Tony Makara: A nation sleepwalking into decadence

Ever more in life, the things that would repulse us are now being accepted as 'Normal' and are laughed off and being accepted as 'Fun'. Whether its people eating maggots on a game show or a transvestite vomiting into the face of a small child on 'Little Britain' it seems like the British public has lost its sense of propriety and has sleepwalked its way into decadence. As a nation we are losing the very values and the very sense of decency that made our nation great.

Human beings are creatures that copy the behaviour of the perceived successful members of the group. So it should come as no surprise to us that young boys copy the snarling attitude of premier league footballers and young girls imitate the sluttish behaviour of certain drunken female celebrities. In fact it's fair to say that the media goes out of its way to promote the behaviour of such negative role models.

Therefore I feel it is time that the Conservative Party looked at the question of public decency and the knock-on effects of irresponsible output in all branches of the media. I am not calling for censorship, but rather am asking for a reevaluation of existing laws on decency and whether media output can be called to account.

I particularly worry about the effects of certain media output on the young, and the fact that these young people will grow up and carry the negative values that they have learned into adult life. We are already witness to serious levels of social breakdown as young men abandon pregnant girlfriends and almost half of marriages end in divorce. Does it help the situation when programmes like 'Eastenders' show countless numbers of people having affairs and showing scant regard for family life? What are young people to make of such behaviour when they are exposed to it day-in and day-out at peak viewing time? We are already starting to see the effects of a generation that has grown up with 'Eastenders' and similar socially destructive entertainment.

David Cameron was right to recently lambast the music industry for their attitude. The music scene in many instances serves as the gateway into drugs. The music press has a very blase attitude to drugs and even sets out to glorify drug-taking in its literature. I am reminded of an interview that I saw with singer Donny Osmond. In the interview Donny Osmond spoke about how his career went into decline and how he was approached by senior figures in the music industry who offered to stage a drugs raid on him, they assured Donny Osmond that such a drugs raid would allow the media to paint him as being 'cool' and would 'boost' his personal profile and up his sales. Donny Osmond, a devout Mormon, flatly refused to give succour to the drugs culture and was consequently dumped by the movers and shakers in the music industry.

This all goes to show that there are dark and insidious forces at work in the media and they have a remit to poison and to corrupt. The Conservative Party must understand this and must work to ensure that such negative elements are unable to operate. The media and particularly the music media have phenomenal and unrestricted access to our young. In fact far more access than parents during the vital teenage years. The reality is that there are young people who are now dead because they were lured into a life of 'cool' drug-taking by the attitude of the music media.

As responsible and decent Conservatives we must take a stand on this issue and say that it is not acceptable to promote negative role-models and negative behaviour in the media. A future Conservative government could do much to clean up the BBC and eradicate the trashy debasing output that is causing so much harm to our young and to the nation as a whole.