As far as Brexit goes, Labour's Magic Grandad is one of the party's few MPs actually standing for both working-class principles and the Party's 2017 manifesto. His commitment to leaving the EU echoes the real (though often misdirected) passion for democracy expressed by the late Tony Benn. As MEPs vote today on Von Der Layen's appointment some fools will call the process democratic. In the video below Benn makes the point that MEPs are not elected in the UK - parties are. Voters have no say on the members returned to Brussels by the parties, and can't vote to get rid of individual MEPs.
Benn's and Magic Grandad's views on the EU - that is it wholly detrimental to the interests of the working class in Britain - are not shared by the new breed of establishment 'progressives' who have adopted the Labour Party for convenience. For most of them it could have been the LibDems or parts of the Conservative Party - the present Parliamentary parties are currently largely homogeneous, Blairite and managerialist in character, opposed to Brexit and determined to frustrate the nation's democratic instruction.
However, these Blairite managerialists are determined to take over the Labour Party, defenestrate Magic Grandad and campaign wholeheartedly on a 'Remain' ticket in the forthcoming General Election. Lady Nugee, with all the bearing and presence of a large garden party marquee (200 seated or 400 standing) said so.
Short of Labour splitting into two parties - a northern, industrial Free Labour Party supporting Brexit and a southern metropolitan Labour House (members only) supporting remain - the managerialists will have to ditch Magic Grandad. And that may prove extraordinarily difficult in the time available. So I guess what we'll end up with is an official Labour front bench that is both on the record as Leave and Remain, depending who is being interviewed. Confused voters will simply desert Labour.
That of course is exacly in favour of the true heirs to Benn's Euroscepticism - The Brexit Party.
20 comments:
If we do eventually get free of the treaties, as Churchill is supposed to have said, it will perhaps be the end of the beginning.
There is whole pile of official ordure to sweep up before we return to what we used to know as democracy.
However, since the days of UKIP, things have changed, and TBP has ambition to start on this too, these people have infected the old parties possibly beyond hope.
Something slightly different is needed.
They've lost Scotland. They're losing Wales and now the champagne socialists of North London are throwing away their midlands and northern redoubts.
I wonder when they'll realise that they can't win a General Election based on metropolitan votes and the Muslim bloc vote in "their" areas.
Jack Straw popped up in the Sunday Times, a dreadful reminder of times past. He would have made a competent civil servant but was a terrible minister. I notice that Mandleson, Campbell and Blair have all been very quiet and that is not a good sign. John Major, the last man to suspend parliament to avoid cash for questions must be awarded the new labour hypocrisy prize for saying if Boris does it it is the end of the world, or words to that effect.
Very odd behaviour from both Hunt and Boris over Trump tweets. May jumped in and criticised straight away and both the candidates joined in. Firstly anything May does is a political disaster. Secondly it used to be the very sensible convention that leaders did not criticise other leaders as they are effectively insulting another country. All Boris had to say was exactly that, you can not separate Trump the man from Trump the president and the leader of the U.K. should not insult America and it’s President. Boris surely knows this but wants to virtue signal which means you can bet your bottom dollar that things like the overseas aid budget and immigration will both grow in an unrestricted fashion and that if he gets in Boris will not last long.
If you had PR, as many europhobics want, then the UK's MPs would be selected in much the same way as Benn senior criticises in the European Union.
He might have convinced his own son at the time, but Hilary recognises that the European Union, the UK, and the world have all moved on a great way, since his late father's words, and like any balanced, reasonable person, he has changed his position accordingly.
There is a list of organisations who are receiving money from the EU doing the rounds on Twitter now.
Many of the recipients of said EU funds are trades unions.
This whole system of NGOs - including TUs - has replaced democracy IMO; and these networks are designed to self-support and expand - not necessarily for the benefit of those that they were set up to serve.
Take away the EU and we will see just how well trade unions and politicians are representing their people.
As a horny-handed son of toil, I am absolutely disgusted by Labour and the TUs stance on the EU.
The Labour Party is like a cabbage fresh from Magic Grandpa's allotment... Strip off the tattered outside leaves of Scottish Labour support. Strip off the tattered leaves of Welsh Labour support. Those Israeli Leaves will have to go. Nope, still not fit for an Islington dinner party - strip away those Labour Leave supporters leaves.
There, the cabbage is much neater - but considerably smaller than before.
The fact that our politicians use 'our' money to bribe us to re-elect themselves is bad enough. The fact that money is 'taken' from us by an unelected EU to then be paid to supporters of the EU to continue the process of 'theft' (in a fully circular fashion) is apalling.
Two wrongs don't make a right.
No UK organisation receives proportionally more money from the European Union than does the Brexit Party. Their wastes-of-space MEPs would cost us twenty-odd million for the full term in salaries and expenses.
The BBC gets about 0.02% of its revenues from it, some £700,000 pa, mainly for decentralisation.
So by the what-passes-for-logic by some commenters here, the Brexit Party should be thousands of times more pro-European Union than the BBC.
Edward - four goes only on this post
@Cheerful,
What passes for YOUR logic.
Oh, and the famously pro-European Union Iain Duncan-Smith receives about £150,000 pa for his family's farmlands, whereas the Brussels-loving Paul Dacre gets about £80,000 pa for his Scottish estate.
Your point is, Anonymous?
CE......How applicable, here's a free avatar for you.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Conformit%C3%A9_Europ%C3%A9enne_%28logo%29.svg/420px-Conformit%C3%A9_Europ%C3%A9enne_%28logo%29.svg.png
The CE marking is the manufacturer's declaration that the product meets the requirements of the applicable EC directives.
@Cheerful,
So why isn't parliament pro British then if they are paid by Britain.
@Cheerful Edward: Not PR; I'd like to see AV. Then my vote would have a chance of mattering, since only c. 220/650 seats are won by a 50%+1 majority of votes cast.
Benn's point is applicable a fortiori to the UK.
The Conservative party were elected to rule, just about, but the voters will have no say whatsoever, in the person who is to be their next Prime Minister.
Until the election
@Cheerful
I have no idea.
I have no say who any of the various EU presidents, potentates, gauleiters, grand viziers, grand imperial wizards or whatever titles they adopt are. None whatsoever.
"The Conservative party were elected to rule, just about, but the voters will have no say whatsoever, in the person who is to be their next Prime Minister."
Cough cough , Gordon Brown.
Next?
Yes, indeed, Anonymous.
But the comparison is between UK and European Union, not between Tory and Labour.
One of the Con traitors was on the radio just before saying it was only right that MP's had their say. FFS they had their say, on 23-6-16 one vote just like the rest of us in or out.
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