Friday, 2 March 2012

Just As You Thought It Couldn't Get Worse

It was two and a half years ago that the Conservative Party came to power and the 74% of the public that didn't want the Tories in power comforted themselves that at least as part of a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, the nasty party that spewed out Margaret Thatcher would have their wings clipped.
Fast forward to today and the Tories have not only bumped up unemployment to 3 million, decimated the Public Sector and tripled student fees, but they have also tried to sell off the forests and are presently deep into plans to sell the NHS to the highest bidder.
None of these things were in the manifesto but just when you think that they couldn't be anymore brazen and breathtakingly shameless, the latest wheeze from the Tories is to privatise the police force.
The home secretary, Theresa May, has said 'front line policing can be protected by using the private sector to transform services provided to the public' and that she hoped the 'business partnership programme would be in place next spring.'
Private companies providing police services for profit? We are expected to swallow a business that makes money from arresting and incarcerating people because giving the private sector free rein to run things in the UK has been such a whopping success already. Now we are going to let them loose on protecting us and let them turn a profit doing it?
So on and on they go, finishing off what Margaret Thatcher started and selling off the country so in the future your ability to receive health care or have your burglary investigated will come down to your ability to pay.
I'm baffled why we are not out on the streets and burning effigies of David Cameron and the rest of the Conservative half-wits.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

this doesn't "feel" right to me, but it isn't like police protect us... they arrive at the scene long after the crime and protect the evidence. still doesn't "feel" right.

if a for profit company takes over will they only pursue criminals have a good return on investment? on the other hand, how much money does the gov spend giving traffic tickets to generate revenue?

doesn't feel right that "wealthy" or "famous" people could buy their way out of a crime, but that happens today - right?

hmmmm

q

david g said...

Keep in mind what happened when the Americans privatized part of their army (Blackwater, etc).

Yeah, let the market reign. Capitlism is next to godliness!re

Anonymous said...

No doubt blackwater did some bad things, but then so do all "government" managed armies. Right?

You make capitalism sound unnatural, but it is absolutely natural because it is based on "self-interest". when humans lived like all other animals, and sharing property was a must to survive, humans reluctantly shared because of self-interest – even though they did not like being dependent on others. Doing away with capitalism requires us to be dependent on others, and we don’t like dependency. Even people that choose to live on government aide don’t want limits. They want independence from controls. Example – they don’t want to be told they can’t buy alcohol with their food stamps.

I never said capitalism is perfect. I admit that the bad might even outweigh the good, but it is better than any other option.

q

Anonymous said...

i would say capitalism is far, very freaking far, from godliness, but it is human... like it or not

q

Anonymous said...

insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results... stupidity is expecting human nature to change...

q

Cheezy said...

"insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results"

Exactly. I had the same thought when Obama appointed people like Summers, Geithner, Bernanke, and Feldstein to top advisory economic positions in his administration!

And privatising the police force, in any meaningful way, is a pretty terrible idea.