Tom Kelly: Truth under assault as never before

‘SO OUT with the old and in with the new!' Those words come from the pen of the Victorian poet laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson in 'Ring Out, Ring Wild Bells'. 

TAKEN FOR A RIDE: The Leave campaign bus which falsely claimed the NHS would be £350 million a week better off if Britain left the EU. The much vaunted Brexit opportunities peddled during the referendum in 2016 have come to nothing 

                 

                 02nd January, 2023. 

It's a fascinating piece - not least for its relevance in 2023. In the poem, Tennyson wrote "Ring out the false, ring in the true". 

Throughout the western world with the advent of politically motivated, silver-tongued, snake oil salesmen we have watched 'the false' being elevated and acclaimed - while 'the truth' is decimated and debased. 

A willing audience of sceptics, conspiracy theorists and gullible fools soak up lies, falsehoods, pseudoscience and tall tales with all the enthusiasm of a ten year old discovering edible maths books in a school made of chocolate. Truth has never been more under assault. Fanatics, fantasists and fundamentalists find common cause in digital echo chambers. 

Places where partisan protagonists offer a variety of similar views. A bit like Henry Ford's offer: "A customer can have a car of any colour - so long as it's black". 

Fcuk The DUP 

Far from enabling free speech their mission is about disrupting freedoms and liberties which were hard won for women, LGBTQ+ and minority communities - freedoms which we all should recognise as being under threat. 

The much vaunted Brexit opportunities peddled by opportunists and chancers came to nought. Nothing, nada. 

The alleged economic freedoms promised by Johnson and arch-Brexiteers have broken Britain and crippled the country. There were no sunny uplands, only quicksand. 

The DUP's part in this post-Brexit calamity should not be understated or underestimated. They and they alone attempted to use Brexit as a sledgehammer to smash the Good Friday Agreement. An agreement to which they never signed up to and which they shamelessly now hide behind to force the British government to abandon the NI Protocol. 

Loyalists and the DUP are trying to drive a horse and coach through the GFA 

And to what end? A misguided and desperate attempt to try to disprove what is bleeding obvious to the rest of the UK, EU and USA - that NI is a place apart with its destiny and future in the hands of its own people. 

      The alleged economic freedoms                promised by Johnson and arch-                Brexiteers have broken Britain                  and crippled the country. There                were no sunny uplands, only                                    quicksand 

If NI fails, political unionism bears the responsibility. A failure to create what the late Seamus Mallon called a "shared home place".

But this is a new year and it's not too late for political unionism to see common sense and agree common purpose with nationalists on a way forward. Both sides agreeing to put economic and social well-being ahead of what Tennyson described as "false pride in place and blood". 

Last week headlines in Tory media said this Conservative government had given up on NI. I suspect it's more a case of being fed up with the place. Fed up with school yard tactics and poor mouth politics. 

As we enter 2023, economic and social disparities have never been wider. 

There's no paternalistic or compassionate governance from this Conservative and Unionist Party administration. Cronyism is rife. Truth is skewered by a wide scale disregard for the decorum and primacy of parliament. 

Tennyson could have been speaking of these times when he wrote:  "Ring out the ancient forms of party strife; "Ring in the nobler modes of life. With sweeter manners and purer laws.....Ring out old shapes of foul disease; Ring out the narrowing lust of gold. Ring in the larger heart, the kindlier hand." 

Across the north, as the cold January winds of financial penury rips through the homes of Catholic, Protestant and dissenter without prejudice, fear or favour, politicians may soon feel the wrath of the public. 

As for this writer, I can but share my late grandmother's new year wish - "May your hand always be outstretched in friendship and never in need." 

With many thanks to the: Irish News and Tom Kelly (columnist) for the original story. 

Follow this link to find out more on this story: 8 British politics things we’re still struggling with going into 2023:

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Tom Kelly: Truth under assault as never before