The BBC and corporate media coalesce around an extremely narrow consensus of political thought, and ensure that anybody who steps outside that consensus is ridiculed and marginalised. That consensus has got narrower and narrower. I was delighted during the general election to be able to listen to Nicola Sturgeon during the leaders’ debate argue for anti-austerity policies and for the scrapping of Trident. I had not heard anyone on broadcast media argue for the scrapping of Trident for a decade – it is one of those views which though widely held the establishment gatekeepers do not view as respectable.
The media are working overtime to marginalise Jeremy Corbyn as a Labour leadership candidate on the grounds that he is left wing and therefore weird and unelectable. But they face the undeniable fact that, Scottish independence aside, there are very few political differences between Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon. On issues including austerity, nuclear weapons, welfare and Palestine both Sturgeon and Corbyn are really very similar. They have huge areas of agreement that stand equally outside the establishment consensus. Indeed Nicola is more radical than Jeremy, who wants to keep the United Kingdom.
The establishment’s great difficulty is this. Given that the SNP had just slaughtered the Labour Party – and the Tories and Lib Dems – by being a genuine left wing alternative, how can the media consensus continue to insist that the left are unelectable? The answer is of course that they claim Scotland is different. Yet precisely the same establishment consensus denies that Scotland has a separate political culture when it comes to the independence debate. So which is it? They cannot have it both ways.
If Scotland is an integral part of the UK, Jeremy Corbyn’s policies cannot be unelectable.
Nicola Sturgeon won the UK wide leaders debate in the whole of the United Kingdom, despite the disadvantage of representing a party not standing in 90% of it by population. She won not just because she is clever and genuine, but because people all across the UK liked the left wing policies she articulated.
A Daily Mirror opinion poll following a BBC televised Labour leadership candidates’ debate this week had Jeremy Corbyn as the clear winner, with twice the support of anyone else. The media ridicule level has picked up since. This policy of marginalisation works. I was saddened by readers’ comments under a Guardian report of that debate, in which Labour supporter after Labour supporter posted comment to the effect “I would like to vote for Jeremy Corbyn because he believes in the same things I do, but we need a more right wing leader to have a chance of winning.”
There are two answers to that. The first is no, you don’t need to be right wing to win. Look at the SNP. The second is what the bloody hell are you in politics for anyway? Do you just want your team to win like it was football? Is there any point at all in being elected just so you can carry out the same policies as your opponents? The problem is, of course, that for so many in the Labour Party, especially but not just the MPs, they want to win for personal career advantage not actually to promote particular policies.
The media message of the need to be right wing to be elected is based on reinforced by a mythologizing of Tony Blair and Michael Foot as the ultimate example of the Good and Bad leader. These figures are constantly used to reinforce the consensus. Let us examine their myths.
Tony Blair is mythologised as an electoral superstar, a celebrity politician who achieved unprecedented personal popularity with the public, and that he achieved this by adopting right wing policies. Let us examine the truth of this myth. First that public popularity. The best measure of public enthusiasm is the percentage of those entitled to vote, who cast their ballot for that party at the general election. This table may surprise you.
Percentage of Eligible Voters
1992 John Major 32.5%
1997 Tony Blair 30.8%
2001 Tony Blair 24.1%
2005 Tony Blair 21.6%
2010 David Cameron 23.5%
2015 David Cameron 24.4%
There was only any public enthusiasm for Blair in 97 – and to put that in perspective, it was less than the public enthusiasm for John Major in 1992.
More importantly, this public enthusiasm was not based on the policies now known as Blairite. The 1997 Labour Manifesto was not full of right wing policies and did not indicate what Blair was going to do.
The Labour Party manifesto of 1997 did not mention Academy schools, Private Finance Initiative, Tuition Fees, NHS privatisation, financial sector deregulation or any of the right wing policies Blair was to usher in. Labour actually presented quite a left wing image, and figures like Robin Cook and Clare Short were prominent in the campaign. There was certainly no mention of military invasions.
It was only once Labour were in power that Blair shaped his cabinet and his policies on an ineluctably right wing course and Mandelson started to become dominant. As people discovered that New Labour were “intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich”, to quote Mandelson, their popular support plummeted. “The great communicator” Blair for 90% of his Prime Ministership was no more popular than David Cameron is now. 79% of the electorate did not vote for him by his third election
Michael Foot consistently led Margaret Thatcher in opinion polls – by a wide margin – until the Falklands War. He was defeated in a victory election by the most appalling and intensive wave of popular war jingoism and militarism, the nostalgia of a fast declining power for its imperial past, an emotional outburst of popular relief that Britain could still notch up a military victory over foreigners in its colonies. It was the most unedifying political climate imaginable. The tabloid demonization of Foot as the antithesis of the military and imperial theme was the first real exhibition of the power of Rupert Murdoch. Few serious commentators at the time doubted that Thatcher might have been defeated were it not for the Falklands War – which in part explains her lack of interest in a peaceful solution. Michael Foot’s position in the demonology ignores these facts.
The facts about Blair and about Foot are very different from the media mythology.
The stupid stunt by Tories of signing up to the Labour Party to vote for Corbyn to ridicule him, is exactly the kind of device the establishment consensus uses to marginalise those whose views they fear. Sturgeon is living proof left wing views are electable. The “left unelectable” meme will intensify. I expect Jeremy Corbyn’s biggest problem will be quiet exclusion. I wish him well.
Mary
20 Jun, 2015 – 9:29 pm
Former IDF chief faces possible arrest upon landing in London
06.20.15,
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4670605,00.html
Former IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz, who is currently en route to London, faces possible arrest upon landing after all efforts to secure him diplomatic immunity failed due to his current civilian status.
Mofaz is meant to land in London in the next hour, and is not the first Israeli politician to face arrest in the UK. Former Justice Minister and current MK Tzipi Livni needed the UK Foreign Office to officially invite her, in order to avoid arrest last week. Livni was the Foreign Minister during operation Cast Lead, and has had arrest warrants filed against her in the UK by Pro- Palestinian groups on multiple occasions.
The embassy fears that like other Israel officials in the past, Mofaz will be pursued by pro-Palestinian groups, who use UK courts to file for arrest warrants.
According to channel 2 news, all efforts to secure diplomatic immunity for Mofaz failed, and the UK foreign office was unable to guarantee his immunity due to his current status as a private citizen.
Mofaz is London in order to attend the “Jewish News” conference Monday. The Israeli Foreign Ministry, the embassy in London, and the local Jewish community pressured local officials to allow his arrival without delay, however no guarantees where made.
Former high ranking Israeli officers and officials have largely avoided travel to the UK for the last decade, out of fear that arrest warrants would be issued against them.
An arrest warrant was issued for former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in 2009 over her ‘involvement’ in Operation Cast Lead.
Major General Doron Almog was forced to wait on board an ELAL plane at Heathrow in 2005, after he was alerted to the presence of police officers at the gate with an arrest warrant in his name. Almog was in London to raise money for the ‘Alleh’ organization, which houses children with mental illness.
Former Defense Minister Mofaz and MK Amir Peretz where evacuated from London during a visit, when information came about that an arrest warrant was issued for them.
Some of the former and current officials who have avoided the UK are; former Shin Bet head Avi Dichter, Moshe Ya’alon, Dan Meridor, and Netanyahu’s Military attaché Yochanan Loker- who served as head of the air force directorate during cast lead.
The law which allowed pro-Palestinian groups to seek arrest warrants for Israeli officials was changed in 2011. The new amendment is meant to prevent frivolous use of the UK’s legal system for political gains against Israel.
The Foreign Ministry in response: ” Two diplomats from the London embassy are on the way to great Shaul Mofaz at the airport. We are ready to deal with any devolopments.”
~~~~
19 February 2008
Police feared ‘airport stand-off’
Major General Doron Almog refused to leave the plane at Heathrow
An Israeli general wanted for alleged war crimes escaped arrest in the UK because British police feared an armed confrontation at Heathrow airport.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7251954.stm
_________________
Do you have a comment to make Mary?
Tony Blair attends Russian economic forum, days after receiving Ukrainian job offer
June 19, 2015
Tony Blair appeared at the St Petersburg Economic Forum in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hometown on Friday, where the former UK prime minister advised business leaders on ways they could improve their performance.
‘True friend of Ukraine’ Tony Blair tapped by Poroshenko to join Kiev advisory council
His appearance on the panel came just hours after he was offered a job by the Ukrainian government.
Blair advised Russian businessmen on how they could learn from his delivery unit, which he initially rolled out in Downing Street to help speed up hospital reforms. He did not touch on the economic impact of Western sanctions on Russia.
/..
http://rt.com/uk/268333-blair-putin-job-ukraine/
SPIEF
http://www.forumspb.com/en/2015
Mary
20 Jun, 2015 – 9:38 pm
Israel, the “Neighborhood Bully”: Deconstructing the Lyrics of Bob Dylan in the Light of the Gaza Crisis
By Adeyinka Makinde
July 28, 2014
The ongoing assault conducted by the armed forces of the state of Israel on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza has, yet again, brought stark images to the world of the devastating capabilities of the awesome military machinery at the disposal of the 66-year old Jewish state.
As occurred in Lebanon back in 1982 and more recently in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead of 2009, Israel, while insisting that it is acting in justifiable self-defence and for the preservation of the safety of its citizens, has mounted a military response which has wrought quite devastating consequences.
Bombs and missiles unleashed from the ground, the skies and the sea have reigned in on Gaza destroying swathes of buildings, wiping out whole families and permanently scarring the overwhelmingly non-combatant victims.
[..]
Dylan had long supported the cause of Israel and this support may have played a part in his break with the political Left in the 1960s. He is said to have reproved the ‘Black Panther’ Revolutionary Huey Newton for his opposition to Israel, and his famous ‘comeback tour’ of 1974 was rumoured to have substantially contributed to the coffers of the Israel Emergency Fund.
Played in a rockabilly mode and sang with heavy irony, Dylan sets out Israel’s case amid the accusations of its iron-fisted dealings with its Arab neighbours. It is a song which is said to be particularly popular with the Likudniks as an after-party conference boogie-down number, and, according to the Jerusalem Post, “a favourite among Dylan-loving residents of the (Israeli-occupied) territories”.
The year before the release of Infidels, tired of border incursions and other acts of terror directed at settlements on its northern border, Israel had invaded Lebanon in an attempt to destroy the Palestinian militias who were based in that country.
A grand slaughter of thousands ensued as the Israeli Defence Force advanced through the country and bombs reigned in on the capital city of Beirut where Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organisation eventually became besieged.[..]
http://www.globalresearch.ca/israel-the-neighborhood-bully-deconstructing-the-lyrics-of-bob-dylan-in-the-light-of-the-gaza-crisis/5393652
____________________
And anything to say here or is this your idea Mary of a Saturday night piss-up?
Villager comes out at night to make his revolting ad hominems. Bit of a hangup I perceive following his Hindi reference to female genitalia last night.
Mary
20 Jun, 2015 – 10:06 pm
Tony Blair attends Russian economic forum, days after receiving Ukrainian job offer
June 19, 2015
Tony Blair appeared at the St Petersburg Economic Forum in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hometown on Friday, where the former UK prime minister advised business leaders on ways they could improve their performance.
‘True friend of Ukraine’ Tony Blair tapped by Poroshenko to join Kiev advisory council
His appearance on the panel came just hours after he was offered a job by the Ukrainian government.
Blair advised Russian businessmen on how they could learn from his delivery unit, which he initially rolled out in Downing Street to help speed up hospital reforms. He did not touch on the economic impact of Western sanctions on Russia.
/..
http://rt.com/uk/268333-blair-putin-job-ukraine/
SPIEF
http://www.forumspb.com/en/2015
___________
Anything original in here Mary?
Mary
20 Jun, 2015 – 9:38 pm
Israel, the “Neighborhood Bully”: Deconstructing the Lyrics of Bob Dylan in the Light of the Gaza Crisis
By Adeyinka Makinde
July 28, 2014
The ongoing assault conducted by the armed forces of the state of Israel on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza has, yet again, brought stark images to the world of the devastating capabilities of the awesome military machinery at the disposal of the 66-year old Jewish state.
As occurred in Lebanon back in 1982 and more recently in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead of 2009, Israel, while insisting that it is acting in justifiable self-defence and for the preservation of the safety of its citizens, has mounted a military response which has wrought quite devastating consequences.
Bombs and missiles unleashed from the ground, the skies and the sea have reigned in on Gaza destroying swathes of buildings, wiping out whole families and permanently scarring the overwhelmingly non-combatant victims.
[..]
Dylan had long supported the cause of Israel and this support may have played a part in his break with the political Left in the 1960s. He is said to have reproved the ‘Black Panther’ Revolutionary Huey Newton for his opposition to Israel, and his famous ‘comeback tour’ of 1974 was rumoured to have substantially contributed to the coffers of the Israel Emergency Fund.
Played in a rockabilly mode and sang with heavy irony, Dylan sets out Israel’s case amid the accusations of its iron-fisted dealings with its Arab neighbours. It is a song which is said to be particularly popular with the Likudniks as an after-party conference boogie-down number, and, according to the Jerusalem Post, “a favourite among Dylan-loving residents of the (Israeli-occupied) territories”.
The year before the release of Infidels, tired of border incursions and other acts of terror directed at settlements on its northern border, Israel had invaded Lebanon in an attempt to destroy the Palestinian militias who were based in that country.
A grand slaughter of thousands ensued as the Israeli Defence Force advanced through the country and bombs reigned in on the capital city of Beirut where Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organisation eventually became besieged.[..]
http://www.globalresearch.ca/israel-the-neighborhood-bully-deconstructing-the-lyrics-of-bob-dylan-in-the-light-of-the-gaza-crisis/5393652
____________
Anything comment to make Mary, or is this your idea of a Saturday night piss-up?
Mary doesn’t feel bound by the same rules as everyone else.
Tory Government’s £12bn Welfare Cuts Agreed
Housing benefits appear to be the focus of the controversial reductions, which the Chancellor says are about “changing lives”.
http://news.sky.com/story/1505715/tory-governments-12bn-welfare-cuts-agreed
‘Changing lives’. Yes indeed. Spot on there Gideon.
~~~~
Mr Murdoch’s economics primer with some really helpful suggestions.
What Are The Alternatives To Austerity?
Thousands are marching against public spending cuts, but how else can the Government gets to grips with the debt?
http://news.sky.com/story/1505577/what-are-the-alternatives-to-austerity
lol. He must have a hole fucking teem working for him, gotta be cut a paste, or a very dedicated wanker.
Carry on Villager, it’s only Mary, so no need to worry, you won’t get any of the old comfortable favorites here like Suhayl Saadi, calling you “obnoxious” as he’s probably enjoying your “humour”, you sick pyscho.
Thanks Villager for repeating my posts. The more the better.
No need for you to chime in in your usual way Dreolin. I WILL not engage with you or the trolls.
“I WILL not engage with you or the trolls.”
Since when Mary???
LOL
Mary
20 Jun, 2015 – 10:17 pm
Tory Government’s £12bn Welfare Cuts Agreed
Housing benefits appear to be the focus of the controversial reductions, which the Chancellor says are about “changing lives”.
http://news.sky.com/story/1505715/tory-governments-12bn-welfare-cuts-agreed
‘Changing lives’. Yes indeed. Spot on there Gideon.
~~~~
Mr Murdoch’s economics primer with some really helpful suggestions.
What Are The Alternatives To Austerity?
Thousands are marching against public spending cuts, but how else can the Government gets to grips with the debt?
http://news.sky.com/story/1505577/what-are-the-alternatives-to-austerity
___________
“What Are The Alternatives To Austerity?”
Mary’s saturday night live special Golden Showers 😉 (dedicated to Ishmael and Macky LOL )
I think Villager/Macky should go away and abuse each other. Both appalling.
Mary:
” The more the better.”
__________
March on Orange Woman, oblivious to Craig’s Order….
Unless they are actually the same person, which seems not entirely unlikely.
Jeremy Corbyn MP – People’s Assembly Against Austerity March
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH_VY8xyEPQ
Today
2mins 51secs
Listen.
“I think Villager/Macky should go away and abuse each other. Both appalling.”
Relax, TC, chill. Why so prudish about a little colourful language?
“Unless they are actually the same person, which seems not entirely unlikely.”
You’ve had a long week TC, double-chill, if i’m right.
What did I say Macky?
These cyber settlers in the same fashion as in the same fashion as the occupied Palestine are lording it around for some reason, these are tolerated and encouraged to hang around akin to a rotten fart in a cold church.
Notice the tag team is out to protect the buddies.
Your cogent and reasoned comments have been retorted to by the usual mix of swears, attacks, and utter nonsense, included; “defender of faith”!
“oblivious to Craig’s Order….”
I’m not oblivions, i’m just ignoring it, as Craig does.
Just listening to new order, as it happens.
Tonight I think I’ll walk alone, find my soul as I go home ♥
And here he is interviewed on Sky News.
Jeremy Corbyn at London anti-austerity march
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3co9Wthsvo
3mins 55secs
Ishmael:
“Tonight I think I’ll walk alone, find my soul as I go home ♥”
Are there two of you in your skin Ishmael, one that is lost and one that will find? Very interesting.
Fedup; “What did I say Macky?”
True to form & as expected, but there is really nothing to fear from either the Axis of the Dim, or the bona bide Trolls, the real problem with this blog is sly old guard, who used both groups for their gatekeeping.
The usual shit I see from Drooling,and its side kick the Village Idiot,whose comments are uncannily Habb like.
Mary just ignore them,everybody else does.
Mary 20 Jun, 2015 – 10:28 pm…
I’d agree it’s about mobilising behind people. But it can go a lot further then an anti austerity rhetoric. Ie Highlighting electoral parliament issues with regard to democracy, the money system itself etc.
I’m afraid we are well past the point where serous alternatives not engaged with should be considered anything but fatalism.
@Mary
20 Jun, 2015 – 10:28 pm
Thanks for the Corbyn speech at today’s London demo.
If he does become the Labour Party leader, they’ll do a JFK on him. The corporate take-over is now almost complete, but the public at large still don’t seem to realise this.
We are now at war with these corporate vermin, to take back our country.
Macky, do you see being “sly” as one of the intrinsic qualities of swarthy folk? Now I am “sly” like “Rushdie”.
This is beginning to resemble a caricature of a ‘bad Turk’ from a child’s picture book: ‘The Bold Slasher’.
You see, in this dualistic view of ‘other races’, there can be only ‘good natives’ and ‘bad natives’. ‘Good natives’ agree with self-appointed white saviours. ‘Bad natives’ do not.
And to paraphrase Malcolm X, I am a ‘field native’.
Villager, as if you personal attacks do anything but to ground me. Your destabilising yourself, not me. Thanks.
do anything but * ground me.
Spell edit function….meh fuck it.
You-know-who posted about 17 videos today during the demo. Here’s one of them:
Caroline Lucas #endausteritynow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ2O7b33_ro