Friday, September 01, 2006

Is Blair the voice of "Big Brother?"

We can spot trouble before it is born!

We are used to complaining about the old style socialist centralised nanny state looking after everything for us from the cradle to the gave, but now it seems that the Prime Minister wishes to take the concept one stage further. In an interview with the BBC he seems to suggest that the trouble makers in society can be spotted even before they are born, and that's the time for the state to intervene in their welfare! He seems to have decided that pregnant teenage girls not in a stable relationship are invariably going to produce the children who will be a future "menace to society".

It's time for "big brother's" voice to be heard, you can almost hear him intone, we know what's best for, your baby, for us, and the rest of society! Has the Prime Minister had too much of a good time whilst on holiday? Has he been overdoing the local customs in Barbados? Or is he finally showing signs of losing his marbles?

I can think of countless examples of single mothers who do actually work for a living, work damned hard in fact, many hold down more than one job to bring up their child, and in many cases they make a very good fist of it. There is no reason at all to suggest that families are unable to cope with an extra child, that they are unwilling to help fetch up their grandchildren, indeed it is almost becoming common practice in Blair's Britain. Perhaps the Prime Minister would be better advised to overhaul the current social and welfare benefits system which still encourages people to exclude themselves from the labour market. Perhaps he might like to look at the taxation system and how it can be utilised to strengthen the institution of marriage, in order to provide the "stable relationships" that he is looking for. (Going off on a tangent for a moment, the apparent good news that divorce rates are falling is only a further indication of the reduction in the number of couples opting for marriage.)

One day, one of these problematic kids is going to shock us all by working hard, going to university, building a business, acquiring ambition, taking a part in political life and ascending to 10 Downing Street.

Links

The Guardian
BBC

# posted by Curly : 6:12 pm