Another thing that seems to be gathering momentum in the UK news is the idea/expectation of instant reaction from politicians to everything that happens, to the point that you are or are not good as a poiltician on the measure of how rapidly you appear on the scene of a tragedy. (Memories of New Orleans.)
Two examples from this week: there was a tower block fire in London that killed scores of people. The principal politico first to arrive and talk to the neighbours was hailed a hero and the other one, doing other things, was cursed for not being there. Now, were I a relative of a victim, the last person I would want near me is a politician. Of any colour. What I would want, after the hopeless wish for the return of lost loved ones, would be answers as to why the thing happened, what could have been done to lessen the chances and who may be responsible. Having a Prime Minister or Leader of the Opposition come smooching round to pick up "attendance votes" does not register on my list of wants. The only sensible actions would be to learn lessons - were they really not already known - regarding fire prevention, and whether there had been avoidable abuses of same. In which case, throw a very heavy book.
The other example, to which I awoke this morning, is a van-attack on a group of people near a mosque. Almost at once, reacting to reactions after the tower fire, both the PM and the Opposition Leader were making public announcements of sympathy. To me, it's not their job to become the first shedders of public tears; their job is to be working hard to prevent these incident in the first place, and today of all days, a greater job awaits initiating the Brexit talks, the results of which will affect everyone in Europe and the UK for generations to come, if not for ever. And also, with this latter attack, the tv people are already drawing comparisons between police response times to this and the earlier attacks on London bridges. Where the logic in that? It's not about logic, though, it's about spreading anger and a state of public paranoia and dependence on various press outlets. In short, it's as if the press is trying to stop people thinking at all for themselves, but to devote their entire lives to their 'phones, tablets and tv sets. And it's working: go anywhere today, and you see people with eyes looking not for traffic dangers but at a bloody screen, even as they cross a road. We are turning into zombies. To the extent that many believe it's better to keep scrambled social media outlets working and freely available to terrorism than to close them down right away. Life went on perfectly serenely before these things existed - we don't need them today. What's to lose - some kids playing Internet bullying games in school instead of using the time learning something useful?