Jeremy Balfour; The “Good” Tory?

Despite the collapse of the UK Government, the sacking of the Chancellor and the crashing of the pound, the First Ministers use of the word detest still seems to be causing much wailing and gnashing of teeth in Tory circles. I’m not a regular viewer of BBC Debate Night, as I seldom watch the BBC in any case, however I did catch Tory MSP Jeremy Balfour’s performance on the show on Wednesday, and I really wish I hadn’t. Aided by a number of Tory plants in the audience, and a set-up question, Mr Balfour claimed that the First Minister’s phrasing that she detested Tories bordered on being a “hate crime”. I will not indulge in whitabootery and lay out a long line of British Nationalist commentary, from the UK Government or their supporters as a counter argument. I’d be here all year. I would however address one thing Mr Balfour said. He stated that you can detest Tory policies without detesting individuals. Can I just point out that Tory policies do not originate in a vacuum? They originate from the Tories themselves, be it at the lower levels where they feed their petty, spiteful demands up the chain, or from the top where they chase the right wing voters, promising to sanction more people, deport more people, punish criminals harder and heavier, and puff themselves up as they play havoc with other people’s lives and destroy families in the UK and abroad. Many Tories deceive themselves that they are “good” Tories who only want the best for their community, while turning a blind eye to the less palatable activities of their party, but I’d remind Jeremy that there’s an old Scottish saying, “If ye run wi’ the craws, ye get shot wi’ the craws”. If Jeremy Balfour does not want to be associated with such detestable, inhumane and repellent policies then perhaps he should join a less detestable, inhumane and repellent party which has less detestable, inhumane and repellent members. Until that day he should not be surprised if people are less than enamoured with him and his circle of friends, and choose to find him as detestable as those he surrounds himself with.