Owen Jones: If Labour does not stand up for people, Unions will

 

An article published on The Guardian today catches out attention. The title is pretty suggestive. Is The Guardian seems to indicating that the Labour Party and the trade unions will part company?

Sometime ago, a high ranking Liberal Democrat, Vince Cable, proposed the creation of a new political force that would unite Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians. The talk about cooperation in terms of voting strategies in recent by-elections also suggest that something is cooking.

Vince Cable, like many other Liberal Democrat politicians are closer to the City than they are to the Trade Union Movement, and Keir Starmer seem to have turned farther right than his predecessors. In fact, getting rid of Jeremy Corbyn was part of the strateg, but all might no be what it seems. The Labour Party is split from the very top and The Guardian's suggestion that 'Labour's hostile posture to a newly assertive trade union movement could prove a costly error'. It is not a secret that Trade Union that finance several Labour MPs and that certain guidelines have been adopted in term of withdrawing financial support for those who do not support the Trade Union Movement as much as the Trade Union Movement wants to be supported. Even David Lammy came out saying that 'he does not support strikes'. Labour's stances are a double edged sword that can hurt its aspirations.

The Leadership of the Labour Party knows fairly well that the present troubles are not really caused by economic policies implemented by the Conservative Party. They know that there are geopolitical issues that are accelerating inflation and leading to industrial unrest, unrest that would exist one way or another under a Conservative government or a Labour government, issues that would undermine any administratoion regardless of political orientation.

By-elections are by-elections, won one day and lost the next. Some Conservatives are not happy with a government that they think is 'not Conservative enough'. They might prefer to stick to the old ways, talking about lower taxes, a smaller state, and so forth. Do we favour the use of more fossil fuels or do we favour the environment with less use of fossil fuels? Energy costs are going up and will continue to go up, pushing prices up and leading to an effective devaluation of the Pound. If you can buy less with your Pound, then this is in fact devaluation of the Pound or you can call it also 'a salary reduction'. Nominally, you might have the same number of Pounds, but due to inflation you will only be able to buy less with your money. 

Brexit: Jeremy Corbyn's only alternative to prevent the disintegration of the Labour Party is a Referendum

Brexit: Jeremy Corbyn's only alternative to prevent the disintegration of the Labour Party is a Referendum

Jeremy Corbyn has rejected a General Election three times while asking for a General Election more than 50 times. Why? It doesn't escape public attention the flow of Labour MPs leaving the Labour Party because of anti-Semitism, harassment and the risk of deselection. 

On the same day of the start of the Labour Party Conference in Brighton, there was an attempt to get rid of Labour's Deputy Leader Tom Watson. Later on, there were dramatic changes at Labour Central Office with Jeremy Corbyn's supporters being replaced with John McDonnell's supporters. Not only that. Just a few day, key members of the cabinet spoke for Remain while Jeremy Corbyn was nowhere to be seen.

He announced a three-line whip and 19 Labour MPs supported the Deal proposed by the Conservative government. Now, it is reported that faced with possibility of a motion for General Election on Monday, Jeremy Corbyn is asking Labour MPs not to support it. There deselection processes south of the border and north of the border. And the issue of anti-Semitism has not gone away. Some of his key MPs even joined the Liberal Democrats. 

Jeremy Corbyn and others like to talk about chaos in the Conservative Party but looking at what has been going on in the Labour Party I would say that they situation is a lot worse in the Labour Party.

The great benefitiaries are the Conservative Party as party for Leave and the Liberal Democrats as party for Remain. They are the only two parties that stand to be net winners in a General Election. The Labour Party performed badly in the European Elections and there is the danger that Labour could become the third party in a General Election.

Vince Cable spoke about the creation of a centrist political party. The fact that Conservative MPs and Labour MPs have joined the Liberal Democrats would be a step in what Vince Cable called a new alternative. The creation of a non-Marxist alternative in British politics could be the sign of things to come.

When you go down to local level, Labour grassroots have been turning against local authorities controlled by the Labour Party accussing them of being the drivers of gentrification and ethnic cleansing. The next stage would be a challenge to Labour hegemony at local authority level. If there is a General Election in December, what will happen in the London Election? Siobhan Benita - former independent Mayoral Candidate will be standing for the Liberal Democrats. Shaun Bailey will be standing for the Conservatives. Will Sadiq Khan survive? At constituency level, with processes of deselection of local MPs, the outcome for the Labour Party is less than certain.

  

Brexit, Theresa May and Votes of No Confidence

Brexit, Theresa May and Votes of No Confidence

If the 2017 General Election and threats of deselection in the Labour Party tell us that even if there is  Leadership Challenge in the Conservative Party or No Confidence vote in the House of Commons the outcome of such events is by no means certain.

Given the rules of the Conservative Party, if the 48 signatures needed are gathered there will have to be enough Conservative MPs willing to support the challenge against Theresa May. Another calculation that needs to be made is if there are suitable replacements. Is there one Conservative MP willing to stand up with enough support from all factions of a very divided Conservative Party? If the number of MPs ready and willing to support the challenge is not found, Theresa May will be confirmed as Leader and a year will have to pass before there can be another challenge.

After the experiences of what happened in the 2017 General Election, many Conservative MPs will think twice or thrice before challenging the present status quo for fear of losing their seats and opening the door to a Jeremy Corbyn government.

In the Labour Party, the threat of deselection of Labour MPs is very real. Will those Labour MPs standing against Jeremy Corbyn want to take the risk of opening the door to a Jeremy Corbyn government and lose their seats in the process? They might also choose to maintain the status quo for fear of losing their seats and of seeing very unpopular policies implemented by a government led by Jeremy Corbyn. Many Labour MPs feel more secure in their seats having a Conservative government and have more in common with certain factions of the Conservative Party than with their own colleagues of the Labour Party.

The SNP and the Liberal Democrats tried to push Jeremy Corbyn asking him to put forward a Vote of No Confidence. Because he knows that despite the fact that many Labour MPs are against Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn knows that a vast number of Labour voters support Brexit. So for the moment, there is no enthusiasm for a Vote of No Confidence. Moreover, the Labour Party has no credible alternative and is very much stuck and unable to offer a solution. All they have been able to do is to attack the Conservative Party to try and hide divisions and lack of alternatives within the Labour Party.

The Labour Party can say that they are very much in favour of General Election but in reality many Labour MPs fear that the prospect of a General Election could lead to a purge of the Parliamentarian Labour Party. To avert the danger of deselection some prominent MPs have said that they would stand as Independent Labour Candidates, trusting that voters would give them the support that they don't have from their own Labour branches.

Jo Cox's assassination proves a fundamental point

Jo Cox's Assassination proves a fundamental point

Levels of anger are rising exponentially and if politicians choose to ignore public anger they will do so at their peril. Ivory Castles are no protection whatsoever. 

We are going though a transition period and uncertainty is overwhelming. No one should feel safe because there is no safety.

If the political class doesn't meet the needs of the people they are supposed to represent there will be dramatic consequences. If the electoral system is not fit for purpose and more and more people feel unrepresented violence will follow.

Political clarity is not a matter of convenience. It is an absolute necessity to keep Democracy alive. If Members of the House of Commons choose ideology instead of reality, they are going to pay the ultimate price. If people like Vince Cable and others keep adding logs to the fire, the consequences will be dire. There cannot be any reconciliation. The country spoke but too many Members of Parliament are bent on ignoring the peoples' vote. Liberals are trying to sell a lie. Look at the state of many countries in the European Union. What do you see? Do you see the ideal image that people like Vince Cable are trying to sell? The Paradise they are trying to sell looks like Hell on Earth.

Those they call Far Right are the ones who are fed up with the mess Liberals have created. Those they call Far Right are the victims of ethnic cleansing promoted by Liberals like Vince Cable. Flood Immigration is Colonisation and Colonisation is fuelling crime against local populations.

 

Brexit: The closer the date of withdrawal, the muddier the waters

Brexit: The closer the date of withdrawal, the muddier the waters...

The official date for British withdrawal from the EU is set but the closer we get to the date the muddier the waters get with a political establishment that is in a state of flux. There are different agendas and according to a particular agenda the scene changes. One particular actor in the said agenda has been Vince Cable - former Liberal Democrat MP - that lost his seat after a very much criticised coalition with the Conservative Party. The Coalition only lasted five years but the consequences for the Liberal Democrats have been long lasting. From being the third party of British politics, the Liberal Democrats are now fourth behind a political party - the Scottish National Party - that is neither British nor Scottish given its political goal of surrendering more and more powers to the European Union.

In 1997, Tony Blair as Prime Minister proceeded to implement Devolution. The idea was to keep Scotland on board after by promising to re-instant the Scottish Parliament. Under John Major as Conservative Party Leader and Prime Minister, the Conservatives had been practically wiped out and Scotland was being run by a Labour/Liberal Democrat Coalition but the threatening presence of SNP was on the horizon. Devolution was an appeasement attempt that went badly wrong. Soon after Devolution, the Labour Party paid a very high price and the SNP took the reins of politics in Scotland pushing ever farther towards Scottish Independence.

During a Conservative government, David Cameron was forced to make promises to keep Scotland in the United Kingdom but it was barely enough to convince Scottish voters not to vote for secession in the Scottish Independence Referendum. The SNP didn't get what it wanted but it became the third party in British politics, pushing Liberal Democrats into fourth place.

The 2017 General Election, a failed attempt by Prime Minister Theresa May to gain an absolute majority made a bad situation worse. The Conservative Party lost its majority and a weakened SNP still had a sizeable representation in Westminster.

Brexit has polarised political parties and both Labour and Conservative became several parties in one. Political fragmentation is all too evident. Labour is divided and Conservatives are divided and what is more nobody could hide what is happening even if they tried to hide what is happening.

This is what led Vince Cable - a party leader without a seat in the House of Commons - to propose the creation of what he calls a new centre party in British politics. Whether this is his way to try to rebrand the Liberal Democrats or a genuine intention to create a new political force remains to be seen. Labour is either pro-Corbyn or anti-Corbyn. The Conservatives are many things. There are those who are openly pro-May, those who are openly anti-May and those who prefer not to show any allegiance while they await developments that will allow them to keep their real intentions under wraps.

March 2019 is not just relevant because it is the month and year when Britain will come out of the EU. For many politicians whose political lives depend on EU membership this means having to think about plan B and plan B effectively means coming back to national politics and having to struggle to remain relevant. The will be competing with those already involved in national politics and competition will be fierce. There is British politics before Brexit and there will be British politics after Brexit.

What Vince Cable talks about - the creation of another political force - could happen naturally as a direct consequence of British politics after Brexit. Both Labour and Conservatives will have to deal with their inconsistencies to remain viable political forces because as things stand it is difficult to see what Labour and Conservatives really stand for.

The grass roots of both Labour and Conservatives are not forgiving. Some MPs might decide to jump out before being pushed. What we know as Deselection is already happening and the partition of so called mainstream political parties is now a real possibility.

Personally, I want Members of Parliament that really mean what they say and political parties who have a clear and demonstrable agenda. A radical change in British politics is long overdue for the sake of having a viable Democracy.




 

Political Witch-hunt that will lead to violence

Political Witch-hunt that will lead to violence

There is a a new industry: the industry of political witch-hunt. Britain is becoming a Totalitarian State in which there are special interest groups that are out to create havoc that threatens to destroy public freedoms. 

The irony is that of the havoc created the very same groups that promote havoc will suffer the lethal consequences of what they are doing because where is action there is reaction and this is not just a law of physics. It is a law of life. The one doing the persecution will become prey.

It is most visible when it comes to the political system. We see the Labour Party accused of Anti-Semitism and Racism. We see the Conservative Party accused of Islamophobia. We see individuals that raise the alarm about the abuses committed by Muslims gangs and about the very real risk created by Islamic Extremists being taken to court and jailed simply because they are doing a public service.

The Crown Prosecution Service is being abused and used thanks to political pressure applied by pseudo charitable organisations like the CAA and cases are being created out of thin air to please a minority that has the power to force the Crown Prosecution Service to re-instate cases that had been previously rejected for lack of merit. Rumour and innuendo have become evidence. Something said in anger or a careless comment or even a joke has now become evidence to prosecute individuals who are not engaged in criminal activities and who most likely would not engage in criminal activities and the general public is paying for such nonsense while real crime is spreading across the United Kingdom and left unpunished.

The mass media are also guilty party because they benefit from the climate of fear and uncertainty generated. We are not in Colombia but we might well become Colombia when public anger is directed against irresponsible mass media.

The British mass media are no longer seeking the truth. They are just propaganda machines and this includes the British Broadcasting Corporation that persecutes old ladies for not paying the TV License by pays unjustifiably generous contracts to pseudo stars in a system in which one day A interviews B and C, the next day B interviews A and C and the following day C interviews A and B and it is all part of a club of exceedingly well paid celebrities. This Nomenklatura of the mass media is being paid for by British taxpayers that are forced to swallow propaganda and lies of people who have got an anti-British agenda.

The messages of the mass media are there to justify the political witch-hunt by saying that is fine to go against fundamental rights of some people as long as the rights of those they support are protected. The promote the idea that certain people that they don't like are guilty simply because they are who they are and there will be consequences. The backlash is not far away when mass media and politicians that promote such way of thinking will be targeted and eliminated in a tit for tat operation. 

The mass media, special interest groups and politicians will bring back the 1930s.

  

British Nationalism Round 2

British Nationalism Round 2

What we knew as British Nationalism was very much dominated by ideas and concepts from the 1930s and 1940s. This is why it could easily be labelled as something else that had little to do with genuine British interests.

Labelling has been a tactic used by Marxist organisations keeping the ghosts of World War Two in the minds of ordinary people and a way to misrepresent, distort and victimise those who have raised genuine concerns about the direction of travel of today's Britain. Even those who had little or nothing to do with certain movements or ideologies have been classified as Nazi, Fascist, Xenophobe, Anti-Semite and the like. At one point, members of the Conservative Party and of the United Kingdom Independence Party were shouted at and discriminated against using the same labels.

In the same manner that Vince Cable MP talked about the need for a new political map of Britain to replace the duality Conservative/Labour, it is self-evident that the two-party status quo is no longer a viable alternative. The Liberal Democrats themselves had a rude awakening when they lost practically 4/5 of their representation in the House of Commons. Britain has changed and the so called mainstream political parties are nothing more than a loose association of different ideological trends.

As the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, there will be new political definitions and this could lead to the rise of a true British Nationalist political party that will be essentially British, a modern political party, a political party for the Twenty-First Century.

British National Party: What next?

British National Party: What next?

The talk has been that a weakened United Kingdom Independence Party would lead to the rise of the British National Party once again and there is something in the air looking at what is happening to UKIP and what is happening in Nationalists ranks.

Electoral defeat is sometimes an eye opener to show to - at least the grassroots - that division is not conducive to victory. There is a less confrontational approach regarding factions within the Nationalist Movement.

Just a few days ago, Richard Edmonds, who started his political life in the National Front and is back in the National Front after spending quite a long time in the British National Party of which he was at one point Acting Leader - delivered a speech surrounded by a congregation of members of the British National Party.

There is a certain rapport between grassroots of different Nationalist groups and this is critical, especially taking into account that the Leadership of the British National Party is practically invisible. The old hands of the British National Party are still very much at work - as they have always been - while party Leader Adam Walker and Deputy Leader Clive Jefferson are nowhere to be seen.

High ranking former members of the British National Party are now acting as go-between with a myriad of other groups and organisations including National Front and London Forum.

What has changed? British National Party policies were adopted by so called mainstream political parties and many of the issues raised by the British National Party are no longer taboo. What is more, many of the issues are the core of the debate in Continental Europe. Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary were taken to court by the EU because their governments opposed flood immigration and hold strong views regarding economic migrants that some class as asylum seekers and refugees.

Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary also raised issues about the cultural and religious background of those entering the European Union - something the British National Party talked about practically from the very beginning.

Therefore, although the stigma regarding membership of the British National Party persists, British National Party policies are now very much mainstream. Even Trevor Phillips, former foe of the British National Party, is saying what the BNP has said all along and here is an example of it:

"Trevor Phillips attacks political correctness for failing to tackle Muslim child sex gang"

The World has changed. Britain has changed. There is growing discontent against Political Correctness and the British National Party finds himself vindicated after being persecuted for telling the truth about what now has become public knowledge.

Having said that, in order to re-invigorate itself to play once again a protagonist role in British politics, the British National Party would need to change the way it operates and most importantly would have to go for a change of Leadership, a Leadership that has been practically invisible for far too long.

Although no one has expressed openly that they are ready to rock the boat, discontent with the present Leadership is all too obvious. In the past, Midlands would have been the most important region of the British National Party. Nowadays, London is the most important region after Midlands was gradually dismantled.

Mike Jones, Paul Sturdy and John Clarke - long standing organisers - have kept the movement alive. Financial dependency is no longer what it used to be and local branches are very much self-sufficient.
The bone of contention is that Central Office (the top administrating unit) still has the power to nominate candidates and can use disciplinary procedures as a deterrent.

Vince Cable - once again Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament and now Lib Dem Leader - spoke about the need for a new centrist party. The same applies to Nationalism where it has become increasingly obvious that a new political force could rise joining all the pieces of the Nationalist puzzle.