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Every now and again my wife will produce some very wise and thought-provoking words.
We were out walking with our two dogs yesterday afternoon when she said, in relation to the raft of legislation this government has introduced, ‘Britain used to be the ‘Can Do’ country. Now it’s the ‘Can’t Do’ country’.
I mulled this over afterwards and realised that she was quite right.
In the days of Margaret ‘Do it my Way’ Thatcher, legislation was mainly about the big issues (even the dreaded poll tax which led to her ultimate fall was a big issue!). Of course we had strife, chiefly with the miners and the print unions, but the country - indeed, much of the world with the end of the Cold War - seemed to be surging forward most of the time. The Falklands conflict, seen as a just one by the British at any rate, produced a pride in Britain and our accomplishments. The union flag was seen on a variety of products as representing quality. Our standing in the world was high, and we had pride and self-esteem.
I suppose it all started to go downhill with the government of John ‘The Invisible Man’ Major who had to deal with the Gulf War, recession and the Maastricht Treaty. He was, alas, a grey man and the country seemed to descend into a sort of greyness.
Then along came Tony ‘Teflon’ Blair. He gained the Belfast Agreement and promoted devolution for Scotland and Wales, but got the country involved in unpopular wars in Kosovo, Afghanistan and, most notably, Iraq. The ancient law prohibiting ‘double jeopardy’ prosecutions in cases which had been tried was overturned. He reintroduced expensive local government for London which had been scrapped by Margaret Thatcher and, after the initial rapture following his election, the grey evolved into a sort of gloom.
And then Gordon ‘Bully Boy’ Brown appeared on the scene. Under him the gloom has most certainly deepened. We’ve had the Treaty of Lisbon (despite a promise of a referendum on the issue), the introduction of 42 days detention for terror suspects, parliamentary expenses scandals and national financial collapse. The motorist is overtaxed, and what few places are left for them to park their cars in are patrolled by aggressive traffic wardens or ‘Civil Enforcement Officers’ as they are now called. Our standing in the world has never been lower. What is left of the country’s self-esteem at the moment? Very little.
There is a feeling that the country is now overburdened with petty legislation, that some members of Parliament are corrupt even if not criminally so, that Parliament is incapable of regulating its members sensibly, that a government totally out of tune with the people has waged war against the motorist and has done very little for the ordinary man in the street. Indeed, we are now subject to more taxation and petty legislation than ever before. We are reported to be the country with the most surveillance cameras anywhere in the world, and latest regulations suggest that almost every citizen needs to have a Criminal Records Check for one reason or another.
Any new government, of whatever party, needs to lift this country out of its despondency, sort out immigration, deal with the national debt, take us out of expensive overseas conflicts and try to give us back our pride and self-esteem and our standing in the world. Most importantly, it needs to lighten the tax burden.
Wise words prompted this morning’s blog. Whether any of our politicians can come up with any wise words - and deeds - to sort this country out remains to be seen. But, at the moment, it seems highly unlikely from what I have heard so far.
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