You know what? I do hate people who keep punctuating their spiel with “You know what?”
To be honest I have far more pressing things to worry about right now than BBC bias.
I rarely use ‘to be honest’ as it implies one’s honesty is confined to the one exceptional statement (rather than one's norm.)
One might be cynical and assume the callers who rang in to the extended Any Answers were all activists. I believe someone said or Tweeted as much.
I really hope they were all activists, because if they are indeed representative of the public, you know what? We’re in for that unthinkable chaotic coalition.
Theresa May blew it good and proper. Why on earth she decided to present us with a manifesto that seemed meaner than ever, when it’s obvious that everyone is weary of unadulterated austerity. She gave us nothing to look forward to, which was big mistake. Did she think her predicted landslide would provide cover for those harsh policies? A good time to bury bad news? A mother of miscalculations.
Who on earth thought it was preferable to provide primary pupils with free breakfasts instead of lunches? Why resurrect the minority interest issue of fox hunting completely out of the blue, when the issue seemed to have settled down?
Why threaten to stop winter fuel payments without giving details of who will lose?
However, what worries me a lot more than Theresa May’s determination to self-destruct is the widely held perception that Jeremy Corbyn, who also peppers his speeches with ‘You know what?” is a nice person. That in their blinkered search for a spiritual leader all those youthful, middle-aged and elderly adolescents are ready, willing and able to deny or ignore Corbyn’s long-standing political record, i.e., his association with violent terrorists.
People mistake his refusal to indulge in retaliatory personal attacks as a characteristic of someone ‘nice’. ‘I don’t do personal’ he says. Doing personal is human. It might be admirable and self-disciplined to rise above such a thing, but not ‘doing personal’ doesn’t necessarily indicate ‘nice’. It equally suggests coldness and lack of empathy. Any empathy he does have is reserved for the most un-empathetic, intolerant and violent groups on the planet.
People mistake his refusal to indulge in retaliatory personal attacks as a characteristic of someone ‘nice’. ‘I don’t do personal’ he says. Doing personal is human. It might be admirable and self-disciplined to rise above such a thing, but not ‘doing personal’ doesn’t necessarily indicate ‘nice’. It equally suggests coldness and lack of empathy. Any empathy he does have is reserved for the most un-empathetic, intolerant and violent groups on the planet.
@NazShahBfd reiterating her belief in Israel's right to exist followed by audience member shouting 'Jew Jew Jew' at her #BFDWestHustings pic.twitter.com/iDDM8tt75H— aisha ali-khan (@aak1880) June 1, 2017
The other odd thing that I’ve noticed is that the police are investigating a new hate crime, namely the outburst: “Jew, Jew, Jew,” aimed at Naz Shah who happened to be defending Israel’s right to exist at hustings organised by Bradford community group JUST Yorkshire.
What amuses me - if one can derive amusement from such a horrible thing - is the fact that the rabid antisemitism which seems to be the norm within Naz Shah’s Bradford constituency goes un-investigated. It takes some antisemitic person ‘being honest’ to arouse interest from the people who investigate hate incidents.
You know what? If Jeremy Corbyn achieves the unthinkable, we’re in for a bumpy ride.
