Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. At the time of writing the polls are barely open, but by the end of the Summer it’s quite likely, according to polls and pundits, that Burnham will be PM. If Successful in Makerfield today, every indication is that he will be putting his shoulder to the wheel to keep driving the UK government to the right, still attempting to out-fash the fascists. They’ll never catch up, we must hope…Farage has a new goal in sight; Restore UK, (with their absolutely chilling manifesto.)
We should all be losing sleep over the endgame. It’s increasingly clear that it’s substantially backed by trillion/billionaire dollars and media in order to make more of them and shore up their hegemony, aided by useful idiots Like Yaxley-Lennon. However, there are enough bad actors in familiar places, willingly greasing the tracks towards the hardest-right place I would ever dread to see in my lifetime.
In the wake of the Belfast pogrom on Tuesday 9th June, with people of colour burned out of their homes (it’s hard to even write that,) Farage shamelessly announced his policy to evict or deport, to ensure that ‘foreign nationals’ were priced and hunted out of housing and ultimately the UK. The day after the co-ordinated attacks in Glasgow, we were subjected to the both-siding of Martin Geissler, who described the mob, with their white supremacist banners, as ‘anti-immigration campaigners,’ to counter the views of Scottish Green leader Ross Greer. A BBC political reporter shamefully attempted to reduce the event to a stand-off between white and black youths. All of this underlined in bold by the word ‘protest’ and in Scotland at least, deflected as an Irish problem.
It took five days for Radio Scotland to allude to the actual nature of the violence, to the fact that the mosque had to be locked down, that the mob were literally hunting down and attacking people of colour. The once respected Radio Scotland wheeled out relic ex Provost of Glasgow Michael Kelly to discuss the highly charged issues of the violent mob who took advantage of the hatred whipped up by Tommy-ten names.
Though many from across the board took part in the people-hunt in Glasgow that night, it’s worth remembering that there is a riot-ready hate mob available in parts of the west of Scotland, courtesy of the Orange Order and their wider following. Hatred is easily transferable it seems, along with concern about small boats. Michael Kelly (whilst strongly condemning the violence) made no connection to the existing OO hate marches that occur throughout the summer, but would happily ban the massive peaceful anti-fascist rally on Saturday 13th June, because, according to him, all we did was ‘encourage more violence’.
‘Debate’ is still the favoured political/media word for the rise of racism ergo fascism. The families of victims, whose violent deaths and injuries have sparked a spate of riots, have clearly stated
that these tragedies should not cause further division. They are systematically ignored by the hate mobs. We, the people, the TUs, the anti-fascist organisations and the victim families are pretty much on our own, pushing back against the complicity of UK party politicians (with the exception of the Greens). Debate is a smokescreen for inaction at best. When it’s basic human rights there’s no debate.
We’re in a race against time now. If Reform wins the next General Election, we can expect state-sanctioned discrimination and violence against minorities, in a truer reflection of the anti-Jewish pogroms in Nazi Germany. We simply cannot be bystanders here. Any action or discussion is time we absolutely WILL get back. In Scotland we urgently need to step up the campaign for independence, while pushing back against fascism and supporting in any way we can the rise of the Greens south of the border
It’s well documented that social media has much to answer for in terms of emboldened open bigotry, framed as freedom of speech. Online newspaper comments sections remain open and accessible to all, where ‘legitimate concerns’ are rapidly morphing unchallenged towards open white supremacist slogan and underdog victimhood claims. Under no circumstances do any mainstream commentators express a whiff of humanity over tragic death by overcrowded dinghy, or the terror of a baying mob outside hotel accommodation. Framed entirely as a problem, empathy is just not acceptable media or political commentary anymore.
Like Trump, Farage no longer poses as affable beer-swilling ‘man of the people,’ though he still rails against the establishment with cynical, lying pretence that he is not part of it. Too many believe him. His indiscriminate hatred of ‘the other’ is freely expressed in his statement that ‘Anti-whiteness is institutionalised into every aspect of public life’.
Starmer will fight to the bitter end of his premiership and though we can’t see that ending yet, in his defence by loyal supporters inside and outside of government, this weak Trump appeaser is already being lauded as a statesman with a firm grip on foreign policy. While passing over the thorny issue of Gaza, Starmer would happily rescue his position in any way that he can, possibly even by taking on the role of war PM (if it’s the right war). This man, who only ever shows rage or upset in a performative way, who ‘deeply regrets’ his damaging ‘island of strangers’ comment could easily justify the inhumanity of his welfare policies by leaning into international conflict. Furthermore, his recent social media ban for under sixteens, with no attempt to take the battle to the source of the issue, gives us some hint at the possibility that he will grab at any lifeline but ultimately take us down with him if he goes.
There’s no lesser evil here. It’s all desperate stuff, all fuel for fascism. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all. Maybe the most worrying scenario to arise from Westminster pantomime is the prospect of Burnham sleepwalking us into a disastrous early GE, in an attempt to shore up his premiership.
So, yes, we really are on our own here. At every opportunity, we have to use and remember the mantra ‘we are many, you are few’. Eight billion of us to be more precise, globally. On this small island, by far the majority of us are surely more able to take on the minority of bad actors, from the street-fighting haters/would-be killers, to the millionaires and their media, if we keep pushing back. We could start by lobbying the newspapers to close comments, where the worst of humanity meet the rest of us, emboldened and unchallenged.
We Are Many, You Are Few by Val Waldron
