Respect
Blair goes broader, deeper, further
January 15, 2006
Respect to the British government, who last week issued a remarkable document called the Respect Action Plan. The Prime Minister’s foreword ably illustrates the essential futility of the scheme:
It is not in my gift, or that of anyone in central Government, to guarantee good behaviour or to impose a set of common values about acceptable behaviour. But we will set out a framework of powers and approaches to promote respect positively…
Let us set aside the idea of the government as a benevolent year-round Santa Claus, dispensing “gifts” to a grateful public. The crucial word in the sentence is that little “but”, which is doing an awful lot of work. What Mr Blair is saying is that it is of course impossible for a government to instil “respect” in the people. But, they are going to try to do it anyway. What heroic fortitude in the face of inevitable failure. One is reminded of the Adidas advert: “Impossible is nothing”. Later on, the document states clearly that the programme’s aim is to “create a culture of respect”. How exactly to accomplish such a task?