I had a chat with my dad while I was in hospital, where we actually discussed politics without drawing sabers. It came out that he was really quite familiar with many names in the cabinet, from his union days. I could share some juicy titbits with you, for sure, if I was so inclined.
My staunch socialist father is less than impressed with his former colleagues, considering most of them sell-outs and cretins.
One of the names mentioned was Alan Johnson, who is in the news this morning, and who I just had to post about, because this story jumped out at me.
Never mind that all the research shows that children fare much better in a marriage than in other situations, Johnson cannot allow his ideology to be messed with.
Emphasising that Labour's belief was that "every child deserves the best start in life," he is due to say that family policy must be "bias free".
The technical word for this is cobblers, mate. The facts show that the best start in life is to be found in a stable marriage environment. If the best interests of children were truly at the top of the agenda, then common sense would say that our focus should be on supporting the actual best start, rather than pussy-footing around because we are blinded by a left-wing bias against traditional marriage.
I'd also like to know what colour the sky is in Johnson's world if he truly believes that anything, especially in politics can be bias-free. I know it can't, and I'm happy to own that I am biased towards marriage being supported as a stable building block of society. Unlike Mr Johnson, however, my bias is based on fact, not blind ideology.
2/27/2007
Ideology flies in the face of facts, again.
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5 comments:
Libbie, if you could ask the government to change one aspect of their policy in this area, what would it be?
Mr. Johnson sounds like a real case!
Probably something simple like the married couples allowance. I don't dispute that the problems of society are a lot wider than can be solved by a simple tax rebate, but for me it's all about which direction you're travelling in. At the moment, we're travelling wholesale in the wrong direction. A gesture like the restoration of the married couples allowance would signal a turn around. I was actually pleased with the little I saw of Cameron talking about this, but I still think he's a slippery fish.
Hi Lib,
Would you use tax credits money to do so, or look to find the money elsewhere?
Steve
Not sure Steve, but I think the Tax credits system is in need of a rehaul anyway.
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