When a mind will never change.... (2)

Northern_Phoenix's profile

Northern_Phoenix
Posted by Northern_Phoenix on Sat 11 Oct 08, 11:15 AM

Yesterday, as part of a thing on campus, I had a chance to sit down and join a Q&A session with a local MP. One that just so happens to be in the Home Office, and steadily climbing the ranks within it.

Someone else who went along looked at his voting record on all the 'big issues', and you can probably predict his votes by the fact he's rising in the Home Office... For ID cards, for extending the time police can hold someone without charge on terror charges, against a transparent parliament, etc etc. To sum up, he's for anything that seems to reduce freedoms in the name of 'public safety', and against anything that increases them, or rights to privacy from the government. I know the burning issue here is the CJB that introduced the extreme porn legislation. He was for that too, but it's only the tip of the iceberg here to me.

And thankfully he was asked about these things, by someone far more politically aware then me (in terms of having looked all this up, and what it actually means in practical terms). His response? He belives that it's for 'the good of the country', with no elaboration as to why it is.

Of course, he did kindly offer the option of 'If you don't like it, you can say so with your vote in the next general election'. Somewhat puzzlingly, he later said that if Labour do lose the next general election, then rather than infighting, the party should actually ask the voters themselves why they lost.

It might just be me, but wouldn't it be better to actually listen to the people and consider their views on things anyway? Of course, that would assume they realised that a silent majority doesn't necessarily mean an agreeing majority, but that doesn't even matter at this point!

None of what I've said is particulary original, or even that thought provoking, and is admittedly pretty simplistic. It was just somewhere between annoying and chilling to actually hear this kind of thing in person, so the rare need to vent about it has happened!

Phoenix

Replies

11 Oct 08, 11:37 AM
MsDemmie
UK(EX), 9 yrs
Y!
It is always chilling to meet that kind of arrogance.
"Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph." Haile Selassie, 1892-1975

11 Oct 08, 2:29 PM
stormywaters
UK(NR), 14 mths

Lovely for me to read this, and I think basically what I like about your post (sorry, don't mean to sound like a schoolmaster) is that it is about a personal encounter. That is what comes across so strongly: you met this guy, experienced him in a way you never can acros a television screen, let alone an election leaflet. And that is why it is scary: someone like that, and the Sarah Palins of this world, the Talibans and all the rest, are as real and alive and living on this planet as you or me. Who needs horror movies?
Ok that is what we in the trade call a rhetorical flourish. I couldn't resist it. (Not entirely sure I could spell it either.)
Bit I do mean it: thank you very much for posting that, it is so refreshingly human and personal and totally free from spin and speechiness. I loved it.


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