Subject: Human Theatre that should scare Tories rigid
From: Alex Kemp
Date: Friday, 16 October 2015 22:46:53 +0100
To: Oliver Kemp, Micaela Kemp, Liisa Kemp, Davin Kemp

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34548733 (the clip from QT)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34552721(why Michelle got so angry)

I've never before sent you an email about politics because, frankly, it's boring. However, this is human theatre at it's rawest. I watched the original programme that this is a clip from (BBC1 Question Time, Thursday 15 October 2015) and was riveted by the drama & implications for the next election. However, it was a tiny part of a large programme plus I hoped that they would do just this:- extract it as a clip.

Tory voter Michelle Dorrell, 35, is a single mum from Folkestone, Kent & has four children.

Michelle is a self employed beautician, running a nail bar from her front room. She has been doing that for 2 years & most of the time it has run at a loss. Her Tax Credits help keep her head above water, yet the Conservative government is halving those tax credits. Michelle gave an impassioned speech to the Conservative minister, Amber Rudd, setting out what those cuts would mean to her. Amber Rudd simply ignored what Michelle said, and the panel began to talk about other things.

The current political situation is quite astounding:

The Conservative Party previously needed the Liberal Party to have a majority in the House of Commons. After last May's election they are now able to govern alone with a working majority of 12 seats, and for the next 5 years. In response, they seem to have swung to the worst nightmare of an extreme right-wing Tory party. Meanwhile the Liberal Party (founded in 1859) was almost wiped out in the Election, winning just 8 seats (a loss of 48 seats on the 2010 result).

The Labour party were decimated in the election, winning just 232 seats (24 fewer than in 2010). In response, they seem to have swung to become a caricature of an extreme left-wing Marxist party.

The middle ground, which in the past has been the place from which the country has always been governed, and from which elections have been won, appears to have been vacated.
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Alex Kemp