Posted in Ideology

Making it another 1945

Ed Miliband and a bacon sandwichSteve Richards (David Cameron will lose the battle of ideas if he keeps firing 1979’s bullets) is right to say in The Guardian (and Ed Miliband obviously agrees with him) that next year’s election will not, and should not, be decided by personality politics.  So what is it that will determine the voters’ preferences?

It would be nice to think, as Richards argues, that the election will be about ideas.  But policy ideas, until and unless they are successfully proved in practice, make little impact on voters increasingly cynical about promises. Continue reading →

Promoting “British values”

English Defence League march in NewcastleThe recent affair of the alleged extremism of some Birmingham schools has revived debate about “British values”. Michael Gove has issued draft changes to the funding agreement for new schools that would require commitment to “the fundamental British values” of (1) democracy, (2) the rule of law, (3) individual liberty, (4) mutual respect and (5) tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs. Back in 2011 the Home office had already defined extremism as active opposition to these values in its Prevent Strategy.

On 25th June 2014 John Denham initiated a House of Commons debate on “British values and teaching”. In his opening speech he said that people tended to divide into two camps: (1) those supporting the government’s approach; (2) those who reject the idea of British values. Not fitting into either group, he said he felt a need for debate. Continue reading →

Anti-immigrant rhetoric will only alienate young voters

Ed M in EU flagIn his first conference speech as party leader, Ed Miliband spoke of a “new generation” not bound by the fear or the ghosts of the past.

When it comes to immigration,  younger people are much more likely to welcome the benefits and opportunities provided by freedom of movement than those from older generations. Polling from YouGov towards the end of last of year showed that more people under the age of 39 supported the free movement of people within the EU than opposed it, the strongest support coming from those under 25. Continue reading →

How to tackle UKIP (and austerity)

enoch powell & nigle farageUKIP is the Teflon party in these European elections. However disorganised and anarchic they are, with no policies except a visceral hatred of the EU and immigrants, however vile the racist and sexist views of so many of its representatives, a significant section of the British electorate are quite prepared to ignore all that because they are not voting for UKIP but rather against the political Establishment which they perceive as having utterly failed them.

Indeed the more the three main political parties gang up together in attacking UKIP, the more Farage revels in it as confirming his status as the anti-Establishment candidate. The way to destroy UKIP is for a political party to respond effectively and positively to the prevailing political mood sweeping Britain which, more than anything else, is anti-austerity. That is only reinforced by the fact that the elections in a week’s time highlight the perception of the EU under Merkel’s hegemony as burying the whole European region in austerity. Continue reading →

Socialism and Nationalism and anti-English racism in Scotland (part 2)

BraveheartThis is the second part of this article. You can read part one here.

Who is a Real Scot?

A new nation brings with it new questions of who belongs in it. Nationalism can very quickly divide people into who are Real Scots and those who are not. So Facebook entries on independence now include ominous words like ‘the Will of the Scots’, ‘Scottish blood’, ‘the Scottish people’, and not wanting to be ruled by ‘England’. And this is from people who regard themselves as being on the left.

Since I have been identified as a critic, I am now being asked ‘Do I deny the Scots are a people?’, and, ‘How can I disrespect my ‘host nation’ in this way?’ After many years here, for some I am still the guest while people born after I came are ‘the hosts’. Until quite recently, there were large numbers of bumpers stickers on cars saying ‘I am a real Scot, I am from Kilmarnock’, (or Falkirk, or Irvine etc). Of course there were none saying, ‘I am a Real Scot, I am from Islamabad’, or South London. Continue reading →