There’s nothing wrong with the family norm

I realise that this may be seen as an unpopular view by some readers, but I don’t think that Ian Duncan Smith’s recent report on the family deserves all the shit that’s been flung at it – particularly from the Left where, let’s face it, they have plenty of the Brown stuff to hand.

I’m not sure I agree with a cooling-off period before divorce proceedings are allowed to be put into operation, but I think IDS is certainly right to stress the value of a heteronormative family structure.

Not that I have anything against any other forms of relationship within which children are brought up, just that I think that a heterosexual couple who are committed to each other and the welfare of their children is a desirable norm, even though ‘bad’ families are just as liable to exist within this system as any other.

We seem to have embraced alternatives to this norm as being of equal worth, which is fair enough, but on the other hand we’ve done little to promote the man/woman/marriage/children thing and, indeed, some left-wingers seem to almost sneer at it.

Call me conservative – with a small ‘c’ – but we need to show families which conform to the still predominant man/woman/children pattern that they are just as valued and worthy of support as any other relationship which brings up children.

So, whilst they might not be the Guardian reader’s idea of a progressive and healthily diverse family unit, the prevalence of heterosexual couples bringing up children within the structure of a committed relationship is still something worth celebrating and should not be undervalued because other forms of family structure more clearly satisfy some sort of liberal wet dream.

Quote du jour – Gordon Brown

Our Gordon got a chance to grab some pity from the MSM today in the Guardian’s totally unbiased interview with him.

Amongst other things which brought a tear to my eye – apart from the hypocrisy, sycophancy and syrupy insights into his family life –  he came out with this:

“To be honest, you could walk away from all of this tomorrow.” (He often says “you” to distance himself from the intended “I”.)

I could comment, but I’ll leave that to the rather nifty Pantera:

Incidentally, one of my favourite METUHL tracks ever – and the late, great Dimebag plays a very fine solo indeed.

More thoughts on the G20 death

You know, if the Met – not to mention the IPCC – had handled the G20 death case a lot better and a lot more quickly then their reputation might not be as crippled as it is at the moment.

Yet, such vacillation and obfuscation might even be beneficial if it forces us to look at what sort of police force we really want.

Yes, one officer – the one who pushed Ian Tomlinson over – is now suspended – a week after the incident – but what about those who were with him and kept silent, even as the Met was sticking to its story that there had been no previous contact between Tomlinson and the police?

Surely such silence was an impediment to the investigation?

It may be that the officers present when Tomlinson was pushed over colluded to cover the incident up or just chose to keep schtum on an individual basis but certainly no-one in that group chose to come forward even when the Guardian video clearly showed that there was indeed ‘contact’.

What we certainly don’t need are any scapegoats or martyrs if we’re to gain anything of lasting value from this pointless and unnecessary death.

Yes, I do value a police force which keeps order where necessary and uses appropriate force but I want that force to be accountable, well-trained and run in the public interest.

As to what happens to people that the police apprehend then let a justice system sort that out, not the officer on the ground, unless it’s a matter of self-defence.

In the case of Ian Tomlinson, it certainly wasn’t.

Tweeting delusions of grandeur

#G20 blacklisted tax havens to be named & shamed – a positive achievement for the G20 and The Guardian by RobertsDan at 4/2/2009 10:38:27 AM11:38 AM

Sort of says it all really…

Battle of the tweets

In the interests of balance (maybe not, although it makes interesting reading all the same)  the Guardian has set up a twitter feed from the Press’ point of view.

Here’s  a tweet which reveals a certain macabre humour on the part of those under siege:

RT@ secretsquirrel: Apparently seen in bank HQ window during #G20 protest: “While you are here protesting, we are repossessing your homes”.

Amazing, the first real time police/protesters clash – all due to twitter.

I wonder if Stephen Fry is following some of the protesters?

Fucking Leila Deen again

Oh FFS…why are they giving Leila fucking Deen column inches at the Guardian?

I’m going to puke soon…’vegan cake’…’social activist’…’revolutionary change’…’popular power’…

I’m totally fucking sick of being preached at by middle class twats trying to champion the working classes and ‘reclaim the streets’ as if it’s some sort of charitable secondment between taking their masters and their doctorate or some sort of bizarre first grown up holiday away from mummy and daddy.

Fuck ’em all – the only reason they’ve got what they’ve got today is because of the very system they despise.

All this, of course, on the eve of the G20 summit and the planned antics of Climate Camp, G20 Meltdown and others.

I sincerely hope it all goes off peacefully tomorrow and that the police, as well as the demonstraters, behave sensibly.

Thank fuck I don’t have to go anywhere near London tomorrow.