Boris Johnson - The Blond Buffoon

The festive season is almost upon us. I took it upon myself to make a trip into Newcastle and take a peek at Fenwicks window. This is a large department store in Newcastle that puts on a series of Christmas themed displays in it's shop front every year. It is a part of the local culture to go, with your children and pass by to "Oooh!" and "Aaah!" at the yuletide depictions. My own children have never taken to it to be honest and I have to go on my own these days. 

Not feeling particularly in a Christmas mood after this, nothing new I am famed for my "Bah Humbug!" attitude to these things, I bought a coffee and meandered down Grey street towards the Quayside and The Baltic Mill Gallery. 

The skies were darkening as I leant on the barriers  overlooking the Tyne river. Whilst leafing through the news on my mobile I came across a piece about Boris Johnson and his speech. I decided I would blog about it later. I have some issues with equality of opportunity or the lack of it.  I was going to use some examples from the comedian Micky Flanagan who developed a radio series lightheartedly asking why working class areas appear to be complicit in the whole class struggle thing.

Before I started though I thought I ought to refer to the source material. You can read it here. 

I am afraid I gave up at page 5 in an almost apoplectic rage. I exaggerate of course but I could not read anymore. 

Now look, I know it was a speech in her honour (Thatch) but honestly it was such a one sided and praiseworthy speech that spun a tale to make her look like Winston Churchill. It carefully ignored the way she quite happily pitted community against community, virtually making large areas of the country un policeable for many years to come. It completely ignored the riots of Brixton, Toxteth and St Pauls that were the direct result of Tory police and justice strategies never mind her economic policies

The point at which I really lost it though was at the point where he described Britain as great because, of all 193 countries in the UN we have and I quote "Conquered or at least invaded 171" that doesn't make us great or important just more dangerous than the Nazis.

The Tory party rule of the 1980's may have achieved many of the things Boris says but who paid the price?  Their economic  policies created the concept of a life on benefits for instance. They created the decay that the northern cities of the UK have taken a generation to regain.I once took a train ride from Birmingham to Wolverhampton and saw nothing but the concrete floors of demolished factories.

Their economic rhetoric may sound sensible but the whole concept of monetarism put the concept of monetary control ahead of people. Despite what ever Boris says it is a fact that throughout the seventies and all it's industrial disputes living standards rose quite considerably, like Boris I know because I was there.

It has been written that this speech was designed to make him more appealing to the Right of the Tory party. 

If that is the sort of talk that appeals to that part of the political spectrum I fear for our future!