Long ago, I signed the No. 10 petition "Resign". The wording of the petition was:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to resign.”
I got my response today. It said:
The Prime Minister is completely focussed on restoring the economy, getting people back to work and improving standards in public services. As the Prime Minister has consistently said, he is determined to build a stronger, fairer, better Britain for all.
Perfect New Labour. Doesn't address the issue, full of platitudes we have heard before, empty cadences that ultimately remind one of a Labour Random Phrase Generator. And, at the bottom of it all, hogwash. It simply isn't true. They know it; we know it.
What about this:
The Prime Minister is completely focussed on creating enough misinformation and confusion so that Britain might sleepwalk into a fourth Labour term, to pursuing a scorched-earth economic policy in case the Tories do get in, spending taxpayer's money on lunatic feel-good schemes that have a take-up in single figures, and pissing our money up the wall on his clients in the public services and the benefits office. As the Prime Minister has consistently said, he is determined to leave a weaker, more divided, more unhappy Britain for all.
And it's 'focused', by the way.
I got a response to that petition too, and mine was exactly the same as yours! And there was me thinking GB had gone to all that trouble to address such a carefully worded response to me personally. Hmph!
ReplyDeleteReckon you ought to write the man's speeches for him: more honesty is what we need in politics.
ReplyDelete"Getting on with the job" as a reason for not resigning due to indiscretion, illegal or immoral activity, or - in the case of our PM - being an utterly clueless incompetent is certainly a government standard these days. As if we asked him to do the job in the first place.
I'm guessing that all 70,000 odd petitioners, myself included, got a pretty similar response. I'll add it the "bugger off" a million plus of us got over the Iraq War, and the "will if we want to" to everyone who petitioned against the blanket lowering of speed limits. And the one against Gatsos. And...oh, why bother. Petition all you like, folks, just be aware that the only thing which won't be turned down is one that says "We love you, Gordon, please make yourself Life President"...
@Anonymous: You're kidding! What a coincidence.
ReplyDeleteThe more I read the response, the more I am reminded of the tractor-statistics recitals of PMQs. Words like 'consistently', 'stronger, fairer, better' now sound empty. There's no need to actually DO these things - just using the magic words is enough to mark us out as 'caring', unlike the lot opposite, who eat babies for breakfast.
@Endo: I totally agree with the 'getting on with the job' response. It's as if all that matters is task completion, not quality or strategy or direction (or honesty). That's a very narrow approach to one's work, akin to a not-very-bright six-year-old who is determined to finish his sums. Never was the phrase "too busy cutting down trees to sharpen the saw" more appropriate.