I was subject to the same public school system that produced the current crop of parliamentary debaclisers. I was, however, a receiver, not an inflictor like them. Westminster remains a public-school indoctrinating, people twisting place.
I watched. I remember.
If publicising my own experiences of the public-school social pressures that have created our current crop of venal, empathectomised leaders could potentially help shift the trajectory of public opinion towards reform by the merest mote, then it’s worth doing. Like adding an old penny to the Big Ben pendulum of public perception.
At a time when there has never been such an urgent need for effective leaders in the UK (and elsewhere), Talking with a Limp (TWAL) provides a darkly humorous and visceral insight into the way that many of our leaders have been conditioned to be oblivious to the needs of others, making them incompetent and irrational from the perspective of everyone else.
We are facing dire emergencies such as global warming and pandemics, not to mention austerity, Brexit, social mobility and education whilst in the hands of damaged greasy political pole victors. Victors who react to these issues based largely on the effect that the actions they take will have on their own peer group status and how well they satisfy the unmet needs of the damaged children in their heads, not on what is best for society.
TWAL demonstrates why they and the Westminster system they inhabit is unfit for purpose.
We need to understand this and them if we are to have any chance of meeting our urgent need to change our societal environment.