Thanks for your comments thus far, folks.
Roddy – well put.
Morag – very odd. There’ll be worse scare stories to come, which I suppose means they’ll look increasingly ridiculous to folk in the middle ground.
Siminstance – I see what you mean. Though there is a link between how we expect rUK’s (or any democracy’s, for that matter) government to behave and how we can predict its people expect that government to behave. Often trust (or lack of) can be extended to a whole nation, leading to stereotypes and prejudicial views.
Arthur – yes, quite right. An insular attitude means we don’t care about foreign deaths quite so much. It’s a dangerous situation to develop such a complacency.
Rosa – I’m afraid most of what you wrote went right over my head, but you’re right in that “think of the children!!” is always good for headline-grabbing political stances.
