A Tale of Two Nations: Reclaiming 21st Century Britain

It was the best of times (for Tory donors and Tory MPs and the wealthiest, not so much ‘in society’ as approximately adjacent to it), it was the worst of times (for everyone else), it was the age of wisdom (as demonstrated by a growing number of people waking up to the fact that their media actively works against their interests in defence of the interests of a privileged few), it was the age of foolishness (by a politico minority whose arrogance, hubris, indulgence and sense of entitlement have led it commit Britain to a course of self-destruction and down a dark phase in Britain’s history that has seen a rise in an intolerance not reflective of the Britain that we have become over the past two decades) it was the epoch of belief (Britain can be better but it is a clash over just what that means, what has caused Britain to not be as great as it could be, and how we can proceed towards a greatness that we can all enjoy), it was the epoch of incredulity (the lack of belief in politicians acting in OUR interests has been accumulating for decades but we have not shared a vision of why that is or what can be done about it or even if ANYTHING can be done about it, but…), it was the season of Light (people are waking to the prospect that there is a political choice that can be made that will put US at the heart of British politics and it lies within voting for a government led by Jeremy Corbyn), it was the season of Darkness (the repercussions of seven years of Tory government and four decades of neoliberalism), it was the spring of hope (the 8th June 2017), it was the winter of despair (the grim determination of the rejected Theresa May and the ruinous, self-serving, politically inadequate Tory leadership to hold on to power at any cost), we had everything before us (Britain can turn this dalliance with a corrupted Conservative Party into a lesson paid for at too high a price and begin to negotiate a better relationship with our European neighbours, working with them to build a Europe that serves the people of Europe, not just the wealthy few), we had nothing before us (without Theresa May’s fear of an impending leadership challenge and arrogant belief in an artificial polling lead that flew in the face of real people’s experiences of the thieving and self-serving tenure of the Tories in government, Britain was faced with a Tory only brexit negotiation and three more years of the Tories theft and attacks on Britain’s most vulnerable, including those with disabilities, the elderly, the young, the poor, those on low incomes, those on meddle incomes, the homeless and all but the most wealthy), we were all going direct to Heaven (just as quickly as the Tories could arrange through their continuing attacks on the NHS, the Police, the Armed Forces and the Fire Service), we were all going direct the other way (well, those foolish enough to think that voting Tory was some form of protection from their violence) — in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.