It's not often I agree with Tony Blair - but his comments on the riots in the Observer (if the Beeb report is accurate) seem spot on.
Blair pointed to a group of people 'outside the social mainstream and who live in a culture at odds with any canons of proper behaviour'.
'Focus on the specific problem and we can begin on a proper solution'
'Elevate this into a highfalutin wail about a Britain that has lost its way morally and we will depress ourselves unnecessarily, trash our own reputation abroad, and worst of all, miss the chance to deal with the problem in the only way that will work.'
It's a clear attack on Cameron's reactionary 'Broken Britain' nonsense and also vaguely Scottish in its use of 'highfalutin'.
It's a line I hope the Deputy PM takes up.
'Mr Blair also dismissed claims the UK was in the grip of a "moral decline".'
ReplyDeleteWell he would say that - wouldn't he.
There HAS been a moral decline among a significant minority at varying levels of UK society.
It includes:-
People in senior management positions who ignore the fact that the buck stops on their desk and when it all goes pear-shaped they fail to resign without clamouring for compensation for the remainder of their over-paid contracts
Bankers who screwed us royally and have got away with it
Parents who let their children run riot in restaurants and other public places, oblivious to the impact on other users of such places - a slippery slope towards...
....Parents who have no idea where their children are at night....
....Parents who don't bother to turn up when their child has to appear in court as a result of being caught up in the recent riots
Drivers who ingore the safety of others on the road e.g. putting other peoples' lives at risk through racing against their satnavs.
I could go on but that will do for now.
There is a significant number of people who have no regard for others - that is moral decline in my book