Ain’t no sewer low enough*

This Green and Surprisingly Pleasant Land - vile behaviour in British politics

As members of the His Majesty’s Government cling to power with little more than the stubs of their finger nails, the question being asked with increasing concern is - is there any depth they will not plumb to scramble back up again?

The answer starts from the top where Rishi Sunak decided to use prime minister’s question time to make a cheap anti-trans jibe in the presence of Esther Ghey, the mother of 16 year old Brianna Ghey, stabbed to death 28 times in an attack partly fuelled by transphobia.

Instead of being shocked by this outrageous behaviour Mr Sunak’s colleagues went into full breying mode showing their delight at their leader’s response to Keir Starmer who sat stoney faced in astonishment as an earlier remark of his that 99.9 per cent of women do not have a penis was excavated from the ministerial memory bank to make a convoluted point about Labour’s habit of u-turning on policy.

Mr Sunak, might, at a stretch, be found guilty of no more than over excitement during a tense parliamentary session but after various stooges were placed in front of television cameras to say that his jibe had been misinterpreted, he declined the elementary decency of apologising to the Ghey family, while having the audacity to tell them that they had his ‘heartfelt sympathy’. A sentiment that is evidently insufficient to overcome a desire for the cheapest form of political gamesmanship.

It is not known whether Mr Sunak takes comfort or is still afraid of the two former Home Secretaries, the terrible twins Priti Patel and Suella Braverman. They are, to be fair, terrifying, and evidently believe that their campaign to replace Mr Sunak will be aided by hooking onto another tragedy involving a corrosive liquid attack on a mother and her two girls, age 3 and 8. At the time of writing the mother is in hospital battling very serious injuries. The man accused of the attack is Abdul Ezedi, an Afghani asylum seeker.

Full details of this case remain unclear but the words asylum seeker were quite sufficient to send the terrible twins into yet another of their anti-immigrant rants. In this instance aimed at the Church for allegedly supporting asylum seeker claims for converts, which may or may not explain the presence in Britain of Mr Ezedi, who appears to have committed suicide.

Decent people are hoping for the mother’s recovery and that the two small children will not be traumatised for life. They will also be hoping that, if he is still alive, the suspect encounters the full force of British justice. A time will come when Mr Ezedi’s immigrant status is subject to scrutiny but that time is not now, nor is this a golden opportunity to frame this case as being typical of all asylum seekers.

The fact that most people seeking to settle in Britain are neither violent criminals nor guilty of anything worse than seeking to make a better life counts for very little when pressing the button marked xenophobia which has become the button of choice for those seeking advancement in today’s Conservative Party.

At this point it would be comforting to hear the Labour Party forcefully asserting the elementary decency of British people who believe in the system of justice and are not natural born xenophobes. Advocating the case for immigration requires courage. To do so is not risk free but it needs to be done in the interests of honesty and elementary decency.

Lamentably Keir Starmer and his party have opted to cower in the face of extreme anti-immigrant rhetoric from what is now the mainstream of the Tory Party. Labour believes that nothing should be risked ahead of an election. However, to be worthy of gaining office, Labour needs to call out all forms of racism with the same kind of resolute determination which purged the party of antisemitism.

It is therefore reasonable but hardly reassuring to expect that the lower depths of the political sewer will spew forth in the coming election where racism, sexism and perverted cultural wars will be fought under the banner of anti-wokeism. And those waging the cultural wars will be given a free hand to do their worst. 

I had naively believed much of this sewer-like behaviour was behind us in an age where tolerance of diversity seemed to be well established, when even the Tory Party could install a leader of Asian origin and when the depth of misogyny and racism in the police force had been exposed.

And yet here we are again with the most appalling tragedies being weaponised for political gain.

If irony manages to survive the ravages of today’s politics it is worth noting that while this government has brought forward legislation to ban American XL Bully dogs it has no plan whatsoever to cull rabid politicians.

*with apologies for turning on its head Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s stirring hit, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough