Why aren't politicians speaking our language?

It's long been the case that politicians and those in the news media tend to speak a slightly different language from the rest of us. Ministers and journalists each have their own set of stock phrases, which they seem to adopt en masse, almost as if they'd all attended the same seminar... 'Let's be clear about this' seems to be the phrase du jour among the former.

But alongside these words and phrases there's also a way of speaking – one that seems to want to avoid strong language at any cost. You can understand this in the news media, especially those for whom impartiality is important. But aren't the politicians supposed to be speaking on our behalf?

Talk about the recent riots brought it home to me. I've heard rioters and looters being described, rather tamely, as 'youngsters', which somehow conjures up images of mischievous children stealing apples, rather than deranged morons burning down shops and homes. Rioters' behaviour is said to be 'unacceptable'. No – poor customer service may be 'unacceptable' – most of us would use stronger language (which needn't involve expletives) to describe what's been going on. It's almost as if the Westminster elite are shying away from expressing the anger that the rest of us feel.

There may be good reasons for this. The obvious one is that Ministers and MPs are being careful to avoid fanning the flames – a violent reaction to a violent situation is the last thing we need, and it could be that politicians are wary of making things worse with inflammatory language.

However, I think we're left with the impression that those who run the country don't really speak our language. Don't speak on our behalf. Don't understand what we feel. And I think that in itself is more likely to breed anger and frustration among the general population.