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

4^th March 2023