Sunday 16 November 2014

Political tectonic plates are shifting

Peter Hitchens has penned an excellent piece in the Mail today click below to read it

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2836143/Anger-apathy-glory-old-England-vote-change-forever-Modern-England-comes-shock-Westminster-persons-writes-PETER-HITCHENS.html

His thesis is the increasing disconnect between ordinary people and the political class. I quote,

"Modern England comes as a shock to most Westminster persons. The former Tory MP Matthew Parris was so appalled when he visited Clacton that the resulting article was used in Ukip propaganda in the by-election there. Mr Parris appeared to be looking down a very long nose indeed at that town’s people and their lives. It didn’t seem to cross his mind that he – as a politician, broadcaster and influential journalist – might have helped to make it like that."

We do not have  elected MPs chosen by the ordinary people. We are offered a choice between those selected bya small group of people, the constituency parties selection committees which can be fewer than 10 or in UKIP's case one, Nigel Farage. It is scarcely surprising that the electorate feel these PPCs are aliens from another planet.

I had hoped that we might see more US style primaries like the one in Totnes where voters of alll parties selected Dr Sarah Woolaston as Tory candidate in preference to the three party hacks on offer. Funny neither Labour, Tory or UKIP have been anxious to repeat this daring reform despite Dr Woolaston proving to be an excellent MP. 

John Rentoul also wrote today on the rise of the Greens who are proving as big a threat to Labour in England as UKIP is to the Tories. The Greens are  as far to the left of Miiliband's Labour party as UKIP is to the right of Camerons Tories. (The Lib Dems are finished and not worth discussing.) .Click below to read it

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/a-green-threat-to-labour-waits-in-the-wings-9863265.html

He points out that the Greens are isually not reported as a seperate party in the opinion polls but they are the anti-Milliband party just as UKIP is the anti- Cameron party. They are both protest vote parties. If there is to be a leaders debate the Greens should be included. The ScotNats as a non-national party of course wont be there in the England debate but if there is a Scottish debate they will certainly be included. There has also been  a big surge in Green party  membership. That is good for our democracy.

And what of Fuerher Farage? He has hired a dodgy Yank called Raheem Kassam. Click below to read about him.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2836135/Posing-gun-meet-Ukip-s-new-secret-weapon-Farage-hires-professional-wind-merchant-help-turn-party-s-poll-surge-Commons-seats.html

I cannot better quoting  Godders from this piece,

‘This typifies the triumph of style over substance in the party – hiring flash gurus purely for effect. Where are our policies? We are now as bad as all the other parties.''


Exactly. Its just like the end of Animal Farm when the old political elite came to play cards with the new rulers of Animal Farm the pigs and fell out over who was cheating. The animals, that's you and me, looked from men to pigs and pigs to men and they both looked the same!


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is that Godders son of wing commander spitfire pilot?

Eric Edmond said...

Don't know. Farage's former Brussels flat mate

L fairfax said...

" If there is to be a leaders debate the Greens should be included"
Why they got far less votes than UKIP in all elections this year.

L fairfax said...

" If there is to be a leaders debate the Greens should be included"
Why they got far less votes than UKIP in all elections this year.

Eric Edmond said...

Not in General election 2010 which is what the BBC will look at. They have also had an MP for 4 years and run Brighton Council. Which 100,000 + population town does UKIP run?