Due to not fixing the roof the last time the sun was
shining, I was up there repairing it yesterday. Oddly enough the sun was
actually shining, but as I toiled my thoughts turned to roofs at large, some of
which may by now be the subject of contemplation by the poor and dispossessed,
the ‘most vulnerable’ and those who care about them as the best position from
which to launch the ultimate protest. Throwing yourself on the mercy of gravity
and concrete and leaving the clearing up to others is, of course, exactly appropriate
for those who can no longer live in this cruel, cruel world. A world where, if
you believe social media, the Tories are planning to introduce policy so nasty
it will intentionally kill thousands; a world where Maggie’s ghost will stalk
the land stealing the breath from colic infants in the night.
At times over the weekend I felt as if I had been transported
to a Dickensian squalor of the very worst of times. While most ordinary people,
voters or not, went about their days with a feeling of relief at the general
election outcome, or else a feeling of nothing very much, a small but vocal and
disruptive minority with access to impressionable young minds set about protesting
at democracy. On Twitter it emerged that because 36% of the votes went to make
50% Conservative seats the result is invalid and the 64% should have prevailed.
In other words let the largest party become the minority in parliament so that
the disjointed forces of the confused and left and anarchic and plain bonkers
can represent the basket case that Britain has so clearly become.
Basing your majority on everybody that didn’t vote Tory
and then expecting that bizarre assembly to somehow come up with coherent
policy is exactly what simple democracy would be; or as I like to call it,
chaos. It betrays a level of thinking that cannot move beyond the propaganda
that Tories are evil, Tories kill the poor and sick, Tories are not human. I
spent a rare weekend off being variously reviled, insulted, mocked and threatened
by the lovely parties, despite never once declaring myself blue or otherwise.
Pointing and laughing at the self-destructive ‘left’ was all it took; if you
are not with them you must be against them. How in the world do lefty comedians
manage to undertake an enhanced scrutiny of humanity yet still believe that raging,
screaming hate mobs are the caring side of the divide.
Of course, for we observers of such matters it is all
hilarious, like watching YouTube videos of pets and children falling over,
tripping up, diving into soup and performing stunts which, to the educated eye,
can have only one outcome. But sometimes you wonder if there isn’t something
going on at a more sentient level. Take Matt Woodruff of the family business
Woodruff’s Yard in Lewes. He erected the sign you see below to express his
disgust at the election outcome. A small businessman, against the Tories? Ah
but plants, see…
When this hit Twitter (my bad) Matt took to a local forum
to defend his possibly illegal discriminatory approach to business. If it
works soon we will be able to enjoy the good old days of ‘No blacks, no
dogs, no Irish’ at establishments nationwide. And compensation will be paid to
those Christian guest house owners prosecuted for preferring not to accommodate
gays, or bakeries averse to making lesbian wedding cakes. But of course that
won’t happen and nor should it. Matt will not be prosecuted and there are enough who feel like
him to do his business no harm. So while 64% can go on hating, the other 36 are
quietly getting on keeping the world safe for them to do so.
