Know your place!

When I was young, Britain was a multi-tiered society and despite the best efforts of Labour’s post-war flirtation with power the class system was alive and well, simply because the class system is what has defined the British for centuries. If you can’t be voted king you learn to stop day-dreaming about it; well, some do. But you can aspire to improve your stock by pairing well and investing in your brood. ‘A touch of class’ means exactly what it sounds like it means and you can’t elevate your status without any effort. John Prescott must have known he was lying when he said in 1997, “we are all middle class now”. But then again, it was John Prescott, so who knows what he was thinking?

New Labour traded freely on the equality myth and despite the clear evidence of our own eyes and all of human history, enough people bought into the lie and Britain and the British began to be slowly edged out and swept from the map. They came close, too – at what point does ‘increasing diversity’ morph into cynical and criminally insane population replacement? Perhaps we should ask Germany, or Sweden... or France?

On the drive into work yesterday the Today programme was featuring the tech sector in its non-stop ‘despite Brexit’ coverage. Lots of bright-eyed young entrepreneurs were lauding diversity to the heavens. London’s tech supremacy is what it is because of diversity, they all chorused. Diversity is the key. Diversity is intrinsically good. Everything is better with diversity. Sadiq Khan must be laughing up his sleeve at all these middle-class white Europeans flying his flag. Maybe, just maybe, success brings diversity and not the other way around? And has anybody asked the burka-blighted northern cities how much prosperity and success ‘diversity’ has brought them?

The European Union has done its best to bury pride and national identity in a sea of ‘vibrant’ multiculturalism. Given enough time those with the memories of our monocultural successes would have died out and the next generation or so would never be able to hark back to a time ‘before’. But the Brexit vote gives us the chance – the greatest ever chance – to find out whether we still have what it takes, or whether the contemptuous socialist experiment has already done its dark work. Nobody should forget Churchill’s words: “Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”

Tim Farron – Charlie Drake lookalike and temporary leader of the LimpDems still think we need more EU and is pursuing his twin fantasies of a second referendum and the Limpies ever again having a hand on the levers of power. In his conference speech he imagines his party can replace Labour as the party of opposition. I guess, insofar as they will never again have any influence whatsoever he is right, but actual opposition beyond a nominal and reedy back-of-the-stalls protest, no. They've only ever been the recipient of votes from people who feel they have a solemn duty to scrawl their cross, but have totally lost faith with the older parties.

Farron said he is worried by the prospect of a quarter century of Tory administration, but what is so wrong about having a period of stable government, especially when it so easily could be an actual, pragmatic and sensible British government and not some concoction of alien notions of impossible complexity? Twenty five years of fiscal responsibility and reward for endeavour, not just for existence, might just be exactly what we need. And it gives us time to grow a new generation who don’t expect everything to be handed to them on a plate.

Public Service Announcement

Know your place, you say? Are you seriously suggesting that we revert to a world where people are pigeonholed and taught to understand their position in the hierarchy? Actually, yes, I am; it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as the myths pretend. And if you can get past that folkloric socialist programming you might understand; some people actually should be kept in their place. The rest of us should be given back the dignity of aspiration through effort; not instant gratification in return for voting the right way, but a place to belong and a shot at improvement. If you don’t understand this there may be no hope for you. If you do understand it you’re probably nearing retirement.