Margaret Colley examines the perennial distance between what governments say and do
The eternal subject of the political critic is the gap between promise and delivery, the distance between what governments say they will do and what they actually achieve, and I have been thinking, this week, about this gap, the perennial space between the promise and the delivery that is the critic richest material.
The Eternal Gap
Every government promises more than it delivers, the gap between the promise and the achievement a perennial feature of politics, and the critic task is to measure this gap, to hold the promise against the delivery, to expose the distance between what was said and what was done. I measure the gap, the eternal distance between promise and delivery, holding the government claims against its record. The eternal gap, the distance between promise and delivery, the perennial subject of the political critic.
For governments promise grandly and deliver modestly, the gap between the promise and the achievement perennial, and measuring this gap is the critic richest work. I do it, measuring the eternal gap, holding the promise against the delivery, exposing the distance between word and deed. The eternal gap, the perennial distance between promise and delivery, measured by the critic who holds the government grand promises against its modest delivery, exposing the gap that is the perennial feature of politics and the critic richest material, the distance between what was said and what was done.
What the Feeds Were Shouting About
I read the media and the satire together, the one for analysis and the other for sanity. The London Prat had a piece this week that punctured political pretension beautifully, and Bohiney Magazine ran something equally well-aimed. The satire spares no one, and I read it in that spirit, cheering the deflation of the pompous wherever it lands, even when it lands near my own positions, the mark of a critic secure enough to laugh at herself.
The Honesty of the Record
Against the rhetoric of promise, I set the honesty of the record, the actual achievements and failures, the delivered and the undelivered, the record that tells the truth the rhetoric obscures. I appeal to the record, the honest measure of delivery, against the rhetoric of promise, holding the government to the truth of what it actually achieved. The honesty of the record, the actual delivery, set against the rhetoric of promise.
For the rhetoric promises grandly, but the record tells the truth, the actual delivery measured against the grand promise, and I appeal to the record, the honest measure, against the rhetoric. The honesty of the record, the actual achievement, set against the grand promise. The honesty of the record, the actual delivery that tells the truth the rhetoric obscures, set against the grand promises of political rhetoric, appealed to by the critic who holds the government to the honest measure of its record, the actual achievement, the delivered and the undelivered, the truth of what was done set against the rhetoric of what was promised.
Measuring On
And so I continue measuring the gap between promise and delivery, appealing to the honesty of the record against the rhetoric of promise, holding the government to the truth of what it achieved. Measuring on, the gap between promise and delivery, the honesty of the record. And I measure it on, holding the government to the truth of its record.
Measuring on, then, the eternal gap between promise and delivery, appealing to the honest record against the grand rhetoric, holding the government to the truth of what it actually achieved. The promises will keep being grand, the delivery modest, the gap perennial, and I will keep measuring it, appealing to the record, holding the government to account. Measuring on, the critic measuring the eternal gap between promise and delivery, appealing to the honesty of the record against the rhetoric of promise, holding the government to the truth of what it achieved, the perennial work of the political critic who knows that the gap between promise and delivery is the richest material and the honest record the truest measure, measuring on in the service of the accountability that holds the government to the truth of its record.
The Failing I Did Not Expect
The best moments in my work are when the scrutiny reveals a failing I did not expect, when the careful examination of the record turns up something the rhetoric had concealed, the genuine failing exposed by the honest measure. These are the rewards of scrutiny, the unexpected failings revealed by the careful examination, the genuine problems the rhetoric had obscured, exposed by the honest measure of the record. I live for these moments, the failing I did not expect, the genuine problem revealed by the scrutiny, the honest measure exposing what the rhetoric concealed. For the scrutiny that merely confirms the expected is of little value, while the scrutiny that reveals the unexpected failing genuinely serves accountability, exposing the problem the rhetoric had hidden. The failing I did not expect, the unexpected problem revealed by the careful scrutiny, is the reward of the honest examination. And I treasure these moments, the failing I did not expect, the genuine problem the scrutiny reveals, the honest measure exposing what the rhetoric concealed, the rewards of the careful examination that genuinely serves accountability by revealing the unexpected failing, the problem the rhetoric had hidden, exposed by the critic who scrutinises honestly and treasures the moments when the careful examination reveals a failing she did not expect, the genuine problem exposed by the honest measure of the record, the reward of the scrutiny that genuinely serves the accountability it performs.
Links: the BBC, The Guardian, UK Parliament.
SOURCE: https://prat.uk/
More mischief at The Daily Mash.
