If you've been paying attention to social media, you'll know that everyone's making jokes about David Cameron partaking in a humiliating student initiation ceremony involving placing his genitals in the mouth of a dead pig. This post shall refrain from any pork-related humour, not because I'm above such rhetoric, but because all the best jokes have already been made and so I can add nothing to them.
The BBC's political broadcasting has seen a vast decline in balance. It refers to Jeremy Corbyn as 'left wing' whilst the Conservatives aren't labelled 'right wing' - meaning apparently the Tories are an entity unto themselves. Now that David Cameron himself is caught in the largest PM scandal since Gordon Brown called a woman a 'bigot,' the BBC only reluctantly reported on this; downplaying the vileness of the story and emphasising how Lord Ashcroft, the man making these allegations, was dismissed from the Conservative party and is trying to sell a book.
And this is all true, obviously; but hardly balanced journalism.
It's well known that David Cameron was part of the Oxford-based Bullingdon Club. This was a horrid student organisation where members trashed restaurants, burned £50 notes in front of the homeless, did things to women that I'd argue are much worse than pig-play, and generally acted like upper class bastards. They could get away with all this because they were rich, and it's this poisonous attitude which permeates the Conservative government as they cut £2 billion in welfare whilst spending £2 billion on a Chinese nuclear power-plant and selling off stock market shares at a loss of £1 billion - not to mention the billions spent supplying arms to such countries as Saudi Arabia (the country that still uses crucifixion) that I've discussed before.
Also, the very same day this news broke, George Osborne announced he was scrapping free school meals because...because. And to think that a few days ago the press were slating Jeremy Corbyn for the heinous crime of not singing the national anthem. (Maybe he has a horrid singing voice? Maybe he didn't want the press to publish embarrassing photo's of his mouth wide open? Maybe he rightly thinks the national anthem is rubbish?)
Whether Cameron's student escapades went into the realm of inter-species necrophilia is a matter without much solid proof and therefore is something we can only take as speculation. Bear in mind that the first publication to break this news was The Daily Mail - which I hesitate to even call a 'publication.' It's really just a celebrity gossip magazine that occasionally hires some right wing incompetent to ramble incoherently whenever it's supposed to report on actual stuff. (The Sun is the same but with ridiculous pretentions of socialism.)
The fact is that, true or not, this has irreparably damaged Cameron's reputation in a way not seen since Bill Clinton. This is not something he could potentially resign over - although former Australian PM Tony Abbot was kicked out last week, and Northern Ireland's DUP is in tatters; so maybe God's in the process of purging the world of right-wing idiots. But it's something that years from now people will laugh at, which is gratifying since Cameron's reign thus far can only be described as horrid. For a while I was concerned that history would glorify Cameron's Britain the same way it glorifies Margaret Thatcher, but now New-Thatcherism will forever be associated with dead pigs. This will forever top Buzzfeeds': 'Ten Unbelievable Things Prime Ministers Have Done.'
I think the reason why people have so quickly taken to this allegation is because they want it to be true. It's the same way reason people want to believe that Led Zepplin did equally unsavoury things with a dead shark. Well....OK, it's an entirely different reason. The dead shark legend would fit perfectly with the LSD-infused madness of 70's rock, whilst 'piggate' would fit so well with the popular opinion that the Tories are so out of touch that they may as well be on LSD too. Both Led Zepplin and Cameron got away with it because they're rich.
But whilst everyone's enjoying a good bit of slander, ultimately this isn't a force for good.
First of all: The Daily Mail now has an enormous amount of power. The Daily Mail doesn't need more power. It needs to be buried under lawsuits and scandal like News of the World was.
Secondly: many are calling for David Cameron's resignation. Even if Cameron is ousted, who would replace him? George 'taking food from children's mouths' Osborne? Michael 'screw human rights' Gove? Nicky 'equalities minister who opposes gay rights' Morgan? Ian 'work sets you free' Duncan Smith? Boris 'spend thousands on illegal water-cannons' Johnson? I'd argue that all of these potential candidates are far worse than David Cameron. Yes, Cameron's a born and bred upper class twit - but I've always seen him as a puppet PM. He doesn't actually stand for anything, he just regurgitates buzz-phrases and throws his support behind whatever his cabinet decides. At least Thatcher seemed committed to neo-liberalism, Tony Blair committed to the war on terror, and Nigel Farage really hates foreigners. Say what you want about Hitler, but at least he was passionate. People got behind him because he had a very clear agenda that he firmly stood for. Cameron meanwhile is nothing but a plastic doll. The true evil behind the Conservative government is all the people likely to succeed him.
I actually in some ways feel sorry for David Cameron, particularly if these allegations aren't true. I didn't do unsavoury things to anything whilst at university. In fact, the most controversial thing I did was wear purple jeans (and still my friends weren't able to guess my sexuality). But I bet there are some people reading this who have done stupid things at university or in any social gathering. How many times have you untagged yourself from a Facebook picture because you're worried who might see it? Whilst I condemn the Bullingdon Club, I'd like to think that Cameron regretted his membership years before this scandal came about. Just because you begun life as a self-entitled asshole doesn't mean you can't reflect and realise what an asshole you were.
Obviously you deserve a slap for being an idiot. There are countless stories of how people have been fired from their job because a picture of them drunkenly flashing an elderly woman appeared online. Did they deserve some sort of punishment? Absolutely. Did they deserve to be fired? Well...perhaps that's a bit harsh.
And it's the same case with Cameron. He deserves to receive his fair share of abuse for his Oxford history and his past dealings with the South African apartheid. He does not deserve to bear this for the rest of his life, never being able to browse the Butcher's Isle without cursing under his breath. True or not, this will stay with him for a long time yet.
He also doesn't deserve the toll this'll have on his family. His wife doesn't deserve the cruel japes and name calling she'll have to endure. His children don't deserve the ridicule and bullying they'll have to go through for years. In fact, whenever I write blog posts condemning politicians I always insult them on their politics rather than their personality because at the end of the day these people have families. I wouldn't wish what the Cameron's will be facing for the next few years on anyone. The only thing I wish on bad politicians is retirement.
Thirdly: whilst pigs should be left alone whether dead or alive, there are far worse things going on right now. Whilst people laugh at this scandal, the corruption continues. David Cameron avoided millions in tax several years ago, but so did Lord Ashcroft and so did thousands of others in government. MP's still abuse expenses, and still liase far too much with fatcats. Osborne's three-way deal with both EDF and China demonstrates how openly corrupt the Tory government is - as we pay the Chinese government to fund a French company; all this involving nuclear power which isn't nearly as efficient or carbon-free as the Conservatives seem to think it is. Not only is nuclear fusion damaging to the environment, but it's also really dangerous. Just Google Chernobyl and Fukushima - then Google China's appalling history with workplace accidents and exploitation of workers. In fact, you should probably Google China's woeful human rights record in general. I'd argue that this energy deal summarises everything wrong with 'democracy' today.
It's funny that a few years ago a series called Black Mirror begun. The very first episode was about the Prime Minister being forced to have sex with a pig in order to save a hostages life. Whist here the situation is very different, the media and public reaction is almost identical. The government try in vain to quell the whole thing, the media decries the disgusting nature of the situation whilst never shutting up about it, and the public crudely embraces it. The whole point of the episode was that everyone emerged from this incident stupider whether they realised it or not. In fact, the whole point of the entire show is that no-one wins in the 21st Century.
No matter what happens in the fallout from this scandal: everyone is a loser. But I guess #piggate is a catchier and brighter hashtag than #everyoneloses.
No comments:
Post a Comment