The early results of yesterday’s poll are depressing beyond belief. It looks almost certain that the Tory party will have sufficient seats to form the next government.
I don’t often make party political points here (though my political leanings may sometimes be obvious) but I was reminded today of Neil Kinnock’s heart rending speech in Bridgend, Glamorgan, on Tuesday 7 June 1983, two days before the election in which Margaret Thatcher was returned as Prime Minister.
Kinnock said:
“If Margaret Thatcher wins on Thursday, I warn you not to be ordinary. I warn you not to be young. I warn you not to fall ill. I warn you not to get old.”
Those words resonate even more today than they did 32 years ago. I fear for the old, the poor, the disposessed, the weak, the young, the sick and yes, indeed, the ordinary people of this country. David Cameron and his cronies both inside and outside Government will now return to the task of dismantling all that is good and admirable about our society. A society should be judged on the way it treats its weakest and less able members. Cameron’s Tories are, at heart, brutal and uncaring. That frightens me.