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Leamington letters #87: Different party, same old shit.

23/11/2014

12 Comments

 
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Same old. same old. (Pic credit: The Guardian)
Despite the fact that only 349 people in the constituency of Rochester and Strood could bring themselves to vote Liberal Democrat (that many, huh?), nothing has changed.

The same MP is still in place, having changed his rosette but not his appalling opinions. And he joins his egregious colleague Carswell from Clacton to create what is now hailed as the ‘new face of British politics’.

It is not, of course, the new face. It is the old face. And it is significant that Farage and his party of bigots believe that their best hope of further representation is to recycle a load of old Tories.

Yep, according to Farage, there are more defections on the way, and the potential candidates are also completely unknown to anyone outside their families. If others depart the Tories, it might provoke a wry smile amongst those who oppose Cameron from the left, but is actually very scary.

Because what we are seeing is the re-emergence, red (or probably bright blue) in tooth and claw, of the real Conservative party, the one that ‘Dave’ has been trying to hide for the last half-decade, but which has been evident almost every time any of them, especially Osborne, utters a word.

Look at these two. Had you ever heard of them before they embarked on their UKIP journey? In a party of intellectual mediocrities, where the place of education mattered more than educational achievement, they had failed to gain any office of any kind. Instead, they mumbled and grumbled their right-wing prejudices, voting yes to Tory cuts and privately slagging off anything European or working class.

But now they are claiming to be ‘the party of the people’.

The party of the people!

This is why, presumably, we heard nothing from them when Osborne and his rich cabinet cronies were overtly moving the tax burden from the very rich to the very poor; and why we heard not a squeak at the withdrawal of funds from the People’s History Museum and the Working Class Movement Library. No argument from Carswell and Reckless here. The ‘party of the people’ didn’t give a damn. In fact, they approved it all.

They are not the party of the people. They are the party of a very small percentage of the people. They are, in fact, Tories who have had enough of pretending not to be Tory. They have come out in public with all the prejudices that the Tories eschewed at the last election, but which are absolutely fundamental to their lives and their form of government.

the fact is, there is no party of the people in British politics any more. Certainly not Labour in its current manifestation. Certainly not the soon-to-be-forgotten LibDems.

So where the hell do I go? Right now, I have no idea. None of the above has earned my vote. 

But I will be reading the Green manifesto with great attention.

Today from the everysmith vaults: Was dismissive of the early release of tracks from Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes, but have actually quite enjoyed listening to the album in its entirety. Rhiannon Giddens is a revelation and Mumford, James and Costello have worked well. Looking forward to the documentary if and when it ever gets showed over here.

12 Comments
Allan
23/11/2014 07:48:01

Absolutely. These were two Tory wins - and for the real Tory party. Their experiment with Tory Blair (Cameron) has failed. Now we will see Osborne coming to the fore. God help us all.

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Chris
23/11/2014 08:00:39

I have no answer for your question, despite thinking about it hard for a year or so. By not voting Labour, we are handing power to the two Tory parties. If the Greens have a presence in your town, go for it. Otherwise, with no illusions, Labour.

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Tim
23/11/2014 08:23:34

Interestingly, Fraage is putting forward UKIP as a potential partner in a coalition. After Clegg's experience, could this be the way to wipe them out for good?

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MattS
24/11/2014 00:33:52

Not the Greens. Not yet, anyway. We need to rebuild Labour into a genuine people'so party by getting rid of the political class which dominates. And that's got to be done bottom-up. We could start with ensuring that short lists consist only of local people.

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Mike
24/11/2014 01:44:34

Significant that, even with the massive publicity, five visits from Cameron and Farage every day, less than 50% turnout. "I used to care, but things have changed."

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Geoff Stear link
24/11/2014 02:09:46

The Greens are good but you could move to Scotland like me and join the SNP. Much closer to old labour and very anti the Westminster cronies of all parties.

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CJ
24/11/2014 07:48:41

There's a reason why Bob chose not to progress these songs. But the quintet has done well with them. As you say, especially Rhiannon Giddens. And I quite like Mumford's take too.

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Parn
25/11/2014 00:42:10

Spot on Max! "Recycled old Tories!"

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Sam
25/11/2014 00:49:06

Excellent read, Max. Spot on.

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MattB
25/11/2014 00:51:05

You go in to politics. Set up UKin, a party for those who are pro Europe and take the argument to UKip in a way that all the major parties have failed to do so. The Lib Dems went for power at any cost and alienated their core support and the last Labour govt invaded two countries, took away free higher education and managed to cheapen the concept of a degree whilst giving bankers a free reign and deregulating gambling. Whilst repugnant and utterly wrong, UKip win votes by pretending to have principles. Its such a shame our so called leaders are being out thought at every turn by shallow self serving bigots. Oh no wait, that's poetic justice.

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Anders
25/11/2014 02:59:46

As you tweeted, more of a rant than a blog. But in this case, totally justified and absolutely right.

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Sean
25/11/2014 04:04:54

Exactly my thoughts and feelings. Where do we vote now? It's all too depressing.

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    Max Smith

    European writer, radical, restaurateur and Red Sox fan. 70-something husband, father, step-father, grandfather and son. Resident in Warwick, England.

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