How Iain Duncan Smith came to Easterhouse and left with a new vision for the Tory party (Blinding)
Vicky Collins (Herald Scotland) Saturday 23 March 2002
IT will enter the political lexicon as the Easterhouse Epiphany. Iain Duncan Smith came, saw, and converted to a radical new form of Conservatism. By all accounts, his visit to a sprawling Glasgow housing estate last month was a low key affair.
There were no great crowds of residents to greet him, calling on him to lead them to a better world, and Mr Duncan Smith himself gave few signs to herald the changes that were to come. However, for those seeking them, there were a few hints of how the visit had inspired the new sense of direction which the Tory leader unveiled last night in the wake of Lady Thatcher’s departure from public life. In February, he baldly admitted the failure of previous Conservative governments to improve the lot of people living in sprawling council estates such as Easterhouse and said he wanted to ”listen and learn” to discover how the party could achieve that in the future. His call for the Conservatives to become ”the natural party of those who want to make a better life for themselves and their children” may have seemed a typical vote-gathering exercise, but the effects of that visit appear to have lasted longer than the headlines on the day, both for Mr Duncan Smith and those with whom he met.
Sandy Weddell, minister at the Easterhouse Baptist Church, accompanied Mr Duncan Smith throughout most of his visit, and was pleasantly surprised by the Tory leader’s attitude. Speaking yesterday Mr Weddell said: ”I think the Tories have realised that they do not really have a handle on difficulties in places like Easterhouse. They seem to have a genuine desire now to work out these problems. ”As a non-Tory, my impression was that he did listen and I think that most people who met him that day thought he was a genuine person. ”It is very easy now just to pull the Tories apart, but there has always been this idea that it is a one nation party and that it sees itself as inclusive of all kinds of social strata. ”This is a re-imagining of one aspect of Conservatism that was swallowed up by Thatcher. I hope that when the day comes that the Tories do regain power that they will carry through the ideas that they are talking about now.” This only part of the actual article, feel free to search the internet (Whilst you still can) to read the rest.
Blood Lust
Well what do we at the Guff say, hind sights a wonderful thing? This goes to show what the Tories were up to a full 8 years before the last election. With George Osbourne already mentioning another 12 billion worth of cuts to welfare (on top of the billions already implemented) it would seem the blood letting will continue until every last drop is drained from the arteries of the poor (well into the next Parliament and beyond). The coalitions plan of divide and conquer, setting old against young, the not so well off against the poor, the able bodied against the disabled and so on seems to be working beyond their wildest dreams.
Iain Duncan Smith (the quiet man of politics) is now finding it even harder to voice his distaste against the political machine that is so hell bent on decreasing the deficit they’ll sacrifice anything and anybody to achieve their goal. This whilst increasing the pain and misery on society (in particular those at the thinnest end of the wedge) in the name of austerity. So it goes to show not only should you beware whom you invite into your home but also who you vote for during an election So as the next one approaches we at the Guff In Tonnes Post urge you to Remember Remember.
