Political Rhetoric
On a wave of popularity following the Falklands
War of 1982, Margaret Thatcher, leader of the right-wing Conservative Party, was heading to victory in
the UK General Election of 1983. The left-wing Labour Party, with an unpopular manifesto that has been
described as 'the longest suicide note in history', was trying to avoid defeat.
An influential young MP, Neil Kinnock, made one
of the most powerful political speeches of the period, arguing that a new Thatcher government would
cut spending on health, education and pensions, and would increase unemployment, taxes and interest
rates. The conclusion of the speech summed up these arguments ...
If
Margaret Thatcher is elected as Prime Minister, I warn you, I warn
you that you will have pain.
When
healing and relief depend upon payment. I warn
you that you will have ignorance.
When
talents are untended and wits are wasted, when learning is a privilege and not
a right
I warn
you that you will have poverty, when
pensions slip and benefits are whittled away by a Government that won't pay in an
economy that can't pay. I warn
you that you will be cold.
When
fuel charges are used as a tax system that the rich don't notice and the poor can't
afford.
I warn
you that you must not expect work. When
many cannot spend, more will not be able to earn. When they don't earn, they don't
spend. When they don't spend, work dies.
I warn
you not to go into the streets alone after dark or into the streets in huge
crowds
of
protest in the light. I warn
you that you will be quiet when the
curfew of fear and the gibbet of unemployment make you obedient.
I warn
you that you will have defence of a sort, with a
risk and at a price that passes all understanding.
I warn
you that you will be home-bound when
fares and transport bills kill leisure and lock you up.
I warn
you that you will borrow less, when
credit, loans, mortgages and easy payments are refused to people on your melting
income.
If
Margaret Thatcher wins, she will be more a Leader than a Prime Minister. That
power
produces arrogance and when it is toughened by Tebbitry and flattered and
fawned
upon by spineless sycophants, the boot-licking tabloid Knights of Fleet Street
and
placemen in the Quangos, arrogance corrupts absolutely.
If
Margaret Teacher wins -
I warn
you not to be ordinary .
I warn
you not to be young.
I warn
you not to fall ill.
I warn
you not to get old.
It
didn't work: Margaret Thatcher won the General Election convincingly, and held
power for 7 more years. Four
months after making this speech, Neil Kinnock was elected leader of the Labour
Party.
Rhetorical
analysis
Scan through the text and identify
examples of where the following rhetorical techniques are used
- direct,
personal address
- repetition
- list of threes
- alliteration
- metaphors
- reference
to current names and terminology - facts and evidence
