Thatcher famously said “There is no society. There are individual men and women and there are families”. It’s a phrase that has always bugged me. A fair and good society has always been something I’ve striven for. Yet the process to “remove” society that she began back in 1979 has now come true in 2019. We have a majority Conservative government elected by individuals that seemingly have no interest in a better society.
This campaign has been the dirtiest in British history, with both Conservatives and Labour employing Machiavellian spin-doctors to turn votes to their advantage. The Lib Dems have tried their best to get us to Vote Tactically and even their own leader has lost her seat.
The left basically ran terrible campaigns and the right brought all of their political and economic might and influence to bear on a witless population who fell for the slogan “Get Brexit Done”. The end of the beginning of Brexit is now a foregone conclusion. We may march, we may sing, but with a Tory majority in parliament we cannot stop anything.
So, prepare yourselves! We will have years more of Brexit as we tear ourselves apart from the EU and the Union will tear itself apart from within. It’s only a matter of time before Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland decide they can do better without the English. Good luck to them, but I doubt it will be true, unless they re-join the EU and get some protection.
So is there really no society? Did the founders of the NHS and the Welfare State get it all wrong? Or have we just changed?
Let me tell you now: I have not changed. I still believe in a fairer society. I may be crying into my beer this morning, but tomorrow I will pick myself up, restore my dignity and start the fight again.
