The slow extinction of the dinosaurs

Free speech is a wonderful thing. It is one of the things that makes this country an amazing place to live in. Granted, it may not be absolute, but the opportunity to be introduced to new ideas, impart mine in return and argue over them is a positively delightful experience. To me, there is nothing more enlightening than thrashing out some political philosophy, looking at issues from different perspectives, amending your way of thinking or even dropping it and searching for a new one. This is not weak compromise – it is enriching your understanding of the world through debate which helps build a better and coherent way to view and deal with it.

Last week a rare but delightful oddity occurred. Democracy. The Government and Opposition did not order MPs how to vote, but allowed them to make their own decision. As the dust settled, an overwhelming cry of support for gay marriage was heard. Despite being glad with this outcome, I was a tad frustrated. My grudge does not lie with those for voting against it generally, as the discussion over whether marriage is a religious or civil institution is a valid one, but with those people who use faith to wrap up their discriminatory view that homosexuals are in some way inferior. Yes, the Conservative party was split on the vote and I would not be surprised if a good number of those were guilty of my accusations. However, I imagine that a good number of the Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs were equally culpable. There is no place for such neanderthals in any political party. Thankfully, if they do not evolve, they will perish.

These fossils are the sort which makes people associate the Conservative party with wanting to keep things as they are, or turn the clock back. With an ever changing social environment, such traits are clearly evolutionarily disadvantageous. However, the Tories have been consistently evolving, the radicals leading the party accepting arguments for change that are for the betterment of society, with the neanderthals passing away into the mists of time. David Cameron was a Leader that night. He championed a tolerant, fair future that the previous Government did not. However, unless the rest of the Conservative creature advances with him, they will drag his Premiership into extinction at the next election. The history books will not remember him as a leader but only as the reforming founder of the new Conservatives. I assume though, that even the relics would not be so stupid as to be the cause of the collective extermination of their genus.