I admire the Tories for one thing...

... They seem to be able to rile me with a new "initiative" every single day. Since gaining unfettered power on a popular vote of 37% and Commons majority of 12, David Cameron and his cronies have been quick to break pre-election pledges and make a mockery of their claims to have been the greenest government ever, never mind a "one nation" party.

Let this blog post chronicle some of the ways in which I've been both angered and depressed since they won the election:

1. NHS - there's little doubt it'll be well on the way to being dismantled by the next election. Still, you've got to thank Labour and Tony Blair for their part in all of this, with the ridiculous PPI initiative that brought in short-term (and unnecessary) investment in return for crippling repayments further down the line.
2. Cutting wind and solar subsidies - it's all very well arguing that the free market should support renewable energy, but then this government continues to subsidise polluting energy sources like fossil fuels and nuclear. One more example of how the Tories preach socialism for the rich, capitalism for the rest of us.
3. Removing low-carbon requirements for new homes - just how f**king short-term are these bunch of shysters? Unlike the economy, the environment is going to go away. Climate change is kicking in, its effects are being felt everywhere, and yet you lot decide to ditch even the half-hearted efforts to improve things? And let's not forget that low-carbon homes are cheaper to run for their inhabitants, but do you see the pattern yet? This Tory government isn't interested in you or me, but only its own kind. 
4. Allowing the use of bee-harming pesticides - another example of how this government is in big business's pockets. I wonder which Tory MPs or donors benefit from this decision? Because in a rational, sensible world, no idiot would allow these pesticides back given the sheer volume of peer-reviewed evidence proving the link between them and the collapse of bee populations. And again, this isn't me being all airy-fairy based on a love of how cute they are, it's based on a desire for self-preservation based on the role bees play in pollinating our food.
5. Cutting benefits by £12bn - yes, time to hit the working poor. The rich have got fat on cutting employment rights and wages in order to line their own pockets, but while the benefits we've introduced to allow people to continue to live while earning a pittance may not be sustainable, you can't axe them without supporting working people to support themselves. And Osbourne's laughable "living wage" won't come anywhere near close enough to do so.
6. BBC - it's not enough to dominate the media, the right have now turned their attention to the BBC. It's a thinly veiled decision designed to lever more political advantage to the Tory elite (and people like Rupert Murdoch, who seem to think he should control how we vote despite not living here or paying any tax).
7. Hunting - that was shocking. But as soon as it became obvious they would lose the vote, Cameron puts it in mothballs. But like everything else in this country, the anti-hunting group (of which I am one) haven't actually won; this government will bring it back, and sneak it through if it has to.
8. Inheritance tax - yes, let's increase this to £1m per family! A classic example of how we're not all in it together. If you're going to hack and slash to fix the public finances, don't then hand out tax breaks to those who don't need it. Particularly when this policy makes a mockery of the Tories' claim that they believe in rewarding hard work. Inheritance tax is like a benefit for the rich, but then we go back to George Monbiot's brilliant slogan: Toryism is socialism for the rich, capitalism for the rest of us.

There are so many other examples my addled brain can't keep up. But what I particularly hate about this Tory government is how despicable, cowardly, low and self-serving they are. The above makes me out to be some kind of left-wing nutter, but I occupy the central ground. Just because Thatcher and her legacy has tried to shift the argument to the right (so Labour occupying the "central ground" in 1997-2015 puts them to the right of my position) doesn't mean I should stand here and allow myself to be labelled left-wing. It's time we forced a shift back to the left, before we're all working 14-hour days simply to keep ourselves out of the 21st century equivalent of the workhouse, all to line the pockets of a tiny moneyed elite. It's so Charles Dickens, darling, and I can think of my grandparents and great grandparents turning in their graves at all their hard-fought gains being wiped out by a generation or two of selfish, short-term thinking on our part.

So remember this when you next look at David Cameron, his cronies or any bollocks spouted by the Tories when campaigning. You can distil their ethos down to this: SOCIALISM FOR THE RICH, CAPITALISM FOR THE REST OF US.