Rant warning.
(Images via Spell with Flickr)
I am getting to the end of my tether with politicians and their farcical espousal of so-called British values (and in this I include Scottish values, English values, Welsh values and Irish Values in fact any supposed values relating to a specific country.) They don't or should not exist, yet in order to garner votes from the ever increasing egotistical, middle class, middle Britain, I-drive-a-4x4-1mile-to-my-child's-primary-school-because-its-safe brigade, our elected "representatives" constantly harp on about British (Scottish, English whatever) values.
These are the British values that in England are testing primary school kids into a state of panic and fear of failure. Where test results are taken as such a gospel truth indication of the "goodness" of a school that Headies lose their job after a drop in league tables, where some of the unfortunate above mentioned middle classes will move house at the drop of a hat just to get their child into a supposedly better school. Where rather than facilitating the education of their charges, teachers are almost obliged to teach them how to do well in the national tests. A child in England will sit 4 sets of national tests before age 17. Primary kids are tested at age 7 whilst in some countries they are only just starting formal education. And where is all this leaving our kids...
BBC NEWS | UK | UK is accused of failing children via kwout
that's right, right at the bottom of UNICEF's child wellbeing table for developed countries. And this is what our children have to cope with.
BBC NEWS | UK | UK is accused of failing children via kwout
I bet British kids just love British values.
These are our beloved British values that in 2002-2003 spent £29,661 per prisoner in Her Majesty's Young Offenders Institution Wetherby, whilst the budgeted running costs for Secondary schools in Scotland in 2003-2004 were £3770 per pupil. In other words we spend 10 times more on criminals who chose their destiny than on the futures of our children. Another great British value. And at the same time we allow(ed) these criminals to claim maintenance grants for their studies, whilst receiving board and lodging courtesy of Her Majesty.
Great British values are constantly being proclaimed by our politicians. Are these the same role models for society who claim monies from the public purse to supposedly employ their relatives, who are in actual fact studying at University...stand up Derek Conway (a great Briton.) These are the values constantly referred to by our UK government ministers who can't even be bothered to follow their own laws regarding the funding of their own party...stand up Peter Hain. Is it a great British Value to sign on for an illegal war, allow your wife to earn $000's per hour for talking to people in the US and then on leaving your Premiership set yourself up as some kind of future President of Europe...thanks Tony.
It is these core British values that allowed a Ghanian lady (albeit in this country illegaly) to be forcefully repatriated despite being terminally ill. The news footage of the besuited civil servants jobsworths escorting a plainly ill and bewildered woman out of the hospital was a disgrace to any sensible person. It seems our wonderful British values love an easy target. Jacqui Smith now wants to deport a young man who should be held up as a beacon of what immigrants can contribute to our society, back to Nigeria; because his relatives neglected to ensure his immigration status was in order. You see he was easy to get at as he never tried to hide therefore he is an easy box to tick in Government targets.
It is our core British values which ensure there has to be a debate across the media about whether football fans can be trusted to observe a moment's silence to remember the loss of some of Britain's greatest footballers in a plane crash in Munich. All because they just happened to be playing for the same team (Manchester United.) I'm not one for the mass public outpourings of grief that seem to occur at the loss of anyone remotely famous since Diana died, in fact I think it is rather pathetic, but moments like these should be respected AND THAT SHOULD GO WITHOUT SAYING, NO DEBATE.
As I said at the beginning of this post there isn't (or shouldn't be) such a thing as "British (etc)" values, because then morals and decency move into the realm of politicians who so blatantly cannot be trusted to be their guardians. In my opinion there are only VALUES. Not British, not Scottish, just VALUES. Values taught to us by our parents, reinforced by teachers, clerics, politicians and EVERYONE in the public eye. Simple values of respect for others (even in disagreement), respect for where we live. No need to label them. No need to call them British values, Christian values, middle-class values again just values.
And before anyone starts I do not hold myself up as a paragon of these values however I have a set of morals by which I go through life, non of which I ascribe to any religious persuasion, and through which I hope to make my own little part of the world a better place and through which I constantly try NOT to harm others. I don't know the bible but there is something in there about doing unto others as you would be done to yourself.
What do you think? Are our politicians correct in espousing a set of British values? If so what are these values? Are they virtues which are uniquely British? Is that possible?
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