Broken society or broken Olympic records?
Why we posted this: Brits seem to oscillate between hand-wringing and triumphalism – maybe something in between makes more sense.
The original story:
“Our aimless, feckless, hopeless youth?”
Boris Johnson column
The Daily Telegraph
19 August 2008
Summary of the story:
There was a bit of a media “storm” (ie, a slight delighted fuss by commentators) when Boris Johnson, London’s Tory mayor, contradicted the social views of his leader, David Cameron. Mr Cameron had made a speech which seemed to imply that Britain was “a broken society”
livingissues comment:
David Cameron seems quite keen on honing a few simple messages, and “the broken society” looks like being one of them. The ebullient Boris was never likely to sign up for such hand-wringing, especially since he is now in charge of big chunks of Britain’s Olympic efforts. He is cast (improbably but wonderfully) as youth leader and tourism chief to a world festival of sporting endeavour which will inspire new levels of volunteering. One doubts Boris thinks Britain is broken, but he certainly won’t pander to the idea when he must big-up the depth and width of the nation’s strengths and niceness.
