Airhead soulless PR guy David Cameron, the current prime minister of the UK, instructed his team of dutiful inhuman advisers to cobble together a politically charged “Christmas Message.” The full message is printed below (reference numbers inserted by myself), followed by line-by-line comment and a preçis of the intent of the message; the intent differs only slightly from the main political thrust of the hateful statements of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Cameron’s Christmas Message
“(1) If there is one thing people want at Christmas, it’s the security of having their family around them and a home that is safe. But not everyone has that. (2) Millions of families are spending this winter in refugee camps or makeshift shelters across Syria and the Middle East, driven from their homes by Daesh and Assad. (3) Christians from Africa to Asia will go to church on Christmas morning full of joy, but many in fear of persecution. (4) Throughout the United Kingdom, some will spend the festive period ill, homeless or alone.
(5) We must pay tribute to the thousands of doctors, nurses, carers and volunteers who give up their Christmas to help the vulnerable – and to those who are spending this season even further from home. (6) Right now, our brave Armed Forces are doing their duty, around the world: in the skies of Iraq and Syria, targeting the terrorists that threaten those countries and our security at home; on the seas of the Mediterranean, saving those who attempt the perilous crossing to Europe; and on the ground, helping to bring stability to countries from Afghanistan to South Sudan.
(7) It is because they face danger that we have peace. And that is what we mark today as we celebrate the birth of God’s only son, Jesus Christ – the Prince of Peace. (8) As a Christian country, we must remember what his birth represents: peace, mercy, goodwill and, above all, hope. (9) I believe that we should also reflect on the fact that it is because of these important religious roots and Christian values that Britain has been such a successful home to people of all faiths and none.
(10) So, as we come together with our loved ones, in safety and security, let’s think of those who cannot do the same. (11) Let’s give thanks to those who are helping the vulnerable at home and protecting our freedoms abroad. And let me wish everyone in Britain and around the world a very happy and peaceful Christmas.”
Line-by-line analysis
(1) True, not everyone has that: People made homeless by UK government policy; families split due to housing policy of UK government; families split due to border controls of UK government; people jailed in violation of their human rights in countries supported by UK.
(2) There are thousands and thousands of families whose homes in Yemen have been destroyed by British weaponry sold to Saudi Arabia and UAE, whose air forces operate with direct assistance from British military personnel.
(3) Does Cameron include the Christians in Gaza, West Bank and Israel being attacked by IDF? Did he mention the Christians in China to the president of China when the latter came to the UK to finalise the purchase of British state assets?
(4) Yes, people made homeless by the bedroom tax and welfare sanctions that are targeted at people with disabilities and those with terminal illnesses.
(5) The government continues to deliberately weaken the capabilities of the NHS and gives it away piece by piece to its hedge fund tax-dodging friends; it treats carers and the people they care for with absolute disdain.
(6) I don’t notice the British air force bombing the oil transportation from ISIS to Turkey. Please do explain the word “stability” to the people of Afghanistan and of South Sudan.
(7) The “Prince of Peace?” Don’t tell your arms dealer mates about him.
(8) When did Britain become a “Christian country?” I didn’t get that memo.
(9) So, I look forward to a member of the royal family marrying someone of the Muslim faith, or Jewish faith or Sikh. What? Are you saying that isn’t allowed?
(10) So, as the “we” Cameron talks about is only those who do have safety and security, then his message is not for those who are homeless (due to government actions) or hungry (due to government actions) or denied access to the UK (due to government actions); Cameron’s “we” and “they” draws a clear line.
(11) The people helping the vulnerable at home are doing so despite all the obstacles that the government puts in their way.
Intent of Cameron’s message
The purpose of Cameron’s message is to assist the invention and maintenance of a differentiation between an imaginary British christianity and an otherness. The message tries to emphasise a clear distinction between “we” – the British christian – and the other – non-christian in a far off land. The depiction of christians in foreign hostile countries who need the protection of the British war machine, and that same machine protecting Britain from foreign otherness invasion – all is standard imperialist claptrap straight out of nineteenth century propaganda.
Of course, Cameron couldn’t give a princess’s turd about the welfare of christians, or any other faiths, either in Britain or abroad. His motivation is the continuity of the welfare system for the arms industry and a desire to make sure that people in Britain look elsewhere for enemies rather than looking in Downing Street, Whitehall, Palace of Westminster or Buckingham Palace. That is, his purpose is similar to that of, say, Donald Trump in the USA. Republican party nominee Trump’s language and directness is clearer than Cameron’s, but both seek to distract the public by blaming all their respective countries’ ills on a foreign otherness. Trump’s greater and unpleasant bluntness could also be described as just more honest than Cameron about his intent.
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