Compasionate Conservatism
I must
confess that I had not heard this phrase for a long time. I thought it had been
given up. I was under the misapprehension that they had returned to that other
phase used by conservatives, the nasty party. Apparently not.
I like
words, but for words to have meaning, they must clearly define what they mean.
So compassionate, I need to know what is being done to demonstrate compassion
practically.
So,
conservatives of recent date have awarded their friends with million-pound
contracts for PPE that did not work and had to be destroyed. Is that compassion
conservatism?
Then again,
they have recently told us how to eat right, go and eat cake! Oh, sorry, it
wasn't cake; it was turnips. Is that what is meant by compassionate
conservatism?
However,
they have recently tried to compassionately help us British in attempting to
deport vulnerable refugees fleeing from war to Rwanda; perhaps that is what
they mean by compassion.
In the U.K.,
at the moment, we have more people using food banks than ever before, but
thankfully the conservatives, In the shape of Conservative MP Lee Anderson, has
come with some compassionate help. Lee Anderson, Conservative MP, was very
compassionate to himself; he claimed £219,703.44 as business costs - higher
than the average M.P. He said that people using food banks do not know how to
budget or cook. I also wonder if they have enough money to put the cooker on?
·
N.B. The Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) represents more
than 500 independent food banks operating across the U.K. IFAN has
identified at least 1,172 independent food banks across the U.K. in
addition to food banks in the Trussell Trust network, Salvation Army,
and school-based food banks.
·
In its mid-year statistics, the
Trussell Trust reported a 23% rise in the number of food parcels they
distributed from April to September 2019, compared with April to September
2018. The figure rose from 658,048 to 823,145 parcels. This is the steepest
increase it has recorded in five years. Around a third of these were requested
for children.
By the way,
the government is very compassionate to M.P.s, especially regarding food. A
three-course cordon-bluer meal In the Palace of Westminster will cost an M.P.
about £10.00. A braised pork belly with black pudding bonbon and apple salad
starter was £2.70, while a rib-eye steak with béarnaise and hand-cut chips (I
trust these are now being stacked in "the tower arrangement") was
generously priced at £7.80. Who subsidises this? Well, the taxpayer, of
course.
OK, now you
tell me I have got it all wrong, so I look forward to hearing how this
compassionate conservatism works.
w.452
Adrian Hawkes
4th March 2023
