When I first saw the odious Michael Gove dressed up in a fluorescent jacket, carrying a litter-picking contraption and carrying a ‘Clean for the Queen’ poster, I thought it was a joke. The campaign was a spoof, as was Gove dressed up like the street-cleaner I wish he was. But it’s not a joke, except on the British public. It’s very real.
This, taken from the official website, is what it’s all about:
‘Clean for The Queen is a campaign to clear up Britain in time for Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th birthday, which will be officially celebrated in June 2016.
When she came to the throne litter was not the problem that it is today. Food packaging, plastic bottles, takeaway meals and cigarette butts have all contributed to a growing menace that affects our wildlife, streets, countryside and sense of pride. What better way could we show our gratitude to Her Majesty than to clean up our country?
We are calling on individuals, volunteer groups, local councils, businesses and schools to do their bit. You can start now and also take part in our Clean for The Queen weekend on March 4th, 5th and 6th 2016. Please register your interest here and we will help you to Clean for The Queen.’
Now I am very much in favour of keeping Britain tidy, as we used to call it. I despair of litter louts, as well as those who casually toss cigarette butts from their cars. “Someone else will pick it up,” they will be thinking.
I see keeping the country tidy as being A Good Thing. And I believe it it is the duty of all of us to keep it that way, collectively through our local councils and individually by acting responsibly ourselves. But I have serious problems with this. I see the likes of Gove and co looking down all on, treating us like serfs, keeping us in our places. Am I exaggerating? Hardly.
The suggestion that the only reason we should “clear up Britain” is for the Queen’s birthday offends my very sense of being. And then to say, “What better way could we show our gratitude to her Majesty than to clean up our country?” Well, really! By nature, I am a republican. I would rather we didn’t have a monarchy at all, but like Dennis Skinner MP, getting rid of a monarchy which remains popular is a very low priority for me. So generally, I keep my mouth shut about royal matters. But I do not feel that I should bow or doff my cap to her majesty because I do not feel grateful to her for anything at all.
This campaign comes at an awkward time in our history. The government is comprised of the elite who attended the top private schools and the best universities and the wealth is in the hands of the few. Old Etonian David Cameron lambasts the opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, himself a grammar school boy, for his dress sense and his failure to sing the national anthem. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the Tories, with their sense of entitlement, are engaging in class war, with the lower orders being told to do what they are told by their superiors.
Gove belongs to the very government that has slashed funding to councils to carry out functions such as street cleaning and refuse collections and, as with all Tory governments, they believe in self-reliance and they don’t believe in society. Except when it suits them, like now.
Yes, we should pick up our litter but no, we shouldn’t be patronised by politicians as to how and when to do it and collecting litter should not be purely to please the Queen.
The campaign, I read, is being supported by, among others, Greggs, McDonalds and Wrigley. which being that their products are responsible for so much rubbish on our streets is quite ironic. Perhaps the government could an additional tax on these companies for the litter they help create and use the money to employ someone to pick it all up? The companies could always pass on the cost to their customers, many of whom are responsible for dumping it in the first place?
