MH: British Nasty Party and other UK election guff shoved through the letterbox yesterday.
We appear to have become a “battleground…”
Not sorry for blurring it, because I really don’t want to encourage them…
AH: Fascism is what made this country great and gave us the Empire young man.
AH: How very dare you.
MH: It's Boris all over again - we do seem to elect "affable looking" idiots who turn out to just be the gits the rest of us always suspected they might be…
MH: I worry that people really can't tell that this is the language of fear and hatred, and that, dressed up like this, it might play well in our leafy rural lanes… No, Cathy, you don't speak for me…
AH: Cathy who exactly?
MH: Exactly!
CN: I think they've missed off the fourth tick-box on the form. The one that says 'F*** off'.
AH: I think her name may be Cathy Moseley.
MH: Duffy… (The Empire Slayer, presumably)
AH: I have no idea how she can join a party as obviously evil as the BNP
Of course, it's savvy marketing, but the arguments simply don't add up. A blanket ban on immigration would make this country the pariahs of the world, and these parties forget that British emigrants are immigrants too, in other countries, and life could get very difficult for those "Brits Abroad" if anyone had a mind to.
These warped messages seem to be more about which particular kind of immigrants they find acceptable, when it comes down to it. You see, all those "British jobs for British Workers" aren't generally jobs that those - sometimes mythical - "British Workers" are actually prepared to do, but which still need doing and, well, to keep things nice and cosy, somebody has to do… Which then brings that nasty whiff of colonialism and - dare I say it? - slavery into the equation; We are quite happy for people to come here and do those nasty little jobs, so as long as they don't expect to get any actual benefits, or - better still - wages from doing so.
My approach to any of these radical ideas is to turn them on their head and wonder about how I might feel if someone tried to make me have to live like that - banning me from wearing my religious symbol of choice; refusing me the opportunity to work in another country; stopping me from employing someone who's actually prepared to take those job vacancies that I can't otherwise fill.
What worries me most is that, from a particular point of view, and amongst a certain sector of the community, those natty little phrases like "Charity begins at home" might sound rather appealing until you actually peel away the wrapping and think about what it actually means, which few of us nowadays seem prepared to do. Again foreign aid benefits this country in ways we seldom understand directly at the time, and, once again, the target seems to be those nations that such parties don't particularly like, whilst conveniently forgetting the countries that we slip a few quid to from time to time that are on the "approved" list…
Although, with some parties, that "approved" list is very small.
You see, I believe that the world really does work better if we all work together rather than looking out for our own particular bit of self-interest, which is why I also get befuddled by this desire to break up the union, but that's probably a discussion for another day.
These warped messages seem to be more about which particular kind of immigrants they find acceptable, when it comes down to it. You see, all those "British jobs for British Workers" aren't generally jobs that those - sometimes mythical - "British Workers" are actually prepared to do, but which still need doing and, well, to keep things nice and cosy, somebody has to do… Which then brings that nasty whiff of colonialism and - dare I say it? - slavery into the equation; We are quite happy for people to come here and do those nasty little jobs, so as long as they don't expect to get any actual benefits, or - better still - wages from doing so.
My approach to any of these radical ideas is to turn them on their head and wonder about how I might feel if someone tried to make me have to live like that - banning me from wearing my religious symbol of choice; refusing me the opportunity to work in another country; stopping me from employing someone who's actually prepared to take those job vacancies that I can't otherwise fill.
What worries me most is that, from a particular point of view, and amongst a certain sector of the community, those natty little phrases like "Charity begins at home" might sound rather appealing until you actually peel away the wrapping and think about what it actually means, which few of us nowadays seem prepared to do. Again foreign aid benefits this country in ways we seldom understand directly at the time, and, once again, the target seems to be those nations that such parties don't particularly like, whilst conveniently forgetting the countries that we slip a few quid to from time to time that are on the "approved" list…
Although, with some parties, that "approved" list is very small.
You see, I believe that the world really does work better if we all work together rather than looking out for our own particular bit of self-interest, which is why I also get befuddled by this desire to break up the union, but that's probably a discussion for another day.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/14/ukip-pressured-me-take-down-tweet-curtail-free-expression?CMP=twt_gu
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me -
and there was no one left to speak for me.
Martin Niemöller (1892 - 1984)
I got their abhorrent piece of marketing through my door yesterday, though I think it was a different version from yours, as there was no 'Cathy' in sight, just some scaremongering photos of 'Islamic terrorists' and the promise they were going to ban the burqa 'because we believe in a free democratic society'. I was half-tempted to send it back to them as a wrapper for the contents of my cat's litter tray. It certainly made me determined not to forget election day, if that's the only small contribution I can make to keeping people like this out of power. Unfortunately I actually heard someone say yesterday, 'well, it was quite hard-hitting.' Scary.
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