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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/22/daily-mail-front-page-british-attitudes-politics
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| What the Daily Mail's front page really says about British attitudes | What the Daily Mail's front page really says about British attitudes |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The line connecting the disgraced expenses-fiddling former MP Denis MacShane and the call to arms over immigration on the front page of today's Daily Mail is not immediately apparent, but it's there all the same. MacShane pleaded guilty on Monday to filing nearly £13,000 of bogus parliamentary expenses and now faces the prospect of jail, a path already trodden by a slew of his parliamentary colleagues. False accounting can get a dishonourable honourable gentleman seven years. | |
| And then, bookending the week – from bad to worse, as it were – is the Mail front page: "Enough is enough, Mr Cameron", revealing the results of an opinion poll on immigration. It says that a full 82% of the population believes the prime minister should defy the EU and rules we have signed up to, in order to head off the feared invasion from Romania and Bulgaria from 1 January. MigrationWatch UK – who else? – says from that date, 50,000 will arrive every year. People are so alarmed that they are prepared to countenance big fines from the European court of justice. "Only 11% trust the Tories on immigration," says the Mail. "Six percentage points less than Labour and 11 less than Ukip. But, in a stark indictment of the whole political class, a disturbing 44% have no trust in any party on this most serious of issues." | And then, bookending the week – from bad to worse, as it were – is the Mail front page: "Enough is enough, Mr Cameron", revealing the results of an opinion poll on immigration. It says that a full 82% of the population believes the prime minister should defy the EU and rules we have signed up to, in order to head off the feared invasion from Romania and Bulgaria from 1 January. MigrationWatch UK – who else? – says from that date, 50,000 will arrive every year. People are so alarmed that they are prepared to countenance big fines from the European court of justice. "Only 11% trust the Tories on immigration," says the Mail. "Six percentage points less than Labour and 11 less than Ukip. But, in a stark indictment of the whole political class, a disturbing 44% have no trust in any party on this most serious of issues." |
| And this is where the Mail's typical hyperbolic broadside connects with MacShane, and Elliot Morely and Lord Hannigfield and the honourable members who fleeced the taxpayer to pay second mortgages, and the MP who claimed for his duck pond. They have helped erode trust in the probity of the political establishment to the point that politicians cannot now receive a fair hearing on anything. | And this is where the Mail's typical hyperbolic broadside connects with MacShane, and Elliot Morely and Lord Hannigfield and the honourable members who fleeced the taxpayer to pay second mortgages, and the MP who claimed for his duck pond. They have helped erode trust in the probity of the political establishment to the point that politicians cannot now receive a fair hearing on anything. |
| A few days ago, Mark Harper, the immigration minister of a government which cannot be accused of having a rose-tinted view of immigration, said the mooted invasion was actually unlikely to happen. "There is a big difference with 2004 when we were the only major country not to have transitional controls and all the other big countries did," he said. "There are now a range of other European countries in the eurozone, including Germany, which is an economic powerhouse that is generating jobs and creating economic growth." | A few days ago, Mark Harper, the immigration minister of a government which cannot be accused of having a rose-tinted view of immigration, said the mooted invasion was actually unlikely to happen. "There is a big difference with 2004 when we were the only major country not to have transitional controls and all the other big countries did," he said. "There are now a range of other European countries in the eurozone, including Germany, which is an economic powerhouse that is generating jobs and creating economic growth." |
| This echoes what I heard in February from the Romanian Cultural Centre in London. Businessman and revered Romanian philantropist Nicolae Ratiu told me: "Romanians, as a first choice, don't come here. It's easier to go to Italy and Spain. In a month a Romanian can speak Italian and Spanish and Portuguese. More people choose to go to France than the UK. A lot will choose Austria and Germany." | This echoes what I heard in February from the Romanian Cultural Centre in London. Businessman and revered Romanian philantropist Nicolae Ratiu told me: "Romanians, as a first choice, don't come here. It's easier to go to Italy and Spain. In a month a Romanian can speak Italian and Spanish and Portuguese. More people choose to go to France than the UK. A lot will choose Austria and Germany." |
| So the minister isn't flying a kite. He's guessing, to be sure; we all are. At least he deserves a hearing. But we don't listen much to any of them these days, and sometimes that doesn't matter, because we live quite happily day to day without ministerial interference. But when it comes to issues that affect the state and mood of the nation, the inability of even serious politicians to cut through becomes troubling. | So the minister isn't flying a kite. He's guessing, to be sure; we all are. At least he deserves a hearing. But we don't listen much to any of them these days, and sometimes that doesn't matter, because we live quite happily day to day without ministerial interference. But when it comes to issues that affect the state and mood of the nation, the inability of even serious politicians to cut through becomes troubling. |
| It impacts on health, where politicians now lack the credibility to get a hearing on reform. On policing, where politicians insist crime is down and the structures are right and most of us just laugh. On the economy, where we assume they fiddle the figures just as blithely as some fiddled their expenses. | It impacts on health, where politicians now lack the credibility to get a hearing on reform. On policing, where politicians insist crime is down and the structures are right and most of us just laugh. On the economy, where we assume they fiddle the figures just as blithely as some fiddled their expenses. |
| Governments govern with the will of the people, but they govern effectively with the trust of the people. What to do in an age where trust has gone? | Governments govern with the will of the people, but they govern effectively with the trust of the people. What to do in an age where trust has gone? |
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