If Fear Is Truly Inseparable From Respect, Then – And Only Then – IDS Has My Respect – The Critique Archives

Last Updated: November 22, 2014By

It is a common claim among egomaniacs, at least when simplistically portrayed in TV and movie dramas about the Mafia, that for people to respect you, they have to fear you, writes Martin Odoni.

As followers of my blog will be aware from previous posts, I have up until now felt no respect at all for the Work & Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan-Smith. But if, as the movies insist, fear is a fundamental part of respect, then that has now changed. This week, I started quite genuinely to fear Iain Duncan-Smith.

the Government is being taken to court over its indiscriminate implementation of the ‘Bedroom Tax’. The plaintive in the case in question is a woman who is a victim of serious domestic violence, including rape, by her former partner. Her identity has been protected by the court, so we know her only as ‘A’, but she and her child have had a special room set up in their house called a ‘Panic Room’, where they can retreat to in the event her ex-partner tries to access the building again; the room has special extra security facilities to keep them safe in such an event.

It is shocking, but somehow unsurprising, to learn that the Government has decided to rule that this ‘Panic Room’ counts as an under-used spare room and is therefore subject to the ‘Under-Occupancy Penalty’. The ruling has been advocated and defended by the DWP, even though the very nature of what the room is there for means it cannot be used as a bedroom for another tenant.

Duncan-Smith defended the ruling at a hearing in the summer, arguing that the case should be dismissed and ‘A’ should just accept that she is no longer entitled to the same amount of benefit, which is quite nauseating enough. But when the leader of the Opposition, Ed Milliband, raised the matter at Prime Minister’s Questions this week, explaining details of the case, Duncan-Smith did something that really frightened me.

He laughed.

He mocked and wheezed at the plight of a traumatised, vulnerable woman whom he had already victimised by the ‘one-size-fits-all-poor-people’ outlook of his policies.

To find out why this has instilled fear of the man we call ‘RTU’ (Returned To Unit) in Mr Odoni, please visit the article on his blog.

Follow me on Twitter: @MidWalesMike

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8 Comments

  1. paulrutherford8 November 22, 2014 at 3:52 am - Reply

    Reminiscent of the Bedroom Tax debate in the Commons on 12/11/2013 when I had the misfortune of witnessing the Tory MP for Chester [sorry, name escapes me], laughing in a similar manner when the Labour MP [name again?], in whose constituency Stephanie Bottrill lived, was describing the circumstances that led to her tragic suicide, and subsequent meetings with some of her family members.

    His laughter was quite clearly audible through the glass that ensures the safety of the right dishonourable members such as the Chester MP from any attempted misdemenour by random members of the ‘public’ in the gallery.

    How such people are able to behave in such a manner and not have any reprimand at all is beyond my comprehension.

    In the case of IDS, it is indeed truly frightening.

    One of my dearest wishes is to meet him in a tv or radio studio to debate his policies.

    Of course, it will never happen, despite attempts by media people.

    As well as a consumate, proven liar, the man is a contemptible coward.

  2. jaynel62 November 22, 2014 at 5:53 am - Reply

    Reblogged this on jaynelinney and commented:
    This post has left me in a real quandary, I totally understand what the writer is saying and in the most agree but…Fear IDS, NO; for me this is not an option. I cannot fear a man I accept is a psychopathic Liar, I acknowledge his deranged attitudes and I recognise his Sociopathic behaviour; therefore I do fear him but instead choose to loathe him and everything he purports to ‘believe’ in

    I’m Saying NO and Demanding #IDSTimeForTruth

  3. Mr.Angry November 22, 2014 at 8:55 am - Reply

    One wonders if pork face Dave is actually fearful of IDS hence why he is still in his job.

    We all know IDS is nothing more than a thug, so what I can never understand why don’t the tory party unite and get him out.

    Everything he touches becomes a total costly disaster and has a disastrous effect on human beings.

    I imagine a month before the next election IDS will have to employ a contractor with an immense furnace to shred and burn tons and tons of paperwork he will not want the public to see.

    Anyone with one ounce of common sense must see he has created an extreme hatred for the party and will discourage support from voters on a massive scale.

    Then again do any tories have any common sense full stop, silly me back to my corn flakes.

    • Florence November 22, 2014 at 6:56 pm - Reply

      He is a thug, and a sadist. We all know he and others have been laughing loudly in debates where the opposition have recounted heart-rending witness of suffering inflicted by these bully boys.

      For me, what is worse is that this episode and others remain without remark let alone censure from within their own party. There is no moral centre, just a stinking rotting void. It is grotesque that these sociopaths have the power of life & death over the vulnerable. It is incomprehensible that the mainstream media support this agenda, by selectively not reporting on these most informative episodes.

      And yet they attack the Labour shadow bench for an ill-judged tweet, with front page splashes, screaming headlines and hours of negative and partisan TV coverage.

      But I will never have “respect” no matter how begrudging, even accepting that we should fear this bunch We should fear the possibility that there will be neither a free nor a fair election in 2015, if the press provides support and comfort for these monsters.

  4. marcusdemowbray November 22, 2014 at 9:22 am - Reply

    To me Respect and Fear are slightly different: I only respect those that have earned respect. ID-S has done nothing at all in his entire life to earn respect. I hate him and fear him, but cannot respect anyone who is beneath contempt!

  5. Tony Dean November 22, 2014 at 12:56 pm - Reply

    I don’t fear anyone when I have their home address, and I do have IDS’s address.

  6. Lynne Ismail November 22, 2014 at 10:12 pm - Reply

    IDS reminds me of the cruel Flashman in Tom.Brown’s Schooldays. Or is that Gideot or Camoron! I feel that they are behaving like Hitler and his consorts. The poor, the vulnerable.and the sick.and disabled are the enemies of the state and must be eradicated as the Jews had to be. They are behaving like Nazis and Camoron wants IDS to treat them as he does and then he takes the blame.I never thought such atrocity would happen in this country even under a right wing government and they seem unstoppable.

  7. Mr.Angry November 23, 2014 at 9:32 am - Reply

    Lynne they are stoppable ensure they are voted to eternity spread the word let others know of their evil crimes against their own citizens.

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