Joe Walker’s Postings

Of course at face value it may look like he is talking about Britain's most marginalised, excluded and vulnerable groups.  According to the Tory leader they are: "young, old, rich, poor, black, white, gay, straight" (although it was quickly pointed out by Pink News that Cameron omitted gay people from the actually words of his speech - probably after the weekends spat over B&Bs owners banning gay couples).  Johnathan Bartley @jon_bartley blogged this morning that we should, "listen more clearly to what he actually say's however, and it seems to be more of an appeal to ‘law-abiding’ middle England."  He goes on to question whether the "great ignored" include those unable to vote, or those voters that simply don't count: prisoners, asylum seekers, those under 18, and the millions who will vote for independents or minority parties who will have no immediate voice in this election. This is important, but a further question to ponder is who then are the unignored?  Robert Shrimsley of the FT points out that, "who have the parties been listening to exactly...people may feel ignored but do they actually want that suspicion confirmed?"

But there is a "greater ignored" beyond our shores who are marginalised and vulnerable because of the polices taken by successive UK governments.  Governments of rich nations in the West have an extraordinary influence on the international stage. Their decisions affect the lives of billions across the planet. These are the "greater ignored"  Yet, when a national election is called, this fact is often conveniently forgotten.  Global poverty and inequality, the negative affects of globalisation can become sidelined, but the 2010 election is a real opportunity to move the development debate forward. There is now cross-party consensus that global poverty is an important electoral issue and with the Millennium Development Goals set to be reached by 2015, the main political parties have committed to ensuring the targets are met.  Many groups, including children living on the streets, continue be excluded from the development agenda and the process towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015. Street Action's homepage led on a news article asking what does the election mean for putting Street Children back on the agenda? http://bit.ly/afrj68  Street Children is a global issue but remains a footnote for many NGOs, policy makers and government priorities.

Its hard to not be cynical and just dismiss the "great ignored" as a mere political rhetoric, but at the same we can't turn a blind eye to what could be a key theme throughout the election.  As I wrote on the Street Action web site, "Strengthening the voice of the socially excluded such as Street Children is central to enable that the principles of a rights-based agenda are built into policy dialogue with government, and to ensure that some of the most marginalised and vulnerable children on the planet are recognised and prioritised in future development policy". Britain continues to have influence on a global scale and so this election will be about the "great ignored" beyond our borders and about our moral and ethical responsibility to those that are affected by the decisions taken by those we vote for on May 6th.