majority seem to be secondary, witness NHS Dentristry, and all the other ills now expressed daily on TV and in the Press, The majority is becoming poorer and less advantaged instead of better off. Our Politicians are now more obsessed with ‘Leading the World’ than serving the electorate.
It behoves those with the knowledge and dedication, the artisans and the professionals, to reawaken the old fashioned Ginger Group, a tool of the past, to bring politicians to heel. Working from a managing and analytical Nucleus, into groups throughout the Realm, reassessing needs, mismanagement, corruption if it exists, and waste, should all be highlighted, channelled back and forth, until the extent of and solutions to the problems, nation wide can be assessed and those ills reaching unacceptable levels raised at Parliament level. The obvious outcome of such a system would be a new Parliamentary Party rising from the ranks of this analytical association, independent candidates and those disillusioned. They must simplify, not centralise government, act as a watchdog, with strong responsibilities to the electorate instead of steamrollering it. The Nucleus would be the conscience of the party, and if the party came to power, it would not be the government, but would retain its role of critical analysis and contact with the electorate. We need something! Westminster has totally changed in the way politics are run. It used to be confrontational for a reason, now it is theatre, with all the puppets having the same script, written by the puppet master.
Character Assassination To evaluate a writer’s views and bias on a given project, is essential to assess how much credence one can place on what is written. .I am careful to give a thumbnail autobiography, to provide a fair idea of my biases, which I do my best to keep in check. On a recent TV programme, a journalist gave a biography of David Cameron, from his antecedents right up until today. It seemed very harsh whether factual or not. Without knowing about the journalist, I had no idea of the bias, or alternatively, perhaps someone employed him. There must have been a reason for this analysis of someone adjudged good enough by his peers to be the leader of a party
One aspect I feel strongly about, is the fact that all parties have a number of advisers dealing with every aspect of political doctrine and management, people rarely members of the House of Commons, who have no mandate, no tangible responsibilities for their actions other than the sack. They seem to hold tremendous sway when it comes to National policy, lawmaking and implementation. This whole agenda seems to be in line with the current trend that no one in the House of Commons can be brought to book for flagrant breaches of the code of the House, as I understand it to be from past examples, they should be the norm. So much is at stake. In effect, who can one trust implicitly, who is to be believed?