Home is a shield which rightly emboldens us … which is why they so want to take it away

 Coalition capitalism, DLA, eviction, evidence-based professionals, home truths, homelessness, Legal Aid, New Labour, NHS, NHS cuts, unclassifiable, Welfare State, wellbeing, Western civilisation  No Responses »
Nov 252012
 
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Let me explain.

I’ve been away for a couple of days in a hotel room.  The hotel was fine but it wasn’t my home.  I wrote a couple of pieces whilst I was there.  The pieces were more reflective than has been my custom of late.  We need more reflection.

At least, I need more reflection.

I’ve just arrived back home and sitting back in my familiar surroundings, anything but luxurious but – even so – comforting and family-underlining, the rain pitter-pattering on the sitting-room window, the recorded football on the tele, so it is that I am reminded of the great importance of familiarity in general: because for our politicians and rulers, you see, familiarity doesn’t breed contempt but – instead – too much confidence on the part of their subjects.

To feel safe in your castle as all Englishmen and women are supposed to feel is the greatest challenge to all political rulers who aim to desegregate a tapestry of national expectations.  Whilst you fear losing the very soul of your life, you will be cowed into almost any kind of behaviour.  But if you feel your loved ones are protectable behind the four walls of your home, then almost anything may be contemplated.  I can, in this sense, understand those who argue against gun laws – not, I hastily add, because I believe in anyone bearing arms at all but, rather, essentially because I appreciate now more than ever the importance of feeling permanently in control of one’s own destiny.

Which is what I think most profoundly is behind the assertions of such a constituency.

And that sense of control is what Disability Living Allowance aimed to provide; that sense of control is what the NHS which kept the wolf from the door was looking to add; that sense of control is what many of those top-down policies of empowerment we berated New Labour for engineering simply steamed ahead and implemented, day after day, to a wider benefit of us all.

To want to eliminate all those things is, in a sense, the UK equivalent of a rampant US desire for nationwide gun control.  Our “guns” – what allowed the British to protect themselves from the elements – are inventions such as the NHS, Legal Aid and the Welfare State.

As well as a wider network of social-care instincts.

Thus we come to understand that home is a shield which rightly emboldens us all – and DLA, the NHS, Sure Start and all were astonishing extensions of those shields I allude to which allowed us to believe, precisely, in better: better ways of seeing, thinking and living.

I tweeted rather sadly this morning the following sequence of ideas:

Did civilisation get too expensive for those who rule? Is that what this Coalition is all about? Reducing the costs of Western compassion?

And to me, it doesn’t half feel as if this is the case.

They can’t, of course, say that universal education has created a mass of highly intellectualised people which perhaps in many matters knows better than our governors.  They can’t admit this because they are tied hand and foot to the concept of meritorious pyramidal organisation.  Those at the top must be better than those at the bottom, because otherwise those at the top couldn’t be at the top.  It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy which, if questioned, would lead to all kinds of awful potentialities: maybe, for example, an utter and total reworking of that aforementioned – and for me, quite dreaded – pyramid of often dysfunctional relationships.

And the Lord forbid that such eventualities might take place.

*

Chris has a pertinent observation today, when he says:

[...] there’s a belief that the only knowledge that matters is direct experience; Tim seems to think that only the poor can truly understand poverty.This is doubtful. And what’s even more doubtful – in fact plain wrong – is that direct experience of poverty is necessary to know which policies are best to relieve poverty.

Something which I’d be inclined to agree wholeheartedly with.  Being evidence-based is far more important to the justice and fairness one can bring to bear on a matter than whether one was born rich or poor.  Being a person of kindly outlook – with an awareness of others, an empathetic personality and the ability to actively listen – are all far more useful to one’s ability to reach out than whether or not one has suffered personally the disadvantages of deprivation.

Such disadvantages may drive one unremittingly to help others, of course.  On the other hand, they could just as easily encourage us to trample whenever the opportunity presented itself.

It is in the essence of an individual where we must judge people’s integrity – rather than in terms of the origin of the acts themselves.

And so Chris is equally interesting when he concludes with these final biting lines:

It is not the background of Cameron, Freud and Osborne that stops them making effective anti-poverty policy. It is their ignorance and ideology.

Only I wonder if it is truly ignorance and ideology.  To be honest, I think it might be the biggest and most unpleasant practical joke of latterday political times.  A humongous practical joke, in fact.

For them, we are simply buttons to be pressed.  And if you really want my opinion, whilst I admire all that New Labour achieved, I’m going to be blaming Blairism, iPods and technological gadgets equally for this unending robotisation of how a society must function.

Yes.

Social mobility means you walk the streets with your frozen hands clasping firmly a PAYG phone.

Social mobility means you can never know if your parents will ever see their grandchildren.

Social mobility means you will never live in a face-to-face community again.

Social mobility – of this kind, I mean – leads us to a desperate scrabbling for a smidgen of human warmth.

And without that warmth, we have no hearth.  And without a hearth, we have no home.  And without a home, we have no shield.  And without a shield, above all we are as defenceless as the men and women who once occupied the caves.

Oh yes.  We have running-water and central-heating, but without the wherewithal to properly purchase it, it all becomes a mirage.

Hold on to that home.

Hold on to that shield.

Embolden yourself before it’s just – infamously – too late.


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How gay marriage could lead me back to Catholicism

 Catholic Church, childhood, children, gay marriage, gays and lesbians, home truths, on a high, political beliefs, religion, sexual orientation, sorted  No Responses »
Mar 112012
 
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Marriage isn’t always easy.  Staying together with the same person for decades may have its ups and downs for both parties.  So far, so clichéd.

But a cliché doesn’t mean a falsehood.

Tom and Norman have said masses of good sense on the subject of this post already.  I come very late to the party.  I’d just like to add a couple of sentences here.

I’m a very lapsed Catholic, whose Catholicism at the beginning of this blog’s life can be seen to be quite reverential.  My world was a better world for going to Mass every Sunday.  That I have to admit.  But it wasn’t necessarily a more accurate world.  If I hadn’t lapsed before the cases of child abuse came to light, I would have lapsed for sure as a result.  But I had already begun to lapse before then.  Something didn’t quite click for me as the person I was becoming.

My wife is a Catholic too – a Spanish Catholic.  But her relationship with God has of late become very personal and private.  Perhaps, if I still have a relationship with this deity, that may one day become my way forward.

If it ever happens as described above, I will surely come to realise that the cipher and filter that is the Roman Catholic Church is a gauze which impedes a clearer vision of what God might really mean.

If God does exist, then love is not defined by the sex of its participants but, rather, by the essence of its practice.

And if you are still finding this hard to believe and comprehend, tell me then who is best placed to bring up our youth?  A man who has never given full expression to his love and passion for a woman, who has suffered for his beliefs and sense of self – and who only wants to support people in their real love for one another?  Or a man who has never given full expression to his love and passion for a woman, who has suffered for his beliefs and sense of self – and who only wants to support people in their real love for one another?

For I’m inclined to believe that, in some things at least, Roman Catholic priests, gays and lesbians have far more in common the one with the other than any of the sides is prepared to contemplate.  Drill down to their real experiences – and we may find on more than one occasion that the suffering each may have survived, in order to be the real individuals they were all along, is not all that dissimilar.

The question really is, which of the two sides is being more honest with itself as a result of those experiences – and is, therefore, better placed to participate sincerely and constructively in society? 

Which of the two is exhibiting such a fearless attachment to the truth?

And who – for example – would you rather care for your children?

When it comes down to it, it’s the people who count.  Not their sex – or their religious or political beliefs.  You convince me you’re essentially good and can truly be trusted – and that’s all I’ll ever need in order to believe in you.

So the day a Roman Catholic priest is able to marry his her boyfriend girlfriend in my local church is the day I shall once more darken the doors of that church – for that will be the day God and the Church coincide as one.

A day which shall make me forever happy and at peace.

A day which shall signpost a true humanity at large.


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Cameron on the importance of "a warm and stable home" – when it suits him, of course

 a con, Coalition capitalism, Coalition cuts, David Cameron, False Economy, home truths, homelessness, unclassifiable  No Responses »
Feb 162012
 
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Cameron on what makes the United Kingdom such a great deal:

“We are stronger together than we ever would be apart …” in what he describes as “… a warm and stable home.”

Tell that to False Economy, as of February 16th, 2012:

Housing cuts

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Yorkshire Housing Foundation

Charity. Stay Put equipment and adaptations, plus Home Improvement Agency service for older people.Local authority funding cut: …

Support Care Ltd

Charity. Funding for accommodation-based mental health service. Local authority funding cut: £20,013.1. Details: Received …

Stonham Housing Association

Charity. Provider of housing and support for vulnerable and socially excluded people. Local authority funding cut: £51,701. …

St Anne’s Shelter & Housing Action

Charity. Supporting people with learning disabilities, mental health problems, and people with drug or alcohol problems.Local …

South Yorkshire Housing Association

Charity. Manages more than 6,000 homes throughout the Sheffield City region, providing care and supported housing. Funded under …

Somali Mental Health Project

Charity. Funding for mental health floating support servivce. Local authority funding cut: £5,124.36. Details: Received …

Sheffield YWCA

Charity. Funding for accommodation based services for young people. Local authority funding cut: £25,862.72. Details: Received …

Salvation Army

Charity. Funding for accommodation-based homelessness service. Local authority funding cut: £42,450.58. Details: Received …

Roundabout

Charity. Provides shelter, support and life skills to Sheffield’s young homeless.Local authority funding cut: £111,602.92. …

Refugee Housing Association

Charity. Accommodation-based service for refugees. Local authority funding cut: £101,079.2. Details: Received a total of …

Pitsmoor Youth Housing Trust

Charity. Supported housing accommodation provider in Sheffield for homeless 16-21 year old single young people, including …

Phoenix House

Charity. Care home for people with alcohol and substance abuse problems. Local authority funding cut: £25,970.4. Details: …

Credit Union

Charity. Funding to provide loans to prevent homelessness. Local authority funding cut: £50,000. Details: Received £50,000 in …

Ben’s Centre

Charity. Provides a ‘damp’ day service to street drinkers. Local authority funding cut: £2,250. Details: Received £45,000 in …

Action Housing Association

Charity. Works to enable vulnerable people to establish a home and live responsibly in society. Funding cut affects …

Doorstep

Charity. Offers drop-in centre for young homeless people aged 16-25, information on benefits, education and training, finding …

Christian Action Resource Enterprise

Charity. Charity located in North East Lincolnshire dedicated to relieving poverty, hardship and distress to those sectors of …

Nacro

Charity. T4 Project – helps people who are engaged in treatment for either drug or alcohol use to access good supported …

Foundation Housing

Charity. Charity working with offenders, the homeless, women who are victims of domestic abuse and young people at risk.Local …

Equity Housing Group

Charity. Not-for-profit registered social landlord providing affordable homes for those in need of housing and those on low or …

Action Housing and Support

Charity. Works to enable vulnerable people to establish a home and live responsibly in society. Local authority funding cut: …

Stonham Housing Association

Charity. Funding for St George’s Resettlement. Local authority funding cut: £28,382. Details: Received a total of £464,551 in …

Coventry Cyrenians

Charity. Provides services to homeless, vulnerable and disadvantaged people in Coventry and Warwickshire to empower them to …

Beat the Cold

Charity. Aims to reduce the incidence of fuel poverty and cold-related illness. Informs, advises and makes referrals for …

Viridian Housing

Charity. Housing association providing social housing. Local authority funding cut: £91,952. Details: Received £91,952 in …

Sandwell Homes

Charity. Arms Length Management Organisation. Local authority funding cut: £700,000. Details: Received £1,357,700 in 2010/11; …

Sanctuary Housing

Charity. Local authority funding cut: £47,722. Details: Received £47,722 in 2010/11; cut by £23,861 in 2011/12, and by a …

Midland Heart

Charity. Housing and regeneration group. Local authority funding cut: £6,838. Details: Received £6,838 in 2010/11; cut by …

Jephson Housing

Charity. Housing association. Local authority funding cut: £60,210. Details: Received £60,210 in 2010/11; cut by £30,105 in …

Harborne

Charity. Local authority funding cut: £45,390. Details: Received £45,390 in 2010/11; cut by £22,695 in 2011/12, and by a …

Black Country Housing Group

Charity. Local authority funding cut: £113,292. Details: Received £113,292 in 2010/11; cut by £56,646 in 2011/12, and by a …

ASRA Housing

Charity. Housing, care and support provider.Local authority funding cut: £59,594. Details: Received £59,594 in 2010/11; cut …

Accord Housing

Charity. Housing association. Local authority funding cut: £4,512. Details: Received £4,512 in 2010/11; cut by £2,256 in …

SIFA Fireside

Charity. Affected funding for two services targeted at homeless people – health and wellbeing forum, and community catering …

Yarlington

Charity. Provides affordable homes for rent or shared ownership in south Somerset. Local authority funding cut: £99,636.49. …

Western Challenge Housing Association

Charity. Registered social landlord. Local authority funding cut: £42,205.02. Details: Received £42,205.02 in 2010/11; no …

Taunton Association for the Homeless

Charity. Specialises in the housing and support of vulnerable, single homeless people.Local authority funding cut: £75,700. …

Riverside Group

Charity. Registered providers of social housing nationwide, providing support to people of all ages and circumstances.Local …

NOVAS

Charity. Works with diverse communities, tackling the issues of homelessness, crime and community safety, and domestic …

Mendip YMCA

Charity. Offers schemes to help and assist young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Local authority funding …

Magna West Somerset

Charity. Community-based housing association. Local authority funding cut: £43,136.84. Details: Received £328,120.38 in …

Flourish Homes

Charity. Registered social landlord. Local authority funding cut: £189,710.04. Details: Received £776,158.25 in 2010/11; cut …

Chapter 1

Charity. Specialises in providing accommodation and support for vulnerable people. Local authority funding cut: £13,531.03. …

Carr Gomm Society

Charity. Charity offering housing and support services to vulnerable people with a range of special needs. Local authority …

Bridgwater YMCA Foyer

Charity. Provides supported accomodation for 53 young people at three sites. Local authority funding cut: £50,252.96. Details: …

Barnabas Housing Association

Charity. Hostel for single homeless people. Local authority funding cut: £89,010.12. Details: Received £659,432.70 in …

Shelter

Charity. Specialist housing advice and information for anyone who is homeless or has a housing problem. Local authority funding …

Gloucester Nightstop

Charity. Arranges temporary and emergency accommodation for young homeless people in the homes of trained and vetted …

Shelter

Charity. Homelessness charity. Local authority funding cut: £1,652. Details: Received £6,608 in 2010/11; cut by £1,652 in …

St Petroc’s Society

Charity. Homelessness charity. Includes funding for the Breadline resettlement centre, used by the street homeless of Penzance, …

Coastline Housing

Charity. Funding for The New Connection, which provides crisis accommodation for the homeless in Cornwall.Local authority …

Churches Together in Penzance Area (CTIPA)

Charity. Funding for the Breakfast Project, which provides food for the homeless on weekday mornings.Local authority funding …

Guildford No 5

Charity. Provides direct access supported accommodation for single homeless people with support needs who may in addition have …

The You Trust

Charity. Provides care, housing and advice services for those faced with exclusion from their family or community.Local …

Salvation Army

Charity. Funding for Catherine Booth House, which provides accommodation and parenting support for families and expectant …

Emmaus Oxford

Charity. Emmaus tackles the problems of homelessness through a network of self-supporting Communities, where people are offered …

Community Soup Kitchen

Charity. Funding awarded to provide a community soup kitchen for homeless or socially excluded individuals. Local authority …

West Kent Housing

Charity. Housing association providing affordable homes and services. Local authority funding cut: £55,934.81. Details: …

Medway Cyrenians

Charity. Houses and supports vulnerable, single, homeless people aged 16 and over.Local authority funding cut: £17,979.98. …

Avante – Step Ahead (Crisis 10)

Charity. Crisis support for young homeless people. Local authority funding cut: £1,951. Details: Received £27,876 in 2010/11; …

Ashdown Medway Accommodation Trust (AMAT)

Charity. Provides services and accommodation primarily for single homeless people aged 25 and over, both with and without …

Furniture Helpline

Charity. Provides low cost recycled furniture and electrical goods to people on low incomes. Local authority funding cut: …

Oxfordshire Rural Community Council

Charity. Rural housing enabler. Local authority funding cut: £11,500. Details: Received £11,500 in 2010/11; no funding in …

Hometree House Association

Charity. Funding for activities for the club.,Local authority funding cut: £400,. Details: Received £400 in 2010/11; no …

BYHP

Charity. Works with young people aged 16-25 who are homeless, inappropriately housed or at risk of becoming homeless in …

SHAP

Charity. Arrangement relating to homeless young people accommodation. Local authority funding cut: £19,000. Details: Received …

Turning Point

Charity. Provides services for people with complex needs, including those affected by drug and alcohol misuse, mental health …

Stepping Stone

Charity. Provider of housing, support and charitable services for people who are homeless or at risk of losing their home.Local …

St Vincent Housing

Charity. Registered social landlord. Local authority funding cut: £258,000. Details: Received £258,000 in 2010/11; no funding …

St Edmunds Charity

Charity. Supported accommodation facility for men and women whose lives have been impaired by alcohol misuse and who have an …

Shelter

Charity. Homelessness charity. Local authority funding cut: £858,861.13. Details: Received a total of £1,064,621.13 in …

Sanctuary Trust

Charity. Aims to provide programmes and services as an answer to homelessness and homeless related issues. Local authority …

Sanctuary Housing Trust

Charity. Housing association. Local authority funding cut: £3,705. Details: Received £3,705 in 2010/11; no funding in …

Salvation Army

Charity. Funding for strategic housing services. Local authority funding cut: £102,645. Details: Received £433,312 in …

Rochdale Petrus Community

Charity. Provides supported housing and related services to homeless people. Local authority funding cut: £139,791.64. …

People First

Charity. Housing association. Local authority funding cut: £21,256. Details: Received £185,000 in 2010/11; cut by £21,256 in …

Next Step

Charity. Affordable housing for special needs. Local authority funding cut: £7,213. Details: Received £76,000 in 2010/11; cut …

Newbarn Ltd

Charity. Offers communal support, advice and accommodation for fifteen people who have difficulty managing on their own and …

Making Space

Charity. Funding for strategic housing services. Local authority funding cut: £8,940. Details: Received a total of £150,887 …

Guinness NC

Charity. Social housing provider. Local authority funding cut: £93,000. Details: Received £93,000 in 2010/11; no funding in …

DePaul UK

Charity. Helps young people who are homeless, vulnerable and disadvantaged.Local authority funding cut: £36,426. Details: …

Contour Housing

Charity. Registered social landlord. Local authority funding cut: £161,000. Details: Received £161,000 in 2010/11; no funding …

Open Door Furniture Recycling

Charity. Community based furniture scheme. Local authority funding cut: £50,470. Details: Received £50,470 in 2010/11; no …

Riverside ECHG

Charity. Registered social landlord. Local authority funding cut: £26,674. Details: Received £186,784 in 2010/11; cut by …

Oldham Family Crisis Group / Threshold

Charity. Joint funding under Supporting People. Local authority funding cut: £324,001. Details: Received £1,546,621 in …

FRC Trading

Charity. Social business distributing low cost furniture to low income households. Local authority funding cut: £25,375. …

First Choice Homes Oldham

Charity. Registered social landlord. Local authority funding cut: £143,115. Details: Received £971,138 in 2010/11; cut by …

DePaul UK

Charity. Funding for Oldham Reconnect, a mediation service for homeless young people and their families.Local authority funding …

Anchor Trust

Charity. Not-for-profit provider of housing and care for the over-55s. Local authority funding cut: £34,785. Details: Received …

Shelter

Charity. Homelessness charity that runs a housing helpline, has a network of housing aid centres, and works with local citizens …

Nightstop Teesside

Charity. Provides emergency temporary accommodation for homeless young people aged 16-25 in the homes of trained volunteer …

First Stop Darlington

Charity. Provides home and dry service for people in poor accommodation, plus information on securing housing.Local authority …

United Anglo Caribbean Society

Charity. Tackling homelessness. Local authority funding cut: £18,105.63. Details: Received £28,969 in 2010/11; cut by …

Threshold Centre Ltd

Charity. Tackling homelessness; and reduce youth homelessness through targeted prevention activities with at risk groups. Local …

Thames Reach

Charity. Day centre facilities for homeless ppl & ppl at risk of homelessness. Local authority funding cut: £62,500. Details: …

P3

Charity. Tackling homelessness; and reduce youth homelessness through targeted prevention activities with at risk groups. Local …

London Irish Women’s Centre

Charity. Tackling homelessness. Local authority funding cut: £38,366.72. Details: Received £61,386.75 in 2010/11; cut by …

Food For All

Charity. Day centre facilities for homeless ppl & ppl at risk of homelessness. Local authority funding cut: £17,128.75. …

Eaves Housing for Women

Charity. Increase access to services for women with no recourse to public funds to enable them to exit domestic violence or …

Central and Cecil incorporating Cara Housing Trust

Charity. Tackling homelessness. Local authority funding cut: £38,138.28. Details: Received £61,021.25 in 2010/11; cut by …

Cardboard Citizens

Charity. Reduce youth homelessness through targeted prevention activities with at risk groups. Local authority funding cut: …

Broadway Homelessness and Support

Charity. Day centre facilities for homeless ppl & ppl at risk of homelessness. Local authority funding cut: £41,316.88. …

Barnardo’s Families in Temporary Accommodation Project

Charity. Tackling homelessness. Local authority funding cut: £87,592.03. Details: Received £140,147.25 in 2010/11; cut by …

Trinity Homeless Projects

Charity. Provides nine staffed hostels and move-on accommodation in Hillingdon and promotes independent living for the homeless …

P3

Charity. Provides a range of support services for young people who are homeless and/or vulnerable. This is a holistic response …

ASRA Greater London Housing Association

Charity. Anand Day Centre. Local authority funding cut: £6,366.02. Details: Received £48,969.36 in 2010/11; cut by £6,366.02 …

Stevenage Haven

Charity. Stevenage Haven is an emergency homeless hostel that also provides day services and support to ex-residents and help …

Stevenage Furniture Recycling Scheme

Charity. Recycles used furniture donated by the community to those on low incomes. The withdrawn funding was to extend shop …

Nottinghamshire Housing Advice Service

Charity. Provides housing and housing debt related advice and advocacy services for the people of Nottinghamshire, in order to …

Newark Emmaus Trust

Charity. Housing, care and support for the young homeless.Local authority funding cut: £7,500. Details: Received £12,500 in …

Kirkby Trust

Charity. Provides educational, recreational and social activities for young people and their families and provides support and …

Hope for the Homeless

Charity. Homelessness charity in Worksop. Local authority funding cut: £6,000. Details: Received £32,000 in 2010/11; cut by …

Friary Drop-in

Charity. Local authority funding cut: £4,600. Details: Received £18,200 in 2010/11; cut by £4,600 in 2011/12.

Family First

Charity. Furniture service. Local authority funding cut: £19,870. Details: Received £19,870 in 2010/11; no funding in …

Cedar Housing Nottingham

Charity. Provides housing, education and support services for vulnerable people affected by homelessness.Local authority …

Broxtowe Youth Homelessness

Charity. Aims to prevent young people from becoming homeless and inform young people of their options and provide emergency …

Spencer Contact

Charity. Seeks to relieve poverty and hardship in and around Northampton by supplying free second-hand furniture. Local …

Sofawise

Charity. Recycles good quality furniture that is no longer needed and makes it available at an affordable cost to those in …

Phoenix Furniture Project

Charity. Collects and redistributes unwanted furniture and household goods in Kettering and the surrounding area. Local …

Northamptonshire YMCA

Charity. Funding for mentoring services under homelessness theme. Local authority funding cut: £15,200. Details: Received …

Northampton Hope Centre

Charity. Supports homeless and socially excluded people. Local authority funding cut: £3,000. Details: Received £3,000 in …

Daventry Contact

Charity. Furniture redistribution charity. Local authority funding cut: £8,976. Details: Received £8,976 in 2010/11; no …

Corby Furniture Turnaround

Charity. Collects donated furniture and passe it on to low income people who live in the local area. Local authority funding …

Accommodation Concern

Charity. Independent housing advice and homelessness organisation in the boroughs of Kettering and Corby. Local authority …

Leicester YMCA

Charity. Homeless drop in centre and education/skills project. Local authority funding cut: £25,950. Details: Received …

Centrepoint Outreach

Charity. Homelessness charity. Provides a drop in centre and rough sleeper facilities, redistributes furniture and household …

LAMP homeless charity

The Christian charity works with homeless 16-25 year olds by providing secure accommodation and individual ongoing support, as …

Foundation Housing

Charitable organisation, which had provided support and housing to vulnerable families, single and young people for 25 years.

Summergrove

Summergrove is a housing project for families affected by substance misuse + often domestic violence. It is a safe haven for …

Summergrove housing project

Summergrove is a housing project for families recovering from substance misuse and often domestic violence. It is a safe haven …

Amber Valley pest control charges

Amber Valley Borough Council is introducing fees for some types of household pest control, and increasing existing fees for …

Social policy research

Since the coalition came to power no new research contracts have been awarded nationally in all areas of social policy, putting …

Community Support Service

The cuts in funding to the Community Support Service following the removal of its ringfencing to its budget has led to cuts …

Bromley subsidised pest control

Bromley Council has voted to axe subsidised pest control for residents on income benefit as part of its 2011-13 cuts package.

Bromley sheltered housing

Bromley Council plans to cut funding for sheltered housing, saving £500k in 2011/12 and £800k in 2012/13 from its £1.15m …

Bromley Supporting People funding

Bromley Council has voted to cut its reduce commissioning of Supporting People services, saving £300k in 2011/12 and £600k in …

Bromley private sector renewals grant

Bromley Council is cutting £350k from its private sector renewals grant, which will impact on the assistance available to help …

Trafford’s Housing for Vulnerable People

Trafford’s budget for housing for vulnerable people has been cut by £450,000 in its February 2011 Budget.

Blackburn Council Services (many!)

Mobile library service to be cut and library opening hours reduced. Arts and cultural events / provisions to be cut include …

Manchester neglected buildings

Manchester City Council plans to save £12k in 2011/12 by reducing work on neglected buildings, and £13k through reducing its …

Manchester supported housing

Manchester City Council plans to axe 340 supported housing units, which provide homes for the city’s most needy people. The …

Manchester Advice

Manchester City Council plans to shut its Manchester Advice service, which provides free and confidential advice and …

Asylum Seekers Unit (Your Homes Newcastle)

The Home Office has decided not to award Your Homes Newcastle’s Asylum Seekers Unit (ASU) an extension on their contract …

Refugee Council

The Refugee Council, which provides essential and in some cases life-saving support to asylum seekers, refugees and their …

Bristol housing support

Bristol City Council is planning to reduce its Tenant Support Service budget by 20 percent in 2011/12, meaning that either …

Bristol pest control

Bristol City Council is proposing a number of reductions in its pest control service as part of its 2011/12 budget: * the …

Supporting People

Proposals to slash £1.1m from the cost of supporting elderly, sick and frail residents have been drawn up

Dorset property repair and maintenance

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Telling home truths

 home truths, left, right, unclassifiable  No Responses »
Aug 142011
 
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I was following an exchange on Twitter a moment ago where the question arose of why conservatives seemed better than progressives at providing game-changing moments in history.  The particular example in question involved first-time moments for women (first woman prime minister, first woman chancellor, first woman president of the United States), but the thesis could just as easily be applied to moments such as the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the final fall of Communism and other key historical events in recent political history.

I responded with the following thought, which I guess in retrospect should’ve had a question mark after it:

@LukeBozier Things happen in society thru’ pressure of progressives – but only take place thru’ final acquiescence of conservatives.

And whilst writing this post, I was also reminded of another tweet I saw this morning (apologies to its owner – I’ve been unable to find it) which said something on the lines of:

When you fall, don’t look at where you finally slipped but rather at where you started slipping. 

To say that the telling of ultimate home truths to society is the job of conservatives everywhere is therefore not to underestimate the importance of being a progressive.  Without the pressure I mention above, nothing would ever change.  But without the final agreement of important conservative opinion-makers, in the face of overwhelming and contrary evidence to their readers’ and viewers’ dearly held dogmas, such home truths would never hit their targets.

And certainly not from the easily rejectable sources of progressive and oppositional thinking generally deposited quite elsewhere.

I think it was New Labour which tried to square this circle – which tried to convince us all it was possible to be progressive and an ultimate game-changer.  But, in so doing, it lost its progressive cloth and feel – and became as corporately centralised as any of the more traditionally right-wing organisations happily choose to be.

It is, therefore, my evermore strongly held belief that the true progressive must be resigned to winning such wars without the opportunity of sealing their corresponding peace treaties.  We can be witnesses to injustice whenever we wish, but must be prepared to allow the right to have its days of curious glory.

That is the responsibility of those on the right – who we must accept, emotionally more than anything else, have the means to trigger the change only our continually moving goal-posts can set the framework for.  We may paint the sidelines and run the defence.  But, in this weird game of politicised football, if we attempt to take on the roles of striker and midfield, the fame and fortune such a role entails immediately makes us unfit for the job.

Is this a home truth we on the left must take onboard?  Perhaps it is.  But we can surely live with it – as long as we know that long-term ordinary people are going to benefit.  Being in power and exerting it – as business leaders the world over know most fully – are not exactly the same things.  And a defender of the truth is much more singular and useful than a gold-awash striker of sporting glory.


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