Shame on you, Gordon Brown!

Gordon Brown has re-launched the class war. He thinks that sneering at the Tory Leadership about their "Etonian" background is an appropriate way for a national leader to behave. Shame on him.

Brown is pandering to the worst instincts of the voter, playing on popular prejudice to stir up animosity against a group of people who cannot change what they are. He thinks this is a legitimate tactic to win votes.

The BNP uses similar tactics against what it perceives as "non-british" people and is, quite rightly, loudly condemned by all mainstream politicians for this racism. Is Brown any better?

The danger from racism is recognised - we all know about what happened when Hitler was allowed to move against the Jews (& the homosexuals and the mentally ill)  in Nazi Germany. It must never be allowed to happen again.

But a little bit of class warfare - that's harmless, isn't it? No-one ever died because of class prejudice?

I think the upper and middle classes of Stalinist Russia might disagree - it wasn't just the parasitic aristocracy that were removed in the revolution and subsequent years, but many of the educated and/or middle classes - teachers, intellectuals, politicians, affluent peasants (kulaks). Anyone who disagreed with the leadership was  labelled an enemy of the workers and whipped off to the Gulag.

I am not comparing Gordon Brown to Stalin.

My point is this: "a little bit" of class warfare is no more acceptable in a just society than "a little bit" of racism. It is the responsibility of politicians to create a just society without prejudice where all voices can be heard.

Gordon Brown has displayed unjust prejudice in his desire to score political points against his opponents.

Shame on you, Gordon Brown!

Introduction

Hello

This is my Soapbox. From time to time, I will use this Soapbox to put my thoughts on paper. It will not be a diary, but a reflective blog which I shall use to clarify my thoughts and occasionally to give vent to my frustrations.

I have no pretensions to great literary style, wit or originality of thought. And I reserve the right to contradict myself and change my mind from time to time. After all, I'm just thinking out loud, not running for parliament or planning world domination.

I welcome any comments, but reserve the right to remove those I don't like without having to justify myself. This is my Soapbox, after all :)