Monday 10 March 2014

That interview

Like many people I've been mulling over that interview with Iain Duncan Smith yesterday.  If you didn't see it, it will still be available on iplayer.  I'm not going to go over the whole of it; there are good accounts on the Vox Political blog and the void bog.  While the interview was going out I was following (and contributing to) the Twitter storm, and the producers could have been in no doubt that people were very angry at his lies.
There was a stand-out moment for me, and it wasn't one of his factual inaccuracies.  It was when he was asked about the criticisms of Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the leader of his own church.  With the same supercilious expression that he'd worn throughout, IDS simply said, "He's wrong."
It's important to remember what the Archbishop actually said.  He didn't criticise the "reforms" in principle.  He deplored the fact that people were being left in destitution, left for weeks on end without any support, which he called a "disgrace".  His information, he said, came from the network of priests and charities in the poorest areas of the country.  "There must be something wrong with the administration of a system which has that effect on so many people's lives."  But IDS said, "He's wrong."  And he added that he wished the Archbishop had called him before saying all this.
The arrogance is breath-taking.  No doubt he would have told the man who is supposed to be in spiritual authority over him that all the reports from his priests and charities were ill-informed, that food banks were scaremongering, that the evidence of his own eyes and ears was an illusion.  There is no way through to this man.
I've been around a long time, and involved in politics for much of that time.  I lived through the Thatcher years, and loathed her as much as anyone.  I got disillusioned with Blair.  But this is something different.  This is a government which has entrusted its dirty work to a man who has neither the intelligence nor the insight to understand the consequences of his actions, and who has surrounded himself with people similarly bereft of humanity.  We have media which are either complicit or supine.  And I have no idea what we can do about it.

11 comments:

  1. I was surprised that UJM was not brought up,the basis for a lot the motto's "Making Work Pay" "Strivers not Scroungers" has been built on the foundation that 500.000 legit jobs are available at any one time and people were avoiding them.The other subject I would of been interested in was all the promised Training that is/was supposed to be offered through the WP and PWPS it does not exist,I have asked about Work Placements and the response has been "You need to arrange that yourself" I have asked for guidelines or a form to submit my requests,apparently these do not exist(much the same of ghost training and fake jobs)

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  2. There are only two things wrong with politics: "The lies, and the lying liars that tell them." (Al Franken)

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  3. "This is a government which has entrusted its dirty work to a man who has neither the intelligence nor the insight to understand the consequences of his actions,..."

    Smith is not just shameful. He is actually more shameless than shameful. He simply does not get the criticism levelled against him. Not only does he disagree with those making sound rational arguments against his policies, it seems he is also against anyone daring to do so in the first place.

    I for one would've loved to interview Smith. Then again, maybe I'm not the best choice as I would have to restrain myself or be restrained! I would have put Andrew Neil's points about the WP to him. But would have used my own personal experience of his ill thought out program. As well as those of others I know who've been on the WP and found it badly wanting. No doubt Smith would dismiss my and other's experiences as anecdotal. I wonder if he'd be so lax if he, his wife or children had received poor service from a school, hospital, retailer or utilities company.

    I normally do not make personal attacks on people, but Smith really does exhibit classic sociopathic tendencies. As Historian says, there is no way through to Smith. One cannot appeal to his better nature because he lacks one.

    Therefore I am convinced more than ever that in an ideal world, Smith needs to be humiliated out of office. And not just from any cabinet position. From politics full stop. He needs to be left in such a way that he can never make a comeback or reinvent himself in the way Portillo and Widdicombe have done. By then perhaps he may just begin to get the message.

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  4. he is being highly paid to do his job I would like to know who he answers to where does the buck stop?who pulls his strings or snaps their fingers or is it the anonymous old boys club at work once more

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  5. This is an article from the Independent on Sunday that I originally read twenty years ago. I always remembered it.

    It gives a good idea of what likely to happen in the UK in the near future.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/what-happens-when-you-scrap-the-welfare-state-new-zealand-has-and-its-economy-is-stronger-but-there-is-a-dark-side--one-in-seven-below-poverty-line--record-numbers-of-people-in-jail--armed-police-on-the-streets--queues-at-charity-food-banks-1428688.html

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    1. A fantastic article and incredibly relevant, thank you.

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  6. The Tories won't disable Social Security completely. They will keep the bits their supporters use, especially the State Pension and the NHS. What they will do, IF they win the next General Election is get rid of JSA and replace it with Workfare and food banks. They will also means test medical support. This will have no effect on the economy (any improvement in the economy of NZ will have been accidental) or the National Debt. It will be pursued solely for ideological reasons.

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    1. Don't assume that everyone on a state pension, or everyone who uses the NHS (which is most people) are Conservative supporters. That is far from the truth. But pensioners are more likely to vote.

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  7. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/businessman-arrested-probe-over-hustle-style-6802726 This is a very interesting story It only points out what we have been saying that the UJM site is ridden with fraud and dangers

    Candidates told the M.E.N they had been interviewed at a luxury office inside the Manchester One building on Portland Street, but heard nothing from the company after paying £65 for background checks on offers of employment.

    The £18,000-a-year trainee child counsellor jobs were advertised on several websites - including the government’s own Universal Jobmatch site.

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  8. Another interesting story Something we have known for ages http://blogs.channel4.com/gary-gibbon-on-politics/work-programme-work/27769 Exclusive: The government’s own assessment of how the work programme is going, conducted for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) by independent experts, suggests it is still badly under-performing. The “work programme evalulation: interim meta-report” was signed off ready for publication in September 2013, but has been sat on ever since. A Whitehall source told Channel 4 News that the decision not to publish was taken “at a ministerial level” on the basis that the department didn’t want another embarrassment to deal with. The report is not written in the most strident language, but contains confirmation that one of the DWP’s pet projects is failing in one of its central tasks. -

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    1. Read this several hours ago and left a comment. The comment is still not appearing. Evidently C4 not on the ball (unlike Historian).

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