Dae a hufty?
I know I'm old because I keep remembering stuff like this.
Dae a hufty? is what the three of us would say to our long-suffering, hard-working mother when she insisted we had to do something she wanted us to do. It didn't matter what it was: take the bins out, do our homework, go for messages. In the end, we always did it, of course. Dae a hufty? was just a protest.
Now I find myself looking at Boris Johnson and wondering if he never had a mother (or a parent figure) who came out with the posh English equivalent of my mother's reply:
Aye, ye hufty!
There was no arguing with that: there were things you had to do as your duty. You could moan about it but you couldn't refuse to do it. Somewhere the Tory party (the 'natural party of government') lost track of its duty. The Labour Party did the same. The LibDems are well on their way to losing track too.
They have all lost track of the basics of politics: even if you don't mean it, you have to claim the first thing on your mind is the well-being of the voters. Not your career. Not making money or storing up contacts for the life you will have after you leave Westminster. Not your next political job. Not schmoozing with the queen - though it's unlikely anyone in politics is going to be doing that much, not after Cameron's memoirs and Johnson's lies.
The big problem for those of us who really believe that politics - the vote - is the way to change things is that many voters now have nothing but contempt for politicians - all politicians, no matter what the party. Even SNP and Green politicians are tainted by their contact with mainstream politicos. And it's all because we, the voters, have noticed that politicians don't give a rat's ass about us.
So what can we do?
It feels as if voters can do little in the present set-up. We can hope something changes but we can't force change. Things are not done with us but for us. I see the frustration of the many people who voted to leave the EU and don't see it happening. I also see the irritation of the many voters who want to remain in the EU and are expected to just knuckle under and accept the current shambles.
And what about me? I honestly can't bear to watch what's happening in Westminster. And I'm someone who believes in the importance of politics for any country. This week's shenanigans have been quite shocking for me as for a lot of us. From Barry Sheerman to Boris Johnson to the bully Geoffrey Cox haranguing his own party's MPs and the buffoon Michael Gove shouting at anyone within range - but especially the SNP - no one has come out of this week well.
Most voters just don't follow this. They may hear about events on TV news or read a bit about it all in a newspaper, but they are mostly not engaged. I am. Or I try to be. But I can feel my patience running out. Those of us who live in Scotland have got used to being ignored or being told off for being beggars sucking cash out of England, but it is starting to be really annoying to see Boris Johnson take time out of a hectic schedule just to tell us his government has no interest in what goes on in Scotland and will stop us going for independence.
If politicians are honest, if they really are interested in empowering people, if they really care about the people they represent, it's for them to come up with a solution to the ills affecting Westminster. They are the only people who can resolve the brexit problem.
If they fail, then they face a real dilemma: why would Scotland and Northern Ireland - both jurisdictions voted to remain in the EU - stay with the union that can't deliver what they want? Why would Welsh voters return to Labour, after months of moving towards independence?
I don't even think this is interesting any more. If anything, it's embarrassing.
Dae a hufty? is what the three of us would say to our long-suffering, hard-working mother when she insisted we had to do something she wanted us to do. It didn't matter what it was: take the bins out, do our homework, go for messages. In the end, we always did it, of course. Dae a hufty? was just a protest.
Now I find myself looking at Boris Johnson and wondering if he never had a mother (or a parent figure) who came out with the posh English equivalent of my mother's reply:
Aye, ye hufty!
There was no arguing with that: there were things you had to do as your duty. You could moan about it but you couldn't refuse to do it. Somewhere the Tory party (the 'natural party of government') lost track of its duty. The Labour Party did the same. The LibDems are well on their way to losing track too.
They have all lost track of the basics of politics: even if you don't mean it, you have to claim the first thing on your mind is the well-being of the voters. Not your career. Not making money or storing up contacts for the life you will have after you leave Westminster. Not your next political job. Not schmoozing with the queen - though it's unlikely anyone in politics is going to be doing that much, not after Cameron's memoirs and Johnson's lies.
The big problem for those of us who really believe that politics - the vote - is the way to change things is that many voters now have nothing but contempt for politicians - all politicians, no matter what the party. Even SNP and Green politicians are tainted by their contact with mainstream politicos. And it's all because we, the voters, have noticed that politicians don't give a rat's ass about us.
So what can we do?
It feels as if voters can do little in the present set-up. We can hope something changes but we can't force change. Things are not done with us but for us. I see the frustration of the many people who voted to leave the EU and don't see it happening. I also see the irritation of the many voters who want to remain in the EU and are expected to just knuckle under and accept the current shambles.
And what about me? I honestly can't bear to watch what's happening in Westminster. And I'm someone who believes in the importance of politics for any country. This week's shenanigans have been quite shocking for me as for a lot of us. From Barry Sheerman to Boris Johnson to the bully Geoffrey Cox haranguing his own party's MPs and the buffoon Michael Gove shouting at anyone within range - but especially the SNP - no one has come out of this week well.
Most voters just don't follow this. They may hear about events on TV news or read a bit about it all in a newspaper, but they are mostly not engaged. I am. Or I try to be. But I can feel my patience running out. Those of us who live in Scotland have got used to being ignored or being told off for being beggars sucking cash out of England, but it is starting to be really annoying to see Boris Johnson take time out of a hectic schedule just to tell us his government has no interest in what goes on in Scotland and will stop us going for independence.
If politicians are honest, if they really are interested in empowering people, if they really care about the people they represent, it's for them to come up with a solution to the ills affecting Westminster. They are the only people who can resolve the brexit problem.
If they fail, then they face a real dilemma: why would Scotland and Northern Ireland - both jurisdictions voted to remain in the EU - stay with the union that can't deliver what they want? Why would Welsh voters return to Labour, after months of moving towards independence?
I don't even think this is interesting any more. If anything, it's embarrassing.
Comments
Post a Comment