Tories Look Backwards To The Future.

The Tories have today given their verdict on Britain's railways. Have they found that the management of the private industries who took over the railways are greedy and selfish? That they pay themselves far too much for management techniques that hark back to the 19th century? Not a bit of it. The railways, they tell us, are so bad because the ordinary people who man it are paid too much and don't work long enough hours. They have come to pretty much the same conclusions about youth unemployment. Is it because of Britain's economic decline? Is it because our education system has been destroyed by political interference? Is it because this government has all but dedicated itself to creating as much unemployment as possibe? Of course not - it's because young people are paid too much and their answer is to freeze the minimum wage for youngsters under 20. Its the same familiar and weary story when it comes to defence and Britain's role in the world. The Tories have all but stripped Britain of any real defence capability and yet, at the same time, have clung to Trident like a child clinging to its mother's skirts. Why? Because Cameron and his cabinet of 19th century throw-backs have concluded that Trident, which cannot be deployed without American permission, offers them the only thing they really want - the ability to swagger about the world pretending we are still a world-class power. We don't have Trident because of a threat from Russia, China, Iran or Pakistan - we have it because of the threat to our prestige by the French. This government is not about releasing the abilities and creativity of its people. Far from finding ways to do this they have nakedly sought to curtail such a thing through reducing educational opportunity, lowering wages and increasing unemployment. Their only concern is the persuit of power and prestige for a narrow "upper" class, membership of which is dependant not on ability or creatvity, but on the blunt measure of wealth. For a Tory the amount of money someone has tells them everything they need to know about an individual. It is proof of virtue for them, ignoring, of course, that all too often it simply meaures an individual's greed and selfishness.