Catch21 Productions | David Cameron’s talk of “Broken Britain” is vacuous moralising

David Cameron’s talk of “Broken Britain” is vacuous moralising

Recently, the Tories have followed a new direction in campaigning: focusing on social issues. This emphasis on “Broken Britain”, and the notion that the past 13 years of Labour Government have left Britain on the edge of Social Meltdown, seems to be a key issue that the Conservatives are pursuing. This onus on engaging the electorate’s social conscience is not new. I can’t help but be reminded of the “back to basics” campaigning under John Major that all unravelled spectacularly under a cloud of scandal and sleaze.

It seems like a safe bet from Cameron, the kind of politics which will always entice a certain section of the population. It forces us to look at David Cameron the man, and not his polices. He is looking to win the hearts and minds of the British public. However, his background may be a stumbling block. Although it is arguably lazy to attack Cameron’s background, a new poll in the Guardian shows that a third of the public believe the Conservatives are a party for the upper classes. As much as I don’t think this is his fault, and that you can’t help where you come from, he does nothing to diminish this image by filling his shadow cabinet with old Etonians.

Cameron’s talk of Britain being in “social recession” is supplemented by his frequent mention of the Edlington attacks last year. Cameron’s reference to that attack as an example of how society is on the slide is very manipulative. Attacks like those in Edlington are very rare, yet they leave their mark on the public consciousness because of their horror, especially considering that such young people are involved. However, such attacks have happened before, and will happen again, and society as a whole cannot be held accountable for them. They can be dismissed too easily as a “sign of the times”, when these cases are actually complex and involve a myriad of factors.

It smacks of electioneering and political point-scoring. At worst, it’s vulgar of Cameron to try and one-up Labour on the back of such a despicable act. At best, it’s short-sighted of him to attribute this event (and others like it) to Labour social policy, especially without outlining a concrete social policy himself. Cameron has come across as conceited, and should focus his attentions elsewhere in the run-up to the general election.

(Photo courtesy artysmokes @ flickr)

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Dan
Posts: 3

Re: David Cameron’s talk of “Broken Britain” is vacuous moralising
Reply #3 on : Fri February 05, 2010, 16:44:18

David Cameroon has a point about society, it's not doing too well at the moment. Are we really saying its not fragmenting?????????

Tom J
Posts: 3

Re: David Cameron’s talk of “Broken Britain” is vacuous moralising
Reply #2 on : Mon February 08, 2010, 11:12:50

But Dan, has there ever been a time when people didn't think society was fragmenting? Cameron's 'Broken Britain' mantra is the same message that's been heard from all parties for a very long time, and there's arguably nothing to suggest that it's more valid now than it has been in the past.

But I think Hassan is making a different point at the end of this article, which is that Cameron seems to have got this message to the public by taking advantage of a horrific but isolated case in Edlington, and scoring political points off the back of something so terrible really is bad form.

Hassan
Posts: 3

Re: David Cameron’s talk of “Broken Britain” is vacuous moralising
Reply #1 on : Sat February 20, 2010, 18:00:37

In response to Dan's comment, yes an argument could be made for a fragmentation of society currently. However, I think things would be no different whether the Governement was Labour, Conservative, or Liberal Democrat. Tom has understood the point I was trying to make. As we move closer to a general election, I believe it's the sort of attack designed to create attention.