The Gargoyles are coming!

In certain quarters, notably the luvvie set, people are fetishising Miriam Margolyes for her ignorant, expletive-loaded reaction to the appointment of Jeremy Hunt as the latest Chancellor of the Exchequer. In other news Ed Byrne, using the phrase 'Tory cunts' on Mock the Week, also demonstrated why the opinion of entertainers ought to be taken with a pinch of salt. Why, with the wealth of evidence otherwise, would people imagine for one second that a valid and considered political stance would be “I hate Tories”?

“I’ve never fucked a Tory”, “Punch a Tory today” and other such tee-shirt slogans raise cheers among the unthinking herd who just love a bogeyman to blame. If they reflected for a moment that we haven’t had anything even close to a Conservative government for over three decades they might realise that their true target should be those who thrust themselves into the limelight in pursuit of power and influence.

Further reflection might also reveal that this includes not only politicians but also long-in-the-tooth sportspeople, broadcasters and, er, entertainers. How often do we turn on media to be berated by yet another braying donkey with a cause, using their fame and familiarity to appeal to something within us which says, “Oh, I like her; I bet she knows all about this subject on which she has, hitherto, remained silent"?

Admittedly some media stars do have valid credentials for promulgating their beliefs, but so often they really, really don’t. But all you need, it seems, is a strong conviction that whichever snake oil you are peddling it is the real deal and millions will follow. Yesterday, ‘general public UK’ were spreading the word that Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis should be the new Chancellor. Oh yes, they were, without any hint of irony.

I happen to believe that we need far fewer professional politicians in the political system, but a wholesale switch to amateur politicians would be immeasurably dire. Most of us – and this includes the luvvies and the sportspeople and the podcasters and the pub bores – know practically nothing about anything. But that little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing and people like Margoyles are nothing more than rent-a-gob motormouths blowing off steam.

The people in power have seldom been universally admired by the electorate and their mandates are rarely more than marginal, which means that at any one time the governing party tends to mirror significantly less than half of the population. But at least they have gone through a lengthy process to get there, a process which admittedly is flawed but one which has proved functional for many decades. To throw it all away and install leaders just because they have appeared in Harry Potter seems somewhat rash.

Seriously, this?

So you’ll perhaps excuse me if I easily dismiss those who gain favour because they wear their prejudices on their sleeves. To found your campaign for popularity, for power even, on the fact that you actually hate a sector of society just makes you sound like… well, like Liverpool. We might like a splash of colour, a hint of rebellion and a tinge of controversy, but we still need sober minds to do the heavy lifting. Cheer the Gargoyles all you like, but be really careful what you wish for.