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The Chancellor appeared rather un-British at the Labour Party Conference this year, rudely pushing his way to the front. He’s clearly becoming impatient with that virtuous tradition of the very British queue. 

The Prime Minister took it as another display of declining respect, slapping Mr Brown firmly back into Number Eleven, possibly for a full third term.   By the end of the PM’s speech poor old Gordon looked like a little boy who had just had his bottom smacked in public. 

Tony must have had a session with Super-nanny.  We were all being put in our place and taught some respect!  

Society is suffering from a lack of respect.  And nowhere was this moral decline more evident than at the Labour Party Conference.  Or so it must have seemed to 82-year-old Walter Wolfgang.

The sickening scenes of an old man being dragged from the Conference hall and barred from re-entry in a blatant abuse of anti-terror laws turned stomachs and chilled spines.  There is indeed a crisis of respect. 

The Prime Minister did the decent thing and apologised.  But let’s face it, the Party bouncers who ejecting the elderly holocaust survivor were simply acting in the spirit of the new ‘respect’ agenda, weren’t they?   So who can blame them for being a bit bewildered by the PM’s disapproval.    This was after all textbook kick-ass respect, New Labour style.

There was a problem though, it was being filmed, and the cameras were working. In which case I suppose they could have avoided the scene and just whispering “Louise Casey” in the old man’s ear.  That should have done the trick.

The training given to the conference henchmen was also called into questioned.  But the Prime Minister stopped short of suggesting a ‘how to do respect’ good practice guide for beginners.  If he were minded to consult on such a document his respect taskforce might have some real work to do.

The grief stricken family of Jean Charles de Menezes would be well placed to contribute on the subject of respect in anti-terror policing.  Tens of thousands of bereaved and maimed Iraqi civilians could comment on respect in our foreign policy.  And October being Black History Month, Black Britons would want to see respect for the positive role of men and women of colour in a currently distorted interpretation of British history.  Needless to say, Mr Wolfgang may like to share his thoughts on declining respect for the elderly.

I wouldn’t question that those who make our lives a misery through violent, intolerant or anti-social behaviour need to be brought to account.  But in the Prime Minister’s haste to shake off all things old there are some wise old sayings that he would do well to respect.  For instance, ‘you can’t fight fire with fire.’  Like Saddam, you can bully people into a state of fear but you can’t bully people into respect. 

The Tory regime came unstuck under the weight of its own ‘back to basics’ campaign which did little more than provide the rope upon which the party finally swung.  Moral high ground crusades end badly when we don’t practice what we preach.  

There may well be a lesson there somewhere for the Prime Minister.  And I say that with all due respect.

Yvonne Hutchinson

To comment on this column contact Yvonne direct at yvonne@communitychameleon.co.uk or email us at news@24dash.com