Ed Miliband and David Cameron

                                             Ed Milliband

For the sake of my sanity and nerves I usually give politics a wide bearth but in the last week two politicians have boiled my blood to such an extent that I have to vent some of my disgust and annoyance. First head on the chopping block is Labour leader Ed Milliband as I had the misfortune of catching some of Labour's Political Party Broadcast on the tv. There were two strands to the broadcast. Firstly Millband trying to ingratiate himself with the working class people of Britain by harping on about his school days at his comprehensive. Secondly he dredged up some former Harvard pupils and comprehensive schoolmates to sing his praises. It was all terribly sycophantic and cringeworthy. It wasn't quite as awful as listening to Tony Blair speak but it had the same shades of insincerity and falseness. Ed, just come on tv, drop the act and tell us why we should vote for you in a direct and meaningful way.
Second head on the chopping block is Prime Minister David Cameron. During his big address at the Conservative Party conference he said "There is only one real route out of poverty and it is work." Having a good work ethic is really important and can indeed be a route out of poverty, I don't deny that, but it's a much more complex reality that what the PM would like us to believe. I am born and bred in a working class area of Glasgow and I doubt very much that any of the young men and women of my area have been given all the advantages, privileges and help that Cameron has himself enjoyed since his youth. Many of the poor need a helping hand to lift themselves out of poverty - social issues such as poor education, broken homes and the negative influence of peers can seriously hold back people in their pursuit of a better life. So his statement is a gross oversimplification. There is a further irony in that Cameron demands the poor to work themselves out of poverty at a time of high unemployment. What planet are you living on David?