An Open Letter to David Cameron’s Parents

[mattx]

An Open Letter to David Cameron’s Parents « Nathaniel Tapley

 

Dear Mr & Mrs Cameron,

 

Why did you never take the time to teach your child basic morality?

 

As a young man, he was in a gang that regularly smashed up private property. We know that you were absent parents who left your child to be brought up by a school rather than taking responsibility for his behaviour yourselves. The fact that he became a delinquent with no sense of respect for the property of others can only reflect that fact that you are terrible, lazy human beings who failed even in teaching your children the difference between right and wrong. I can only assume that his contempt for the small business owners of Oxford is indicative of his wider values.

 

Even worse, your neglect led him to fall in with a bad crowd.

 

There’s Michael Gove, whose wet-lipped rage was palpable on Newsnight last night. This is the Michael Gove who confused one of his houses with another of his houses in order to avail himself of £7,000 of the taxpayers’ money to which he was not entitled (or £13,000, depending on which house you think was which).

 

Or Hazel Blears, who was interviewed in full bristling peahen mode for almost all of last night. She once forgot which house she lived in, and benefited to the tune of £18,000. At the time she said it would take her reputation years to recover. Unfortunately not.

 

But, of course, this is different. This is just understandable confusion over the rules of how many houses you are meant to have as an MP. This doesn’t show the naked greed of people stealing plasma tellies.

 

Unless you’re Gerald Kaufman, who broke parliamentary rules to get £8,000 worth of 40-inch, flat screen, Bang and Olufsen TV out of the taxpayer.

 

Or Ed Vaizey, who got £2,000 in antique furniture ‘delivered to the wrong address’. Which is fortunate, because had that been the address they were intended for, that would have been fraud.

 

Or Jeremy Hunt, who broke the rules to the tune of almost £20,000 on one property and £2,000 on another. But it’s all right, because he agreed to pay half of the money back. Not the full amount, it would be absurd to expect him to pay back the entire sum that he took and to which he was not entitled. No, we’ll settle for half. And, as in any other field, what might have been considered embezzlement of £22,000 is overlooked. We know, after all, that David Cameron likes to give people second chances.

 

Fortunately, we have the Met Police to look after us. We’ll ignore the fact that two of its senior officers have had to resign in the last six weeks amid suspicions of widespread corruption within the force.

 

We’ll ignore Andy Hayman, who went for champagne dinners with those he was meant to be investigating, and then joined the company on leaving the Met.

 

Of course, Mr and Mrs Cameron, your son is right. There are parts of society that are not just broken, they are sick. Riddled with disease from top to bottom.

 

Just let me be clear about this (It’s a good phrase, Mr and Mrs Cameron, and one I looted from every sentence your son utters, just as he looted it from Tony Blair), I am not justifying or minimising in any way what has been done by the looters over the last few nights. What I am doing, however, is expressing shock and dismay that your son and his friends feel themselves in any way to be guardians of morality in this country.

 

Can they really, as 650 people who have shown themselves to be venal pygmies, moral dwarves at every opportunity over the last 20 years, bleat at others about ‘criminality’. Those who decided that when they broke the rules (the rules they themselves set) they, on the whole wouldn’t face the consequences of their actions?

 

Are they really surprised that this country’s culture is swamped in greed, in the acquisition of material things, in a lust for consumer goods of the most base kind? Really?

 

Let’s have a think back: cash-for-questions; Bernie Ecclestone; cash-for-access; Mandelson’s mortgage; the Hinduja passports; Blunkett’s alleged insider trading (and, by the way, when someone has had to resign in disgrace twice can we stop having them on television as a commentator, please?); the meetings on the yachts of oligarchs; the drafting of the Digital Economy Act with Lucian Grange; Byers’, Hewitt’s & Hoon’s desperation to prostitute themselves and their positions; the fact that Andrew Lansley (in charge of NHS reforms) has a wife who gives lobbying advice to the very companies hoping to benefit from the NHS reforms. And that list didn’t even take me very long to think of.

 

Our politicians are for sale and they do not care who knows it.

 

Oh yes, and then there’s the expenses thing. Widescale abuse of the very systems they designed, almost all of them grasping what they could while they remained MPs, to build their nest egg for the future at the public’s expense. They even now whine on Twitter about having their expenses claims for getting back to Parliament while much of the country is on fire subject to any examination. True public servants.

 

The last few days have revealed some truths, and some heartening truths. The fact that the #riotcleanup crews had organised themselves before David Cameron even made time for a public statement is heartening. The fact that local communities came together to keep their neighbourhoods safe when the police failed is heartening. The fact that there were peace vigils being organised (even as the police tried to dissuade people) is heartening.

 

There is hope for this country. But we must stop looking upwards for it. The politicians are the ones leading the charge into the gutter.

 

David Cameron was entirely right when he said: “It is a complete lack of responsibility in parts of our society, people allowed to think that the world owes them something, that their rights outweigh their responsibilities, and that their actions do not have consequences.”

 

He was more right than he knew.

 

And I blame the parents.

Edited August 10, 2011 by mattx

[Gibbo]

His dads dead.

 

BBC News - David Cameron's father Ian dies in hospital

 

To be honest I found this post pretty embarrassing and ignorant - particularly as you didn't know his dad was dead.

 

I trust you'll be following it up with a similar post about Labour and its past leaders? Miliband hasn't much form (nor will he, he's just a caretaker until Labour is ready for power again), but Blair and Brown have much worthy of mention. But much of your post relates to the many years Labour were in power and had time and opportunity to change any manner of things, but didn't.

[NikTheGeek]

Only in this country could rioters in £100 trainers, organising themselves on £300 smartphones consider themselves poor!

 

No matter how you try to hide it, you are making apologies for the rioters by placing the blame elsewhere or trying to shift the focus away from the thugs with no morals or decency. Whilst no political party is perfect, at least David Cameron has tried to do something about 15 years of expenses fiddling. Hey may have been late to react to the rioting, but the coalition have only been in power a year and haven't had time, if they wanted to, to break society to this extent. At least it is now going to be looked at.

 

If you want to know what should be done, start by bringing in some form of National Service, working in poor countries, builing wells and houses. Teach the youngsters how lucky they are and teach them respect for others. Only then will this be fixed.

[Stuart_C]

Only in this country could rioters in £100 trainers, organising themselves on £300 smartphones consider themselves poor!

 

 

Yep.

 

Ultimately all politicians are flawed as they have to cater to the whim of which ever groups is shouting loudest at any given moment.

 

You are not going to please all the people any of the time.

[Trapper]

I also hope you'll post a follow up to Labour.

 

You can't blame Maggie forever. When I was at school in the 1990s even the bad kids had a chance, and even the worst of them could be brought round, even for a while, by the best teachers. Now look at them after 10 years of increased benefits, ASBOs which they collect, an educational system which is so left wing that even the most disruptive pupil cannot be removed and disciplined due to their human rights.

[SteveBentley]

His dads dead.

 

BBC News - David Cameron's father Ian dies in hospital

 

To be honest I found this post pretty embarrassing and ignorant - particularly as you didn't know his dad was dead.

 

Had you clicked the link to the source (where you would have realised it wasn't @mattx who wrote that) you'd have seen that the very first comment there makes that same point about his father, and the author responded:

 

Yes, I thought about that, but I think it underscores the point that whenever you blame someone’s parents you are doing so in utter ignorance of their situation. Whenever Cameron himself places the blame on parents, he has no idea if he’s talking to widows or the recently bereaved and yet he still feels quite confident in doing it. Yes, it’s crass and insensitive. It’s also exactly what he does.

[NikTheGeek]

Had you clicked the link to the source (where you would have realised it wasn't @mattx who wrote that) you'd have seen that the very first comment there makes that same point about his father, and the author responded:

 

That matters not. For example: post an offensive joke and you offend people regardless of who the original author of the joke was, furthermore, readers would make the assumption that the poster was also racist/sexist (whatever) for re-posting it. Same applies here, although to a lesser extent. I thought it was in bad taste, considering the destruction and loss of life. Comparing the riots to the past behaviour of politicians is, at best, thoughtless...

[Butters]

So because someones Dad has died, you can't blame them for their parenting?

 

/remove Devil's Advocate cloak

[SteveBentley]

No, it matters considerably. @Gibbo suggested that the post was "ignorant - particularly as you didn't know his dad was dead", which appears not to be the case, and the author was attempting to make a subtle point. How successful that attempt was is a matter of opinion.

[NikTheGeek]

No, it matters considerably. @Gibbo suggested that the post was "ignorant - particularly as you didn't know his dad was dead", which appears not to be the case, and the author was attempting to make a subtle point. How successful that attempt was is a matter of opinion.

 

Forget the whole "dad" thing, as I didn't comment on that. *I* am offended by the general tone of the post and consider it is in bad taste considering the current situation and not at all funny (if that was the intent). Yes of course offence is subjective, but current politicians can not be blamed for the state of the Nation, no matter how you look at it. If they had been in power for 15 years, maybe... Things need to change, but a silly little personal dig at David Cameron and others is not the answer is it. So, at best, the post was completely pointless.

[SteveBentley]

Given that you appear to have misunderstood what you claim to have read, there is little point in continuing this discussion with you.

[Gibbo]

I think there's little point in continuing the entire thread, never mind discussion. MattX has a history on here of similar trolling posts, and hasn't even bothered to comment on the content, just a lame copy and paste.

 

I note the other day this little gem:

 

Wow - big words from a Toffy Stuck Up Eton Imbecile.

 

He can't even get the phrase right - I think you were looking for "toffy nosed".

[speckytecky]

Well said Gibbo.

 

Mattx posts some superb stuff but this particular one was misjudged as far as I'm concerned.

 

Whatever anyone thinks of David Cameron the man (and I think he has the potential to show real leadership and be one of the greatest) he is the elected Prime Minister of our Country and the office at least deserves respect. Parliament in general has become a shambles but at least they recognise they need to clean it all up and at last are trying to do so.

[Theblacksheep]

Some people need to stop hiding behind the 'personally offended' line (just because they voted for them) and stop making excuses for thieving politicians, on both sides of the coin.

 

There's lots of people taking the supposed moral high ground when taking a TV from a shop IS no different from filling in an expenses claim for a new TV. No difference, except one you want to shoot, the other you'll vote in.... and wonder why this keep coming around.

[pcstru]

I also hope you'll post a follow up to Labour.

Did you read the letter? Do you know who Gerrald Kaufman is? Or Mandelson? David Blunkett perhaps? Do you think The Ecclestone scandal happened a few weeks ago under this government?

 

Do you think perhaps you have missed the point?

[MK-2]

taking a TV from a shop IS no different from filling in an expenses claim for a new TV. No difference, except one you want to shoot, the other you'll vote in.... and wonder why this keep coming around.

 

seriously, there is no difference between the two?

[TechMonkey]

Some people need to stop hiding behind the 'personally offended' line (just because they voted for them) and stop making excuses for thieving politicians, on both sides of the coin.

 

There's lots of people taking the supposed moral high ground when taking a TV from a shop IS no different from filling in an expenses claim for a new TV.

That entirely depends on your viewpoint, ethics, philosophy, morals etc etc etc. As always it is not a black and white issue.

 

I would say smashing up someone's lively hood, torching the placing, laughing about it and running of with goods is far worse than expenses fraud. Note, not expenses fraud is ok, just not as bad. I think parliament and our whole governmental system needs reform. But comparing the expenses scandal to a mass outbreak of civil lawlessness and then trying to use that as some means of justifying it is misguided and minimises the whole problem. We may as well say that the looters are all Robin Hood types, the loveable scamps, lets just let them be.

[pcstru]

Comparing the riots to the past behaviour of politicians is, at best, thoughtless...

 

You are right. Those rioters weren't generally in positions of responsibility and holding themselves up as role models, arbiters of social morality and being the ultimate guardians of ethical behaviour for our country. The rioters were just ordinary scum. The legions of politicians who fiddled their expenses, sold access to power to the highest bidders, supported legislation for pay and the promises of lucrative directorships and cozied up to media moguls who see little wrong in using illegal means to get information - not on criminals but people who have merely suffered tragedy; those aren't ordinary scum, they are a very special kind of scum indeed. If I was a rioter I'd be disgusted to be compared to them.

[Theblacksheep]

I would say smashing up someone's lively hood, torching the placing, laughing about it and running of with goods is far worse than expenses fraud. Note, not expenses fraud is ok, just not as bad. I think parliament and our whole governmental system needs reform.

 

One person smashed up a shop, burnt it and ran away with 5 40" TV?

 

One MP also didn't claim millions in expenses, hundreds of second homes, gave cash for questions, killed millions in wars, tried to keep expenses private, shot mark duggan and let over 300 people die in police custody in the last 10 years without anyone being charged. Individuals acted for themselves, not one person did everything.

 

Its not as bad, why? because they are wearing a suit? because they tricked you into voting for them?

 

Stealing is stealing and people are making excuses for MPs (David Lammy (tottenham) £173,922) by trying to justify a difference.

Edited August 12, 2011 by Theblacksheep

[MK-2]

One person smashed up a tv, burnt it and ran away with a 40" TV?

 

One MP also didn't claimed millions in expenses, hundreds of second homes, gave cash for questions, killed millions in wars, tried to keep expenses private, shot mark duggan and let over 300 people die in police custody in the last 10 years without anyone being charged.

 

Its not as bad, why? because they are wearing a suit? because they tricked you into voting for them?

 

Stealing is stealing and people are making excuses for MPs (David Lammy (tottenham) £173,922) by trying to justify a difference.

 

so an MP shot Mark Duggan? An MP killed millions in wars?

get a grip ffs

 

by your logic there is no difference between a murderer on death row and a soldier in the army. both have probably killed, i see absolutely no difference. killing is killing, is it better because one is wearing a uniform?

[Theblacksheep]

An MP killed millions in wars?

 

You missed the point, it wasn't one (why I put "one MP didn't"), just like one looter cannot do everything on their own.

[MK-2]

just like one looter cannot do everything on their own.

 

how does that bear relevance to you comparing them to MPs?

You are saying that expenses fraud is the same as criminal damage, bodily harm, theft and rioting. So does that mean software piracy is as bad as rape?

why not just have one fixed prison term for all crimes, rather than basing each crime on its own?

[tommej]

I think you fully understand the point he's trying to make, stop being facetious.

[Theblacksheep]

how does that bear relevance to you comparing them to MPs?

You are saying that expenses fraud is the same as criminal damage, bodily harm, theft and rioting. So does that mean software piracy is as bad as rape?

why not just have one fixed prison term for all crimes, rather than basing each crime on its own?

 

I'm glad you have arrived at treating each crime on its own, because many seem to be lumping all rioters in with 5 different charges. Have a look what they are charged with by the police:

 

UK riots: the list of magistrate cases and convictions so far | News | guardian.co.uk

 

* 'Burglary other than dwelling'

* 'Entering Maplins Electronics, in Temple Street, as a trespasser'

* 'Handling stolen goods'

* 'threatening words and behaviour and assaulting a police constable'

* 'Possession of a knife'

* 'Behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace'

* 'Obstructing a PC'

* 'Handling stolen goods'

 

Apart from extreme cases, are the above charges worse than the charges of MPs 20k or 150k in expenses? or the police taking thousands from Murdochs papers for information?

Edited August 12, 2011 by Theblacksheep

[Disease]

His dads dead.

 

BBC News - David Cameron's father Ian dies in hospital

 

To be honest I found this post pretty embarrassing and ignorant - particularly as you didn't know his dad was dead.

 

I trust you'll be following it up with a similar post about Labour and its past leaders? Miliband hasn't much form (nor will he, he's just a caretaker until Labour is ready for power again), but Blair and Brown have much worthy of mention. But much of your post relates to the many years Labour were in power and had time and opportunity to change any manner of things, but didn't.

 

I agree, Blair and Brown were more interested in bankrupting this country (PFI Bills anyone?) to worry about changeing things for the better