Here at CARE we long to see civility, decency and good debate in our politics. We believe that rigorous debate is a key part of a healthy politics and can help politics to be a great force for good. Sadly, though we often see plenty of examples of bad debate, incivility, and downright poor behaviour.
Each week we will bring you some of our favourite examples of civility, decency, and good debate in our politics, as well as some sad examples of the darker side of politics.
BAD
Another low for Tory attack ads…
Only last week we criticised some of the Tories’ attack ads as misleading and fearmongering. This week’s online campaign didn’t show any sign of improvement, with the Tories coming under fire for using a clip of an interview with Martin Lewis (of Money Saving Expert fame) to argue Labour were going to put up taxes. Mr Lewis himself felt forced to respond at the egregious misuse of his interview…
Toxic Trans Debate…
Our second ‘bad’ moment of the week came from outside of the General Election, when actor David Tennant laid into Conservative politician Kemi Badenoch for her opposition to transgender ideology. As we have said many times before debate is good but calling for Kemi to cease existing and “shutup” (whilst somehow also claiming not to “wish ill of her”) falls far short of the good conversation we wish to see in public life…
GOOD
A rare show of unity…
In response to David Tennant’s comments, both Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak came out in condemnation of Mr Tennant’s attack on Kemi. Keir instead called for respectful debate and Rishi defended the need for freedom of speech in the public square.
After a week in which the gender debate dominated the campaign headlines, Labour politician, Liz Kendall called for more civility in politics following the fallout of the row with David Tennant.
UGLY
PPC’s office attacked…
Sadly, this week saw yet another instance of violence against a prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC). The office of Stella Creasy, the Labour candidate for Walthamstow, had its windows smashed in the attack.
MPs have consistently warned of the threats they face for going about their democratic duties and this campaign has tragically seen plenty of these threats materialise into actual violence. This is a horrendous abuse of those that serve in public life (be they candidates or their staff and families) and a bleak sign of ill health in our politics.
Abhorrent comments from Reform candidate…
This week Channel 4 released an exclusive undercover report on Reform heavily featuring their candidate, Andrew Parker. In the clip Mr Parker repeatedly expressed racist views and encouraged the use of violence against immigrants and refugees. We have chosen not to link this video such is the nature of his comments.
FUNNY
Politics has its good moments and its bad moments but sometimes it’s just quite funny. Each week we will bring you some of our favourite highlights from the week.
Back in Lib Dem land…
Continuing their unique approach to the General Election campaign, the Lib Dems sent Ed Davey out swing dancing in the hope of turning swing voters Lib Dem (gettit?) as well as putting him before cameras learning how to do CPR to ‘Stayin Alive’…
