Monday 1 September 2014

Guest Blog - David Cameron and the enemy within - by John Sullivan

By John Sullivan


Cameron attempts to frighten us with ISIS the enemy within , and there is no doubt we have much to fear from the likes of ISIS.

What Cameron fails to understand is for millions of us he and his millionaires cabinet and his wealthy backers that he is handing over our public services and our NHS to further line their collective pockets, represent a far greater threat to British working people than ISIS.

They have brought poverty, starvation, homelessness, slave labour , part time employment they call employment, a hatred for the poor and the disabled , suicides and unnecessary early deaths due to benefit cuts and bedroom taxes. I for one fail to se what we have to fear from ISIS who threaten sudden death. Rather than the slow painful death of poverty and despair Cameron and his ilk have brought us in such a short space of time..

Cameron should be careful what he wishes for, his cry to stand and fight ISIS, might encourage us millions to take up arms against our true enemy within, which is Cameron and a few hundred pocket lining MPs of all political persuasions, us millions verse those hundreds. Be careful what you wish for Cameron, we might decide to reinstate the democracy in our country you have destroyed by your non mandated cruelty to the many, whilst lining the pockets of the few.

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John Sullivan is a Barnet resident and carer for his daughter Susan. Guest blogs are always welcome

5 comments:

Barnet Community Action said...

WELL SAID!!

Unknown said...

With the greatest respect I find this article very poor both in its accusations and its intentions. Comparing life under ISIS and life under this government is pretty low; people are being driven from their homes, raped and executed and the suggestion that this government is as bad as this is as distasteful as it is ludicrous.

It should also be noted that the make up of this parliament is the result of a democratic election in 2010. To suggest that it is undemocratic is wrong; sure I want parliament to be more proportional to the vote from the people, we had an opportunity to make improvements but the people voted it down. The insinuation that we should "take arms" to "reinstate democracy" is dangerous especially in the context of ISIS which frames this article.

Finally the claim that there is slave labour, deaths directly attributed to govt policy and the overall tone in reference to a terrorist organisation belittles those in the world that actually does work under the horror of slave labour, neglected completely by the state and who live under constant fear from extremist groups such as ISIS.

Rog T said...

It is interesting to see a concerted Lib Dem/Tory attack on Mr Sullivans views. I suppose this tells some sort of story.

I am appalled by the misrepresentation of Mr Sullivans comments. He starts the blog by saying ISIS are awful. His point, which is well made, is that they are not actively operating in the UK. They have not killed anyone here yet (and lets hope they never do). Mr Sullivan is saying that government policiers to the NHS and towards the disabled are causing untold misery, pushing people out of their homes (bedroom tax) and causing misery. There are numerous cases of suicides attributed to depression resulting from the changes to the benefits system.

I am disgusted that Mr Hill twists Mr Sullivans words to imply that he is calling for armed insurrection. HE calls for the people to reclaim democracy. SUrely any dummy would realise that this is an invocation to vote.

Mr Hill and other local Tory loudmouths feel that Mr Sullivan, a 71 year old carer for his daughter and a cancer sufferer, should have no voice and his views should not be heard.

The Barnet Eye exists to give the disenfranchised a voice. It greatly troubles me that Mr Hill, who stood for the same party I did in Mill in 2010 seems to think free speech is a problem.

I suggest all of these loudmouths engage their brains properly and read exactly what Mr Sullivan wrote rather than letting their own personal prejudices and axes to grind colour their views.

Mr Sullivan does not excuse ISIS. He simply makes the point that the policies of the government are causing more misery in the day to day lives of millions of British citizens than any nasty bunch of terrorists operating in far flung corners of the world.

It may be unpalatable to some to say this and I personally wouldn't as I see us all as citizens of the world, but I would not deny Mr Sullivan a platform to make his case.

If Mr Hill or his friends have an issue, they have the right to leave a response, which they have done. It is called free speech and if you have an issue with it, then maybe you have more in common with ISIS than you realise.

Unknown said...

First and foremost Mr Tichborne at no point did I deny Mr Sullivan's right to free speech; I simply offered a criticism of the article. I share the view that everybody has a right to voice their opinion and in this instance I exercised that right as much as Mr Sullivan and indeed yourself. By insinuating that I somehow take issue with that and suggest that I have “more in common with ISIS than [I] realise” reveals more perhaps about your view of free speech than mine.

To suggest I feel that Mr Sullivan, a person who I do not know, should not have his voice heard in respect to his personal situation is unsubstantiated and a very low blow. He can and has had his voice heard. I do not have a problem with that. I have a problem with the message of the article and I have every right to make a comment.

Mr Tichborne, you encourage me to engage my brain and read what Mr Sullivan has really said. The concluding paragraph states;

“Cameron should be careful what he wishes for… might encourage us millions to take up arms against our true enemy within, which is Cameron and a few hundred pocket lining MPs of all political persuasions”

There is a clear encouragement to “take up arms” which sounds like a clear reference to an insurrection. Again in light of a reference to ISIS in the article I find this tone a little insensitive.

The Barnet Eye has been a great outlet for local news and views which I have enjoyed reading. It pities me to think that the moment somebody offers an alternative viewpoint they are slammed down as being against the freedom of speech.

Rog T said...

Dear Mr Hill,

I find it a tad strange that you can't distinguish between an unwell 71 year old man, with lots of life experience cautioning about what may happen if the people of the UK feel that democracy is being sidelined and an invocation to pick up arms.

If I were to say "When the democratic rights of Egyptian citizens were suppressed by the corrup Mubarek regime, the people responded by rising up and kicking him out of office" would you take this as a threat? It is a stetament of fact.

It is a statement of fact that ISIS are not a credible threat to UK citiziens in Great Britain at this point. It is also a statement of fact that government polices have caused homelessness, misery, depression and suicides.

Mr Sullivans blog is a response to this. He has 50 years of caring for his daughter Susan and is at the coalface of the effects of the cuts.

In 2010 I spent six months pounding the streets of Mil Hill to promote the Lib Dem cause. Had I realised what the party would do in office, I wouldn't have bothered. I admire many of the activists at local level and I believe the party had made the Tories behave themselves, but the cuts and the polices on Student loans are a betrayal of the people of the UK who voted for the party.