Consensus Politics

If ever there was written a more toe-curling, sycophantic, meaningless collection of cods-wallop then this must surely be it.

Writing about his hope of becoming the first Conservative leader of Sutton council Paul Scully says: "I aspire to represent all 180,000 local residents. This year, I came to the same conclusion as Boris Johnson; fasting for a day during Ramadan would give me a greater understanding of the culture, the concerns and ultimately the shared values of those 5,000 neighbours of mine."

Would it not be more beneficial and produce greater results if Mr. Scully were to 'talk' to them about their 'culture' and 'concerns'? And what exactly is 'shared values'? Surely one does not need to adopt such a 'toadying' attitude to represent a small section of any society within ones borough?

"The message that I took from the experience was clear; Conservatives and Muslims share the values of peace and equality of opportunity; the underlying value of individual social responsibility in the community is paramount to building a fair, just and cohesive society and I am proud to say that I share these values with my Muslim neighbours."

For God's sake! Dont make me sick, please!

This was no more than a bit of 'politicking', an attempt to 'curry' (no pun intended!) votes from 2.5% of the electorate. It might just have been more appreciated by his Muslim community were he to have kept silent about his 'sacrifice' as it might now be argued that, by publicising his 'sacrifice', the 2.5% are being used as a 'campaigning tool' in the 'inclusiveness agenda' that all politicians now wish to promote.