Like many, I condemn the appalling vicious murder of Sir David Amess MP. This atrocious act has reopened existing wounds when it comes to fears about the safety of MP'a and others in public life.
It is telling that when news broke that the man arrested for the murder of Sir David Amess was a British man of Somalin heritage, The reaction of the far-right to the murder was one of joy and glee. It is a reminder of how quickly these types of atrocities are so easily exploited, becoming another tool for those who seek to spread hate in our society.
It has all sparked a lot of deep reflection form people of all walks of life, different political and religious faiths but has also helped point out that attempting to put the blame for the level of violence, chaos and polarisation in society on the left, migrants, social media etc after the Tory establishment have been stirring things up for such a long time, just reeks of hypocrisy.
And pardon me we are currently being lectured on 'civility in politics; by papers and politicians who demonised migrants, doctors, and produced a deafening silence when an effigy of Jeremy Corbyn was being used as target practice by British soldiers, and were not bothered when it was reported that a Corbyn win at the General election would result in a coup. Remember that? Or what about the dangerous rhetoric during the referendum that led to Jo Cox's death. Damaging rhetoric that is still very much evident in papers like the Daily Mail, Daily Express, Telegraph and the Sun etc
We are currently being set up for a clamp-down on protest, free speech and anonymity that the government, their lobbyists and the establishment and corporations they work for want us to simply ignore.
Double standards are the new normal, Civility is for normalcy. When things are normal and working as intended, civility is part of maintaining balance. But when that balance is gone, civility does not help return it but rather destabilises it further. Because civility gives cover for evil.
Political violence can also be seen in how they starve people into poorly paid employment, as is allowing 1000s of people to die needlessly to coronavirus . Hunger and poverty is violence.War is violence. Dropping bombs on people is violence. Racism is violence. White supremacy is violence, Cutting healthcare is violence. How Civil is it to vote to deprive the poorest of £20 or to vote to not feed children, vote for war after war? I don't want to hear about ' civility and decorum' when so many people are suffering.
It would be so nice if we could all get along but our government is objectively corrupt, dishonest, autocratic, cruel and negligent. It's culture war is pitching its own people against each other , It has cut welfare, voted against feeding the poorest children, slashed foreign aid and we;re expected to believe they care about.kindness, truth and decency. Yes our society has become coarse, brutal, divided ,anxious, angry, fearful, ill-informed, gullible confused, Exactly how the regime wants it to be, and planned it to be. It is no accident,
Every politician has a choice but they want to shame us from using vigorous language, or holding power to account or even daring to think of standing up in disobedience We must continue to stand against intolerance, the rising tide of incitement to discrimination, hatred and violence against persons based on religion , race or belief , that is fuelled both online and offline, and keep promoting mutual understanding, dialogue with inspiring, constructive, fierce debate,because this is how the true pathways of democracy are maintained.
