It began with the unemployed then it moved on to the sick, after a period migrants became the target and now, at long last, come the pensioners. Yes the Tory government have got so low that they now feel able to attack the very people who put them in power - pensioners!
The UK has the most right wing media in Europe some say, the UN included. This is clear with even a quick look at the press on offer. The biggest sellers, the 'Sun,' around 1.7 million sales daily,owned by Rupert Maxwell, the 'Daily Mail,' around 1.5 million daily, owned by Lord Rothermere the non domiciled billionaire who prefers living in France than to his own nation, especially as he then pays no tax on his papers income, and the 'Daily Express,' around 400,000 daily, owned by an ex-porn baron Richard Desmond!
These are the biggest sellers and if more than one person reads every other copy you could say they reach 6-7 million people a day, mostly adults. All have a hectoring right wing stance, most for the Tories (though Rupert Murdoch backs anyone who will agree with him) and the 'Express' now supports UKIP, the UK Independence Party, in a vain hope of increasing sales among those who live in daily fear of immigrants and have react with fear and follow any rabblerouser.
There are 'quality' papers for the thinking man however the term 'quality' is difficult to discern within the pages. The 'Daily Telegraph,' once the 'Daily Torygraph' has lost over a million readers and now sells just under half a million. 'The Times,' another Murdoch paper, sells just over 400,000 and religiously follows his lead.
On the alternative side there is the 'Guardian,' once a well written liberal paper and now just a middle class socialist rag losing money day by day, around 160,000 sold daily, yet the people at the top keep getting pay rises it appears according to 'Private Eye.' They claim to be on the Left yet live like those on the right these young folks. There is also the 'Daily Mirror,' once a Labour paper but now not quite sure where it stands so resorts to the usual downmarket stuff. As long as Labour are in disarray the 800,000 'Mirrors' will not increase.
Of course all these have online pages which gather many more readers, at least those that do not charge, the 'Daily Mail' pandering to the Trump supporters in the USA gathers, they say, 80 million hits!
Then there is the TV & Radio. ITN News follows the tabloid formula with much use of the word 'shocking' I find, however Channel 4 News can do a decent job on the occasion they make the effort. The BBC by far and away the most popular ought to be totally independent but in recent days so many journalist have been removed and replaced by younger, cheaper, options all of whom follow the PC order of the day, and that is led not by the 'lefties' as described in the 'Mail' & 'Express' but by the Conservative Party! The top people at the trust have been appointed by the Tories, three of the six were members of the party I understand, the top man in the news is an ex- 'Times' editor, the political editor is a Tory (again) and several leading persons in the news are clearly right wing. It is no surprise that the news from the BBC is not as independent of the government as they imply.
The millions reading the papers get home to watch the same stories, often better written, on their televisions. The message is clear, 'they' are a problem and 'they' live off your taxes!
What am I rabbiting on about? Well these papers on the right have followed the lead forcing upon their readers the idea that the nations problems came from too many people on the dole. It was nothing to do with the lack of jobs or the economic downturn it was clearly lazy people living of YOUR taxes! Often Tories quote the line "If you don't work you should not eat" taking it deliberately out of context (though few know the context) and implying all unemployed were lazy. Keep telling lies and people begin to believe them, soon people began to believe them!
The next target was the sick. People with serious diseases were soon informed by those totally lacking in medical knowledge that they were 'fit to work.' I met one of these women one day and was struck by her ability to fill in a form and have no idea what it all meant! She got paid mind! Questions have been asked of the government department responsible for such enquiries (DWP) as too how many such people declared fit for work have died within a month of receiving this information, no answer has so far come forth, not even a court of law has received an answer to this query! The readers of the Tory tabloids now know that all who are sick are not sick, each one is a cheat and just lazy, you know like those on the dole!
Then came another excuse.
While the government deliberately mismanages the NHS, poor management, absurd Trusts, lack of sensible investment, the blame can easily (via the papers) be blamed on foreigners coming here and having free health care, not just in an emergency but for anything. Statistics to show how much this actually happens are not printed. Anything to avoid facing up to the governments deliberate attempt to kill the NHS and make money from an American style insurance fiddle. Jeremey Hunt, the richest member of the cabinet and the Health Secretary has thousands of shares in such private companies, many of whom have won work with the NHS.
Now they have reached the pensioners.
The other day a committee (the name escapes me as it has gone from the online media) announced that today's pensioners were better off than young folks in work. Watching such young folks with Sky TV and smart TVs to watch it on while making use of the expensive smart phones I began to wonder. I wondered how they afforded this while driving smart cars, that's what I wondered!
Poor folks, none of them lived through the rich Thatcher days when I earned £36 a week in the NHS, none were lucky like me to later earn a good wage yet be unable to buy a house because prices rocketed so much I could not afford a front door let alone a house! Also unlike so many (according to these tabloids) I could not stay living off my parents as I was booted out and told to find a job! On top of which I wanted my own place not to live off them, not that we could as there was no money.
(Can you hear the violins)
The fact is the public have been under propaganda for many years, while the rich get richer those reading their papers and nursing their wrath at the benefit scroungers living off their 'hard earned' (they say) cash while fearing the vast number of immigrants arriving next door to live of the dole while taking their jobs and milking the NHS, they themselves do not notice that they are getting poorer and it is the rich, not the poor, who are responsible.
The unemployed were attacked so less money could be paid to those without jobs, the sick were attacked to lower the money paid in benefits, immigrants were attacked so government need not help those in need, and now even pensioners are attacked so the Chancellor can cut back the money spent on them thus lowering the welfare budget.
While many have fallen for the propaganda spewed out daily from the 'elite' they may have overreached themselves this time. The pensioners have a weapon no government can fix, pensioners tend to vote Conservative! It will not take long for the younger MP's in the House to feel the wrath of their aged population. An email from such can go a long way to influence Tory thinking. As so many 'True Blues' got their seat from votes from loyal Tories they will soon find a voice crying out for aid to the poor pensioner who struggles to make it through the day ( like me for instance) even though many in Conservative areas are doing nicely thank you.
(Insert here song: 'Brother can you spare a dime')
So what about the rich elite? Those in powerful positions in government or business, Banks or the media, what about them? We know so many have millions stuffed away dodging tax in foreign banks, this was shown when then Prime Minister Cameron was seen to have £3 million in a Panama Bank! What did the media tell us? They spent days attacking a Labour Party hate figure for his so called 'anti-Semitic' views which he may or may not have had. The tale of rich people with money abroad died.
The rich get richer and the poor get the blame, nothing has changed and this time the middle classes, and those who want to believe they are middle class, are paying for it while being told it is everyone else's fault. Hopefully one day when the Brexit lie is over these people will stand up and oppose those who are leading them to ruin while blaming 'Him over there.' Maybe they will wake up but I doubt it.
