Negative Problematisation, Solutional Integratality

Tim Loughton, the shadow Minister for the Soldiers and Stockbrokers of the Future, has discovered that social workers have votes too. He observed that "in other countries, particularly in northern Europe, social workers are respected on a par with teachers, doctors and other public service professionals". Of course, Britain is no exception in this regard, treating social workers, doctors, teachers and other public service professionals all with equal penny-pinching contempt. Nevertheless, the shadow Minister for Thinking of the Infant Resources criticised the "deeply corrosive situation where too many social workers are seen as part of the problem rather than an integral part of the solution". What problem might that be, I wonder? Well, being a member of Daveybloke's Cuddly Conservatives, Loughton naturally agrees with New Labour on most things: "We are not going to chuck out a whole lot of stuff that has gone before," he said. "A lot of what has happened in the last ten years has been good." However, it appears that social workers in Britain are "risk-averse", possibly because they suffer from media stereotypes "ranging from slightly alternative liberal busybodies to out-and-out child snatchers" - stereotypes which the Conservative party has done almost everything in its power to reverse but which still, unaccountably, persist. Anyway, now that we have Daveybloke to provide the slight-bodied alternative liberal business, and the immigrant police to do the child-snatching, there's a bit of a gap in the market; hence "a good social worker is as crucial to the wellbeing of vulnerable children or to the survival of damaged families as a doctor is to the health of his patient or a teacher to the learning chances of his pupil". Accordingly, the shadow Minister for Juvenile Britishness has promised that "a future incoming Cameron government would not launch wholesale changes to social services but would instead look closely at how existing structures can be made to work better", because "we're not getting enough bang for our buck". Social workers may cast votes once in a while, but they are hardly party donors, after all.