In David Cameron's Britain

To paraphrase Neil Kinnock's 1983 election speech:

In David Cameron's* Britain, I warn you:

I warn you not to be old - when your pension barely covers your living expenses and care homes are staffed by sadists and incompetents.

I warn you not to seek learning –when libraries are cut back and university fees are raised further and further.

I warn you not to be different - when yobs abuse you and throw paving slabs at your house for being disabled, or gay, or a refugee.

I warn you not to be sick - when benefits for those who cannot work are removed for most after 12 months and when people abuse you on buses and trains.

I warn you not to be a public sector worker - Nurses, firefighters, teachers, police officers and social workers work long hours and get paid little, and the public, media and government will not care when they go abroad, despite a skills gap. They will, however, protest when the very rich threaten to move abroad.

I warn you that you will have poverty– when pensions slip and benefits are whittled away by a party who claim ridiculous expenses at public cost.

I warn you that you will be cold– when fuel prices rise again and we fail to exploit renewable energy.

I warn you not to be decent- when yobs run riot but you get prosecuted for standing up to them and being a good neighbour.

I warn you that you must not expect work–when many cannot spend, more will not be able to earn. When they don’t earn, they don’t spend. When they don’t spend, work dies.

I warn you not to go in large crowds of protest in the light, or you will be kettled by police officers who never show the same force when dealing with real criminals.

I warn you that you will have defence of a sort–with a risk and at a price that passes all understanding.

I warn you that you will be home-bound–when rising fares and unpaid overtime kill leisure and lock you up.

In David Cameron's Britain, I advise you to be a banker,executive, landlord, criminal or MP. All those prosper while other suffer.

This is England, 2011.

The Clash said it best:




*You could replace this name with Ed Miliband or Nick Clegg and most, if not all, of this would still apply.