Of Resignations and Resignations

Looking at the range of organizations usually counted among those that are thought to be Nationalist alternatives, one organization in particular (and I will not mention it by name) seems to be in dire straits.

A prominent figure resigned in the middle of an Identity crisis created by working contacts with a left-wing magazine directed by a left-wing convicted criminal, contacts with Northern Ireland’s movements and doubts about incorporating former members of another political party that are seen as having conflicting interests created by present contractual working arrangements and by a non politically correct background.

We can see that all the aforementioned would constitute ‘stored seeds of trouble’ that could ruin the ‘clean image’ of the said organization. Those who want to be seen as ‘civilized option’ don’t want to be ‘polluted by right-wing elements’ that given their expertise could very well end up taking over the organization. If there ever was an identity crisis, this is it.

The next thing we might hear about might have to do with links with other political parties, including UKIP or the security establishment and this does not sound very promising for the said organization that some struggle to portray as an alternative to the British National Party.

Undoubtedly, this is a time for definitions. We see it at national level with the Conservatives wanting to be Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats still trying to decide where they are and the Labour Party cut in the middle between its Leadership and the Trade Union movement.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the issue of identity is being debated within the nationalist movement as a whole and some of the conclusions a prominent resigning member of the said organization arrives to would be strikingly similar to some of our own conclusions.

There is some sort of comfort linked to living in the past and many talk about the core vote without realising that the so called core vote actually amounts to percentages that would get very few people elected or none at all.

Somebody, who is very much stuck in the past, even said: “adaptation to changing circumstances is a gamble and we shouldn’t gamble because it would alienate the core vote”.

Personally, I think that adopting rational attitudes is not a gamble. Rational attitudes are an absolute necessity for anybody wanting to play a role in British politics. Ideological Purity based on anachronisms and images that the vast majority of the population reject is merely political suicide.

The said resigning figure of the said organization understood that the incorporation of elements of the past would simply transform the said organization into a carbon copy of things he and others do not want to be associated with.

We can turn this issue upside down and sideways and it would still be an issue of identity and identity is linked to public perception. If we are talking about change and about new options, we cannot be attached to old imagery.

Xenophobia, racism and the like are not merely words. Those of us who don’t want to be labelled need to understand that talking about change is not nearly enough. Res non verba (Facts and not merely words). This is not about core votes. This is about change to transform a political oddity into a rational organization able to play a real role in British politics.

At present, we have a ruling coalition. British politics has changed. It could well be the case that the next government will also be a coalition and that ruling coalitions become the new constant. If the bipolar system is finished and what we have is an ensemble of smaller parties, negotiation and adaptation will be the only way forward.

With the reduction of the number of Members of the House of Commons from 650 to 600, the struggle for votes will be ever more intense. If you combine this with fragmentation of mainstream political parties, you could see smaller political parties playing a greater role.