Them and
us.
It's
always been a bit of a woolly statement.
At any
given time 'us' has been everyone who agrees with you with 'them'
being those who don't.
It's been
the working classes against anyone else.
Well it was until people in suits decided that this was a classless society.
More
recently for some it has been the media led UK born against immigrants argument.
In the
aftermath of the paralympics I suspect it will be the disabled v the
able bodied as the coalition continues to drive a wedge between us
all.
They've
already being going at it hammer and tongs to separate in our minds
the employed and the unemployed.
There's a
shifting sands aspect to it that allows them and us to be applied to
just about anything.
Yet have
the lines between them and us ever been cast sharper now that the
truth about Hillsborough has been revealed?
On one
side there's the people of Liverpool who always knew the truth, and
they've always been backed up by virtually every Tom, Dick and Harry
from across the whole of the country because deep down we all knew
the score.
Then on
the other side is the Murdoch funded Sun who lied, the police who covered
it up, and the politicians who buried it.
Now the
proof of their complicity has been revealed and it has shown in sharp
contrast that there is indeed a them and an us.
There's
plenty of comments doing the rounds about how Thatcher wanted the
police onside and aided them in hiding the truth for her own ends,
but lets not forget that she wouldn't have done this alone.
The whole
top tier of the conservative government were happy to dance on the
graves of those who died to promote their own political needs.
Disgusting
low lives who displayed the same amount of empathy for their fellow
man as a sociopath would.
However
lets be fair and spread the blame a bit further.
Does
anyone really think that the information that has now come to light
was not available to subsequent prime ministers and their cabinets?
Every
single leader of this country after Thatcher knew the truth.
None of
them felt that it was necessary to share it.
Not one
single person in government felt that providing closure to those who
lost members of their families on that day was a priority.
Not one felt that the tarnished character of Liverpool should be addressed with the truth.
That's
the harsh fact of it.
The Sun
of course knew from day one that they lied, but lying, or fudging the
truth, is their stock in trade.
Why
anyone buys that rag and gives anything they say credence is beyond
my ken.
Maybe now
people will wake up and consider that if they lied in such a hurtful
way about the Liverpool fans at Hillsborough then what else have they
been less than truthful about?
The
people of Liverpool know that if they say the sun is going to shine
you need to crack a curtain to make sure that the reality isn't that
it's raining cats and dogs.
It's time
for everyone else to catch up and consign any overtly manipulative
newspaper to the dustbin.
This
current debacle so close on the heels of the Leveson inquiry, where
Murdoch has been shown to have his grubby fingers in every pie since
Methuselah was a kid, must act as a catalyst for its downfall.
It simply must, but it probably wont.
People want their football and tits and hell mend anyone who gets in the way of them.
A little matter of smearing a city and it's people with lies seems unimportant when it may mean that an individual will miss out on a cheap thrill and a poorly written article on transfer windows.
As for
the police.
Well lets
not paint every rank and file bobby with the same brush, but at the
same time lets not forget that there was drastic life ending mistakes
made on that day and no one from the time was held accountable.
Worse, that apart from no accountability, was that there was a cover up.
A deliberate move to not accept that accountability.
Time and
again the police have been used to limit our rights and the payment
for doing so has been that they are often offered a get out of jail
free card from those in power.
Hillsborough is a prime example of this in action.
It seems
rare for them to pick up their truncheons and riot shields to defend
our rights as citizens of this country.
Instead
every time I see an image of them doing their stormtrooper tribute
act it would seem that it is purely to protect the interests of a
minority at the top of the tree.
How did we get to this point?
I've said
it before that in the past governments and big business used to pay
lip service to us, but increasingly less so now.
Hillsborough
is the proof.
In a time
gone by they would have been concerned about the public opinion, or
at least pretended to be.
Do any of
us really see any concern, or even faux concern now.
Every
half arsed platitude rings completely false.
Every
empty apology an affront to us all.
They don't care about what we think and it's written all over their faces in blood.
So why are
we, the majority, continuing with this game.
They have
now fundamentally drawn the line in the sand and we can see very
clearly who is on one side or the other.
It's them
or us is starting to sound more like a challenge for survival.
Brilliantly put sir!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Jamesy.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably just putting into words what everyone is thinking though.
I hope that this is the straw that breaks the camels back.
All the shit that is going down, Attacks on welfare, the NHS, the disabled and more.
Something has to be the one thing that everyone considers to be a step too far.
I'm sorry itsaxxx, but it won't be, if my dealings with police in Annan on Saturday are anything to go by.
ReplyDeleteI travelled down for a few beers whilst my mates went to the SFL3 match between Rangers and Annan, but as we arrived at the train station we were kettled into a single exit where we were made to stand against a wall , speak into a video camera and give name, address and dob, whilst showing id.
I refused and was told by a PC that I would be lifted unless I complied. When I told him I wanted to speak to his superior, the boss came over. I informed him that I was not in the town to go to the football and in fact had boarded at Kilmarnock I was eventually allowed to carry on without giving into them.
A nonsense that will continue as long as the wee people put up with it.
A shambles
Everyone should challenge the request for our details at every turn.
ReplyDeleteThen if the insistence for our details was illegal pursue it.
This ongoing need to browbeat everyone is a disgrace.
Them and us.
ReplyDeleteUK Border Agency working on plans for priority passport lanes for rich travellers at Heathrow and other British airports
The UK Border Agency has disclosed that it is working on plans for fast-track passport lanes for rich travellers at Heathrow and other British airports so they can avoid any repeat of the two-hour queues seen this year.
Brian Moore, the departing head of the UK Border Force, told MPs that "high value" people who were considered valuable passengers by the airlines or valuable to the British economy would be given priority treatment at immigration control under the plans.
It would be an extension of a priority queueing system trialled this year at Heathrow, under which passengers from Australia, Canada, the US, New Zealand and other, mainly "old Commonwealth" countries who do not need a visa to enter Britain would be fast-tracked.
Moore told the Commons home affairs select committee: "It is an idea that officials are discussing with port operators. It will then go back to ministers for them to consider whether and how it is going to be progressed. It is an idea that is being pursued."
Keith Vaz, the committee chair, pressed Moore as to whether it meant the super-rich would have a fast track into Britain. Moore said it would cover people who were "valuable to the economy and were valued by the airlines". He said the move was intended to demonstrate that Britain was "open for business".
The plan is likely to be seen as highly divisive, especially if there is any repeat of the two-hour queues at passport control earlier this year and in the runup to the Olympics.
Even at normal times, passengers from outside the European Union are expected to queue for up to 45 minutes to get through passport control at Heathrow. The airport has a target to keep passport queues below 25 minutes for passengers with EU passports.
Moore said similar fast-track schemes were already in operation in other countries around the world, with some airlines offering first-class ticketholders speedy passport checks.