07:23 am
You know that feeling you used to get as a child the morning you woke up on Christmas Day to find a bag full of presents on the end of your bed? Well, it feels like something heavy and bulky is at the foot of the bed right now but it’s not something I wish to unwrap.
Mysoginy.
Racism.
Prejudice.
Ignorance.
unkindness
On the day after the Tories won the election in 2015, I sat on the train and tried to work out who the ‘shy’ Tories were: the ones too cowardly to reveal their true colours. Who kept silent during discussions over lunch, nodding their head in agreement while all the while hiding their true colours. It was all about self interest. Somewhere down the line they had been sold the idea that the Tories in looking after themselves would trickle down some good fortune to them. Labour, in looking after the weak would only cost them more money. As the state gets dismantled we all suffer. A society that cannot treat the weak and vulnerable with compassion is a poor society no matter how much money some people have in their pockets.
We become poorer by the day.
And at night, the number of people sleeping in shop doorways increases.
The ‘shy’ Tories kept their views close to their chests.
Now, it’s different.
Brexit told them they were fine to hold the views that they had.
Farage’s sweaty face beamed brighter and cast its shadow across the pond.
And now Trump.
The man who likes to grab pussies.
Suddenly it’s fine to be unkind in the name of self-interest.
It has given the ‘shy’ ones confidence to open their mouths. And what comes out is not pretty.
At least we know who they are now.
Their pride in ‘winning’ makes them hold up their heads and puff out their chests. And they smirk as they sit reading the free papers on the tube.
Easy to spot now.
Easy to pity when they wake up to what they have done.
Julia Notaro 