Politics of Hate

Lots of rather foolish words have been spoken and written in the wake of Margaret Thatcher's death.

I wish I had a pound for every time I've heard or read someone insisting that the former Tory leader was 'wicked' and 'evil'.

Neither charge is true - of course - and it demeans the language of political debate to spout such nonsense, so readily and casually.

Because the kind of people who are wicked and evil are - for example - the people behind the recent bombing in Boston where innocent lives have been lost and many others maimed.

Or perhaps the three teenagers in Liverpool who deliberately singled out a harmless homeless man - and then beat and kicked him to death, just for a dare.

Only for the mother of the ringleader to provide a false alibi - in an attempt to help her two sons and their accomplice to escape justice for this terrible crime.

Now these bombers and murderers are plainly wicked and evil - and it's pretty obvious why the use of such language is justified.

But applying such words to democratically elected politicians - whether from the left or the right - is simply daft and is a fine example of how the practice of political demagoguery works in action.

Only a political knave and as big a fool as George Galloway, for example, could brand Margaret Thatcher as 'wicked' - while turning a blind eye to his own infamous tribute to Saddam Hussein in which he saluted the Iraqi dictator for his 'courage and indefatigability'.

To my mind accusations that political leaders are 'wicked' or 'evil' should not be thrown around like so much confetti - since this kind of demonising behaviour only breeds intolerance and hatred.

And - as everyone knows - intolerance and hatred ultimately lead to violence.