The Red Knob

Well, let’s take a look at the past few months, let’s be contentious and up the ante. Stealth taxes have made the populace meaner, people having twigged they now have less in their pockets. The working classes ( and dare we use the term ‘working’ in these classless times? One M. Thatcher supposedly having done away with the term and swept it under the table – ‘under’ being perhaps more appropriate than ‘working’ – but I digress…), as I was saying, the working classes are being hit hard by those staunch faux Socialist folk, the people who claim to be their champions… Old Labour were a party for the people. As for the New Model Army, well I’m not sure who the people’s friend, Brownshirt votes for?  Ouch! A bit under the belt? Unfair? Well, yes very – but this government of the Left appears to be the most Right-wing government since, well, since Winston sent the troops in to quell a miner’s strike, although then again one only has to stop and think of what happened to the miners back in the 80’s  – and who was responsible; the Battle of Orgreave anyone? (Note: children you may not have heard of the miners. They were people who lived underground in days of yore – a bit like kobolds and goblins, armed with picks and shovels, but unlike the kobolds they aren’t a myth – they were real, honest – look in a history book…) And that’s the thing  – the historical overview, 20 / 20 rear-view vision, or hindsight – it’s a marvellous thing if you have it. 

In the old days ( try Sex in Elizabethan England )  STIs were something of a mystery – a scourge from God and not readily recorded. That’s the beauty of the modern age. Now we know the score, as soon as the ball goes into the net. Getting back to Mr Brown (and hey, we’re apolitical here); the biggest theft on the planet, or at least in this hemisphere. What? Whadyamean? Look – if half the young people I work with stole and plundered like him, the justice system would have him banged up, without question. And I work with young offenders. So how does he get away with it?

Which brings me to the Knob point of view. The Dick’s discourse, if you will. Given that STIs are apparently doing swinging business  – on the increase with young people and the over 45s (those between 26 and 44 must be doing something right then?) why isn’t Mr Brown doing anything about it?

His Calvanist God knows he should be able to afford it, having made and pocketed a packet on taxes from petrol. My estimation on the revenue is about £42 billion in the last quarter, as Mr Brown has put 78 percent on fuel. So why isn’t money available to keep the workforce healthy, or at least its precious youth? The young people whom the New Model Labour Party put so much store by. The future. “Education, education, education” was the mantra of his predecessor – how about  “sex education, sex education, sex education” being one of Mr Brown’s? There’s more chance of Robert Mugabe becoming the next President of the USA. Anyone who is aware of the state of play with regard to sexual health in this country is also aware that it is the Cinderella of health; so back to the issue of money spent on real sex education delivered by real sex and relationships educators – is the money available? 

Well it is, but only to certain government-accredited organisations, who profess to be doing a job. The reality may be different from the truth. Harsh words? H’mmm. However, you do need to understand that statutory services are dependent on their funding for initiatives through meeting targets – surely no cases of “make sure you don’t hit the target this year – or we won’t get the funding for next year” then? No, in the real world it doesn’t happen (but in the scientific world the state of reality is under question…). Whoever’s heard of such a thing? Now, my car currently needs a new exhaust and a few other jobs done. Would you expect me to take my car to a reputable mechanic, or perhaps to some youth worker, who has read a car instruction manual and believes that they’re now qualified to answer all questions on the subject? Would they know their alternator from their fuel injector unit? ‘Scuse me whilst I look it up in the index sir.  No, I’d take it to a garage. Can’t tell your cunnilingus from your fellatio Horatio? Misinformation? So why are Youth Services being funded to advise and train others about sexual heath. Shouldn’t this be done by qualified professional health workers? Not by people who think they’re suddenly qualified to be professional health workers with years of training on health work, including how to communicate with people, by dint of a youth work qualification. Caveat emptor indeed.

Perhaps we should be asking, nationally, who is regulating the sexual health training, the advice and information they dispense? After-all, Teachers and School Nurses undertake a nationally recognised certificate in PSHE; so why not Youth Workers?  Only a point of view of course – but a viewpoint opens up a panorama of vistas; there’s always choice about which view to choose, but people do appear to prefer the one that gives them the best options. And of course some views are myopic – and others far-sighted. Given that our dear Government drip-feeds money to address sexual health concerns and meanwhile the hidden epidemic of STIs is quietly ignored, shouldn’t Mr Brown be looking in the right direction? Or does he need binoculars?

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