11th August
2013
And bongos to you, too,
Mr Bloom.
I mean, I had to take that
personally. Namely. the most recent outpouring from Godfrey Bloom http://www.ukip.org/ Ukip MEP for Yorkshire and the
Humber and that remark of his. I took it
personally. & I found it offensive.
After all, it’s Edinburgh,
Festival, Fringe, and you can imagine how many varieties of drums we have here
at the moment, even before you consider our Bongo Club. http://www.thebongoclub.co.uk/ .
Bloom is part of the
‘official’ face and therefore part of the character, beliefs, and ethos of the Ukip
party, the funders & followers. I omitted the word ‘policy’ since I’m not
too sure what they are.
The Ukip web site throws out the politics of rhetoric,
and possibly the odd pub of an evening.
To state that (and from their web site)
‘scrapping most (i.e foreign aid) thanks to colossal waste’…
isn’t really a policy.
I mean I rant every now and then, just
occasionally, over things like…trams.
Rants are not policies.
But who are Ukip followers, fellow travellers?
May’s council elections exposed some basic flaws
in the Ukip’s selection process and the fact that when some of the candidates
were investigated (by others, external to Ukip) they were exposed as activists
& members (of parties-groups) associated with the far right.
I’m neither suggesting nor claiming that all Ukip
members/voters/followers are racists…check out the web site and their ‘’claims’,
and statements.
But the currency of
their language in public is the currency of racism, bigotry and xenophobics. And
when the public isn’t there? Well, I hate to think.
With the latest information out about the rise in
birth rates, should we be surprised that the same web site has a lot, an awful
lot, to say about that? I think not. It’s more of the rant that I’ve come to
expect.
So are the politics of Ukip the politics of fear: fear of the
other, fear of that which is different, all wrapped up as a warning and a
blanket, pseudo-defence of the UK and that should the UK ignore their warnings,
we would do so at our peril?
Bloom’s comments on record state that they are the
views ‘of the common man’, held not in the pub, but in ‘the cricket club’. I
don’t recognise this ‘common man’, nor ‘the cricket club’, before we even step
off this green and pleasant land and consider Ukip’s views of what lies out
there.
Their views are too pre-war, pre 1940’s and more reminiscent of the early-mid 20th
century, when Britain had an Empire, but when words got swept up in the
streets, found arms, ammunition, & fuelled actions.
Channel 4 presenter Cathy Newman https://twitter.com/cathynewman has written an article in The
Daily Telegraph that quotes a YouGov poll
in March with a range of fascinating stats. And believe me, it’s not
often you’ll find me promoting stats.
But these appear to show some interesting
facts about Ukip voters, including the fact that Ukip draws in more men than
women, but there are more over-50 voters (voting for Ukip) compared to other
parties. Well worth a read.
And Cathy Newman ends with a hunch,
'.......but as generational attitudes towards women shift, and as younger women take advantage of better educational opportunities, surely political parties of any stripe will find it far harder to defend the kind of sexist views some Ukip-pers appear to wear as a badge of pride – as crucially some of this next generation of women will vote and they won't vote for Ukip in its current state.'
Only sexist?
But if any Ukip followers now and in
the future, were to jump ship, where would they go? Which party would offer actual policies that
would chime with their beliefs be they real, imaginary or aspirational?
Would they
find a home within the Tory party? Perhaps.
Figures indicate that actual party
membership is declining in the 3 major parties, but excluding Ukip, and their claim of an increase.
Would
the Tory party welcome them?
Is the Tory party still the ‘nasty party’? Did
they ever stop being ‘the nasty party’?
Or, just dozy perhaps since a steeped –
in – the –Tory – mould Rees-Mogg claims he didn’t know that the Traditional Britain
Group http://www.traditionalbritain.org/
continues
to see the repatriation of black minority
ethnic Britains as required. Rees-Mogg didn’t
know, or he didn’t care, so much so, that he was happy to speak at a dinner
organised by them. http://www.theguardian.
And Rees-Mogg is part of the ‘official’ face and therefore
part of the character, beliefs, and ethos of the Tory party, the funders &
followers. By the way, that’s a straight lift from my thoughts about Godfrey Bloom: I just
changed the party name….I was never deemed to be subtle.
The Traditional Britain Group are the ones, and yes,
possibly there are others, but they decried the appointment of Doreen Lawrence
to the House of Lords, and, called for her to leave the country. This is after
they /Traditional Britain Group/ claimed that …’she is without merit’…and in
line with their beliefs…’should be returned to their homeland’. ….’be returned’….is even one step further
than those vans in London!
‘Without merit’? Taking on a racist institution the size of the Met?Without merit? not only tackling the met, but bravery, determination and staying-power. I don’t think so.
If membership figures across the board are
declining, in the 3 major parties, what
future for party membership (any party)?
Will the Labour party’s move to
re-align its relationship with unions and the potential for union members to ‘opt
in’ boost Labour party membership?
Can parties get the volunteers out to stuff
envelopes, make phone calls, deliver leaflets, knock on doors without a
recognised and contactable membership? I doubt it, so in that sense alone,
membership matters.
But have we now reached that internet, social
networking stage that saw Obama elected, and re-elected? We were told we had here in the UK at
the time of the run up to the last general election. In reality though, the only input was those television
debates, and truly that internet factor didn’t happe.
Are we at the stage now that the request for a
dollar, two dollars, whatever you can afford to bring about change in the USA will
connect here with those who previously felt disenfranchised, excluded, unconnected,
and translate into £’s followed by a vote?
Will we see the common man and the cricket club
members putting in the odd pound now and then and to whom? How much will that form of donation matter?
It’s
pretty anonymous and many might consider it ‘safe’: support without
recognition.
In the great scheme of the millions (of £s overall) that seem to be around at the
moment, perhaps very little.
But it’s the ‘personal touch’ that’s beguiling.
The honey trap that says you matter.
That constant drip drip of connectivity
that just might translate into a vote without having to actually join a party.
And we know who’s joined the Tory team to augment the
Australian strategist, Lynton Crosby. http://www.crosbytextor.com/
None other than Jim Messina, Obama’s (ex)
campaign manager, quoted as saying
I have long admired Prime Minister Cameron. While I will not be moving to London, nor will I be managing any type of day to day political operations, I will be offering strategic campaign advice leading up to 2015”. Jim Messina.
Interesting to note that The Washington Post tells us that The White House says.....
that Messina’s decision to work for Cameron does not represent “any kind of a signal from the president” regarding Britain’s future election.
Mmmmmmm….A sign of things to come perhaps. at least in relation to strategies and tactics.
I wonder then, will there be a
response from the Labour party, with the appointment of a team, especially now
that Tom Watson’s gone.
I do hope so, since the electioneering for 2015 has
well and truly started, and since we're not all in this together, we don't need more of the same.
But I doubt if we will see anything
before the (Labour) party conference in September.
I wonder tho’, will it come with all
the razzmatazz of the Dr Who unveiling? Doubt it.
Dammit, I’ve just realised…Tucker’s
all booked up for the foreseeable future.
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