Brian Taylor of BBC Scotland said last night he picked up at Holyrood that the other unionist parties were pleased that UKIP had won the former Lib Dem seat in Scotland and stopped the SNP getting a third. That was the most revealing moment of last night for me – it showed the vicious irresponsibility of the Better Together campaign, and exposed the lie that UKIP are outsiders.
The other moment worth watching was Alex Salmond confronting Dimbleby that the BBC had given UKIP four times as much coverage time in Scotland during the campaign as the SNP. Dimbleby tamely responded that his complaint should be directed to BBC Scotland. The BBC’s promotion of UKIP again explodes the myth of UKIP as outsiders.
The Unionist camp’s pathetic attempt to claim that UKIP’s 10% and fourth place in Scotland, squeaking one seat, shows Scotland is the same politically as England where UKIP got 29% and came first, is desperate politics. That in order to make that point they were happy for a racist party to marginally represent Scotland in Europe, is a sign of the total moral bankruptcy of the Better Together neo-con British Nationalist programme.
New Labour are completely screwed. To only beat the Tories by 1%, when there is a huge UKIP voteof which a significant slice will go back to the Tories, shows there is no chance whatsoever that New Labour will win the UK general election.
The people of Scotland have a very simple choice in September. Independence, or another Tory government which will probably pull the UK out of the EU, and might very well be in coalition with UKIP.
New Labour won almost nowhere except London. It is the party of London., with a leader who has never in his life lived outside London. But it is a fascinating fact that of all the class, educational, geographical and other statistics you can correlate with New Labour success, the factor with the strongest correlation of all with the New Labour share of the vote is the prevalence of postal voting. New Labour can win only where the system is open widest to abuse through massive scale electoral fraud.
Some of this is straight fraud – postal ballots being given to ghost voters, non-existent people on the register. That is very much more prevalent than you probably imagine. But mostly it operates through the deprivation of the privacy of the polling booth. In a polling station nobody is supposed to be allowed to look over your shoulder (although there were disgraceful scenes in places in Tower Hamlets, Wood Green and Newham). But if you receive your ballot paper in your home, you are extremely vulnerable if you live in a situation where others are able to enter your home and demand to check that you have voted the right way before you post your ballot. That is beyond doubt the situation both of many family members, particularly affecting women, and of certain highly hierarchical and patriarchal communities. Postal ballot distortion is an absolutely disgraceful blot on British political culture. It is also fundamental to New Labour’s ability to salvage something from a disastrous electoral performance.
There is indeed a very nasty undercurrent of racism in England at the moment. I live in one of UKIP’s strongest areas and this racism cannot be wished away. In fact I do not believe that Farage is personally racist, and I believe he is genuine not tactical in his abhorrence of the French National Front. But I do believe Farage has pandered to and encouraged people who are racists, and that there are a great many racists within UKIP. These people must not be allowed to become a ‘respectable’ part of politics and must be confronted wherever they appear.
I have argued for years that the UK is not a democracy in that no real choice is offered between the main political parties. Their policies are all the same. If the range of possible policies on any one issue were enumerated from 1 to 100, New Labour, Lib Dem and Tories offer you choices in the range 81 to 86. The electorate has noticed, and people are sick of it. People have noticed all over Europe too. The politics of neo-con consensus and its lackey media is happily dead. This is a change that will not stop. Once we imprison enough neo-cons who ripped off the public and the taxpayer, perhaps they might concede that it turns out history had not ended after all.
It is true that UKIP’s support does represent an upsurge of dissatisfaction with the political elite, and that also is part of an unarticulated rage at the astonishing growth of inequality of wealth in society and the vast shift of resources to the billionaire middlemen in the financial sector who do extremely little for it. It is good that rage is building, and Syriza show in Greece that it can be constructively channelled. But it is much more often and with much more success diverted in order to awake volcanoes of atavism, and rage that should be directed at plutocrats is instead turned on foreigners. The danger is letting that analysis divert you from the fact of how very, very real and very, very nasty that atavism is in the dispossessed classes. We are in a dangerous place. The neo-con establishment is fanning racist flames.
At school, we were taught about the years of revolution in Europe of 1830-32 and 1848-9. Those revolutionary years coincided with Asian Cholera pandemics, which undoubtedly played a part in driving people beyond endurance. You can of course argue that poverty and famine assisted the spread of the pandemics.
This current year of European change has also been sparked by economic distress, and seen an increase in poverty marker diseases, some of which we had hoped had effectively vanished. But plague has been a cause. Europe has suffered the most devastating plague of bankers in history.
The disillusioned should not blame immigrants. Immigrants are victims too. Turn your wrath on the bankers, the billionaires and the neo-con parties who do their bidding. Another world is possible.
Let’s start by ending the UK and setting Scotland free. It is not illegitimate to judge an idea in part by the quality and motives of those who oppose it. The full range of the neo-con establishment prefer racist isolation for a neo-con UK to a free Scotland. Just look at them. Then kick them where it really hurts.
Just one correction Ed Miliband lived in Leeds as a child. Ralph Miliband was had the Chair of Politics at the University.
Ed has also lived in New York which in some ways is like never having lived outside of London
I attempted to leave the follow comment on your McCann post. Unfortunately the catchpa seems to be non-functioning.
Guilty as hell? Yes. Why?
I shall keep it simple, and I shall keep it to Day One.
The cornerstone for the McCann’s claim for stranger abduction were the “Jemmied Shutters.” Let me give you just one example from many.
He (Jon Corner) said: “She (Kate) just blurted out that Madeleine had been abducted. She told me, ‘They have broken the shutter on the window and taken my little girl.’
But the shutters weren’t jemmied. Ergo; no jemmied shutters, no abduction. It’s that simple.
Now just for a moment, image that quality of testament, being uttered in the case of, shall we say, a Post Office robbery?
The shutters, all here in one stop. http://bit.ly/1fujWnS
Excellent post, Craig. Could you supply a link to any statistics on correlation between NuLab vote and postal voting?
“The disillusioned should not blame immigrants. Immigrants are victims too. Turn your wrath on the bankers, the billionaires and the neo-con parties who do their bidding. Another world is possible.”
Great statement, great post. I blogged on Farage and his racism this morning but also mentioned the other election which the BBC this morning completely overlooked, the Poroshenko acclaimed victory. There are electronic anomolies and it is thought there might be a hand-count. Poroshenko might be good for Ukraine. The electorate, only a relatively small number went out to vote, is clearly unhappy with those who stole power. Timoshenko, who claimed she was going to win, polled 12% and she was the US choice probably because she is as corrupt as they are. It looks like the electorate made a good choice and things could get better if there is not another coup. I realise the Poroshenko is an Oligarch but there is not much chance of getting anything else in that part of the world; or perhaps anywhere today. And he is into chocolate not arms. So Willie (Porshenko) Wonker, don’t let us down!
Actually this partly answers my own question- http://www.economist.com/node/16076117
“another Tory government which will probably pull the UK out of the EU”
Fat chance. Whatever the outcome of a referendum the Tories will not take the UK out of the EU. The Tories’ masters are the bankers and the bankers are the EU.
“Turn your wrath on the bankers, the billionaires and the neo-con parties who do their bidding”
A lot of people thought they were doing just that by voting Ukip.
Pete
Am hoping to do a detailed breakdown on this, but as a serious piece of work in a couple of weeks time.
Teddy Shepherd
The McCanns are dreadfully litigious and I suspect the Mods are trying to protect the site.
Ukip are a bunch of loonies, to be sure, but they’re the only girl at the dance so whaddya gonna do?
I love your blog, Craig, and your passion but i’ve never been anywhere close to being an idealist and much prefer that government would stay the fuck away from me so i’ve no problem with doing Kipper work – at the moment we’re hunting round for a medic to run a ‘Save our A&E’ campaign forcing a 5 way split in next year’s general so we end the Tory and maybe slip in the back door – it’s worth a punt. There ain’t no point in being moral or right if there aren’t any votes in it. More power to your elbow, though.
Someone, Dizzy I think,
Was gonna gibber on about how government is a Brazilian cock fish..oopps!
http://www.thinkscotland.org/todays-thinking/articles.html?read_full=11856&article=www.thinkscotland.org
My biggest concern for the referendum vote is the postal vote issue. What are the rules for the referendum? Ae they the same as a GE? If so, then the whole exercise is open to massive fraud and abuse. I have heard “stories” (OK, we need to be careful about hearsay) that some Labour canvassers are suggesting that people take a postal voter form, rather than “bother with going to the polling station. We can look after that for you.”
Is here any way to establish if this is truly going on, and if so, what is the (so-called monitor) the Electoral Commission doing about ensuring that the referendum ballot is 100% honest?
This and the massive bias of the BBC are the two key weak points in the YES campaign. Media blockage and manipulation together with voter manipulation. What has this country [UK] become?
Hi Craig,
As a new reader to your blog, and indecently in the process of reading murder in Samarkand. It is so refreshing to hear a diplomat, actually tell it as it is. I also think the level of bias in the BBC in their political reporting especially in the independence debate, as absolutely shocking. Even after several studies indicating their extreme bias views and reporting. Their utter reluctant to even accept that fact, as well as their total disregard for the license payer is mind boggling. I also think that UKIP are a scourge on society their ideology and hatred is disgusting and divisive , but the almost daily and repeated propaganda that is spewed out by the BBC has had an affect. But as you say playing the racism card is a great political diversion tactic, and keeps the masses arguing amongst themselves, conquer and divide. I am a passionate independence supporter, and I am the first to admit its not the cure to all evils. But even if it makes politics slightly more accountable to the people, and keeps racism at bay then it must be worth the risk. Great post Craig Keep up the good work. 🙂
“The electorate, only a relatively small number went out to vote, is clearly unhappy with those who stole power.”
So please enlighten us on the turnout excluding those parts of the Ukraine where Putin’s bully boys stopped people from voting.
“Yes, Putin is popular, but there has been no recent history of Russian imperialism or land grabs,”
Pure comedy
“In Ukraine since February there has been a lot of western-promoted riots which have put the country in chaos.”
The Euro Maidan started last November
“Poroshenko is thought to have more than the 55% of votes necessary to take office. However the west wanted Timoshenko, who only polled about 12% in a low turnout, to win.”
“So it would appear the Ukraine, which has recently seen racism showing all its many ugly faces, has voted against the illegal government that took over Ukraine. ”
Would seem unlikely given that Timoshenko’s opinion poll rating were pretty low from the start of the campaign and it has been pretty widely reported that Poroshenko has been woring closely with Yats. But then you really haven’t got a clue about what has been going on in Ukraine – which is of course what happens when you rely on RT and other Putin outlets as your sole information source.
Anyway my congratulations to the Ukrainian people.
“It is good that rage is building, and Syriza show in Greece that it can be constructively channelled.”
_____________________
That comment about Syriza, Craig, show that you don’t follow Greek politics very closely. There is very little “constructive” about Syriza, whose leader lives in fear that one day he might just have to head a govt. Believe me.
“My biggest concern for the referendum vote is the postal vote issue. What are the rules for the referendum? Ae they the same as a GE? If so, then the whole exercise is open to massive fraud and abuse.”
______________________
This – for the uninitiated – is the Great Referendum Excuse N°2, to be trotted out when the “NO” camp wins. It was fraud wot lost it!.
Great Referendum Excuse N°1 is of course “it was all the fault of the biased media!”.
I don’t know how many of the disillusioned do blame immigrants. I suppose some must, perhaps many, but unless I’m completely out of touch, the predominant sentiment seems to be “they’re only doing what I would do in their situation”. The people to blame are the people who make the laws and create the conditions in which this insanity persists.
We are talking about the management of a medium-sized, still relatively rich country. That country has been running a programme of mass-immigration in tandem with one of mass-unemployment – and they’ve been doing it for years! Is there really anybody who can claim with a straight face that that is anything other than the most appallingly bad management? You have to be either an economist or a politician to think that it’s rational.
Yes, the people of Scotland do have a straight, simple choice in September. But not to worry. If they get it wrong they’ll have another straight, simple choice in another few years. Then, if they’re particularly recalcitrant and they get it wrong again, they’ll have another …
“of certain highly hierarchical and patriarchal communities.”
Not exactly sticking your head about the parapet there, are you.
My post on the Mind Bogging thread confirms what Craig says about BBC bias in their Scottish output. Salmond/Dimblebore
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2014/05/mind-boggling/#comment-458901
Dimbleby knew exactly what Salmond was saying. They are ALL in it together.
~~
Well done to Nadira and best wishes for her success.
Does this mean that you will not be posting in the interim Craig?
“of certain highly hierarchical and patriarchal communities.”
Not exactly sticking your head about the parapet there, are you.
Exactly S Falcone; This blog is admirable when Craig addresses his points bluntly, courageously, and with good humour. Being mealy mouthed is a characteristic honed to perfection by establishment presstitutes; we don’t want that sort of self censorship here here.
Falcone and OldMark,
The reason these communities are so susceptible to postal ballot abuse is because they are hierarchical and patriarchal. It is not skin colour that causes the abuse, though I realise that is something you would rather discuss.
Gutenberg on Medialens has captured some of the BBC coverage of the results on their ‘News Channel’. He refers to Minchin and Turnball ie the pair of presenters Louise Minchin and Bill Turnbull who occupy the red sofa at Salford.
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1401114167.html
Described as an ‘anchor’. Could suggest another word. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Minchin
Nondescript. A Strictly contestant. Says it all.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Turnbull
I really enjoy both your blogs and your books.
We will now endure endless reinterpretation of the results as each party spins away ad lib.
What has really happened is that vast swathes of lEurope have protested at last against governments and institutions which do not represent the people or even attempt to serve their interests. Financial scams and crony politics dominate the system
We need comprehensive new structures both at country and European levels, and mechanisms for the people to control the actions of their so called representatives. We need Piketty’s wealth tax and radical reform of banking and the entire financial system. Otherwise? Implosion and disaster loom.
PS. I would lose personally from such measures, but we must take action to include the excluded, and make the idea that we are all in this together ring less hollow. Solidarity and equality must override self interested reverence for the past, and an unwritten constitution which favours only those currently in power.
Plantation owners in the South used to treat their darkies like children who needed constant direction in life. I think that societal structure was hierarchical and patriarchal as well.
Ah so. But whether you have noticed or not, they are not litigious with anyone who stands firm? Something you may, or may not, wish to bear in mind.
But whatever your decision, there is an injustice taking place before our eyes, the likes of which are unique in this country’s history.
‘It is not skin colour that causes the abuse, though I realise that is something you would rather discuss.’
Just a simple acknowledgement that this ‘hierarchical and patriarchal’ demographic is a recent import, a by-product of the immigration which is supposedly so enriching to the cultural desert that is western Europe, will do.
For a more measured response to the trends manifested in the Euro Elections, this is a good place to start-
http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/nigel-farage-and-the-fury-of-the-elites/15045#.U4NW73JdXYR
OldMark
That the problem is particularly marked in some (but by no means all) immigrant communities I certainly acknowledge. Strongly linked to separate schooling and the lack of housing and social integration which are a hallmark of so many strong New Labour areas, and from my own experience of Blackburn a result of deliberate New Labour social engineering to keep their core vote ignorant and united.
38 Degrees Logo
It’s splashed across The Telegraph today: a group of MPs have come together to say that they need to regain our trust. [1] And they’re right. Many of us think that politics in the UK is broken. MPs can be sent to prison, can fiddle their expenses or break their promises and we can only get rid of them on election day. [2]
But, we’ve got a chance right now to make things better. It looks like the government is making plans to announce new powers to sack – ‘recall’ – MPs who don’t do their job properly. Good huh? It would be, but it’s a stitch-up. [3]
Their plans could put the power to sack MPs in their colleagues’ hands – not their constituents. The MPs speaking out today don’t think this is good enough. They’re backing real recall – so if enough people wanted to hold a by-election to sack their MP in between elections, they could.
Today’s news will put the government under pressure. So let’s add to it. Let’s build a HUGE people-powered petition so they know we’re watching. Can you sign the petition now?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/recall-2014
A real recall law is not the answer to all of our democracy’s problems. But it’s a step in the right direction. And above all, it puts the power into our hands rather than MPs’.
Real recall won’t mean that by-elections happen every day. There would be checks and balances in place so that MPs can get on with their jobs. It’s only the bad MPs who will need to worry.
We need to send the government a clear signal, which means the petition needs to be big. Every signature will build the pressure they’ll be under.
Here’s what one Conservative MP, Zac Goldsmith said:
“As an MP, I’ve seen how public pressure can force the government’s arm – and they’re particularly sensitive about public trust in MPs right now. A massive petition could give David Cameron and Nick Clegg no option but to go back to the drawing board – and produce recall with bite.”
NOTES
[1] The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10850163/Let-voters-sack-underperforming-politicians-MPs-say.html
[2] House of Commons Library: Recall Elections:
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-05089.pdf
[3] BBC: Recall plan for MPs ‘is a stitch-up’:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22784664
(Via Mai Kari Hartvag Zimbleman) “A must listen, 37 min. The Lisbon treaty: the loss of democratic rights: removes and bans, than reintroduces the death penalty, for riots and upheavels and allows EU forces to enter any country. 27 former EU states have no constitution, how did this happen?
This video is based on a speech by Rodney Atkinson at a public meeting at the Houses of Parliament on 26th Feb 2008 -updated 2010 Details for purchase of the audio copy see below.
The EU is based on the Nazi plans published in Berlin in 1942 ” The Eu was founded and initially led by “former” Nazis and fascists, as was the Charlemagne prize awarded to TONY BLAIR, EDWARD HEATH, ROY JENKINS and others for their role in removing democratic sovereignty from the nation states of Europe”
RODNEY ATKINSON is a former adviser to Ministers and an internationally praised author of 6 books on political economy and the crisis caused by the European superstate. He has broadcast on radio and television in the UK, Germany, Poland, Yugoslavia, Austria and the USA, and his books have been sold in more than 50 countries.
Courtesy of John Wight…http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/26/syriza-european-elections-greece
Important rule in life. Anyone who self describes as ‘an internationally praised author’ is a fruitcake. Your link removed.