big brother

One theme that most dystopian visions have in common is the abuse of language. From Huxley, to Orwell, to Gilliam we find worlds in which words are created or distorted or finessed to wrench them from their real meanings and create sugar coated tyranny or propagate fear and respect.

Despite the ingenuity of these writers and visionaries they always seem to get roundly beaten by reality. The twisting of our language by governments, corporations and all manner of busybodies outranks anything from newspeak or Brazil.

Today I received a bullying letter from DVLA telling me to send it a new photograph for my licence and £20 and threatening me with massive fines and bans for non-compliance. The letter came from a bossy woman called Nadine Davies with the preposterous title "Head of Central Capture Unit". Even Big Brother would not have dared ....