Chris Smith's 'Cri du Coeur'

Chris (Now Baron of Finsbury, no less) Smith - formerly minister for culture media and sport. Remember him?

Josie Appleton interviews him in Spiked about his new book 'Suicide of the West'. She describes it as 'Smith's cri du coeur for fundamental enlightenment values'. I read it with increasing irritation and contempt. She dubs the book "a timely intervention". If the stuff quoted is any guide, 'self-serving tosh' would be more like it - as in:

"We are now at a fork in the road. One way lies cynicism and despair, the other is rediscovering a belief in the things that we hold dear."

or

"I joined the Labour Party because I thought that it was the best vehicle for social change, for making people’s lives better"

Oh really? how very touching and original. "Furthering my own political agenda and forcing my own [suspect] morality on others" is a reasonable translation from the Orwellian doublespeak of those two little gems I'd say.

As a member of a recently persecuted minority group, Chris Smith might have been expected to have some insight into what it feels like to be demonised and marginalised prior to being legislated against. Apparantly not. This is the man who voted consistently for the most extreme options on hunting with hounds, including support for the original 'Foster Bill'. Over 700 hours of parliamentary time squandered on a spiteful tribal measure introduced for precisely the kind political expediency he claims to abhor. With his full support, it finally resulted in a total legislative ban farce.

The man is a regulating/banning/social engineering control freak of the kind now sadly typical of much of left wing UK politics. He (they) wouldn't recognise genuine enlightenment values if he fell over them.

If the West really IS committing suicide, then it is Smith and his kind that are the immediate proximate cause.

Tags: Chris Smith, Hunting, Hunting with Hounds, Fox Hunting, Animal Rights