Democratic desert?
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The peace of Easter Sunday yesterday, the holiest of days for Christians across the world, was rudely and bloodily shattered in Sri Lanka by the atrocious attacks on churches and hotels. More on that below.
Here at home, there weren’t any ‘Brexit News’: all those ‘sources’, those ‘EU diplomats’ and ‘EU administrators’, those ‘cabinet sources’, always leaking so busily, have gone home to their families as well as our MPs.
One news item in this ‘news desert’ however has been picked up by our MSM: British Human Aid NGOs haven’t received monetary support from Brussels – see the report in The Times (paywalled, here) and in the DM (here):
“[Penny Mordaunt] revealed British aid firms have had to wind up life-saving schemes in Somalia and Yemen because the intransigent EU has refused to fund them. Others have been told to transfer projects which they have been running for years to European bodies. In a letter to the EU commissioner for humanitarian aid, Christos Stylianides, Miss Mordaunt reminded Brussels the UK is now set to remain a member of the EU until the end of October.”
One wonders if other UK organisations working in concert with the EU have also had their EU money denied. Of course, they might say that it’s just an admin error – after all, we were supposed to have been Out already, weren’t we …
Then there are the rumblings inside the Tory Party. Allegedly, Ms May’s “departure” might be “weeks away” (a bit late, one would’ve thought …):
“A vote on Theresa May’s future among the party’s grassroots supporters which could hasten her departure from office is just weeks away after enough local party chairmen signed a petition supporting it. The National Conservative Convention, which represents Tory volunteers, now has a duty under the party’s constitution to call an “extraordinary general meeting” to allow a no confidence vote in Mrs May to be held. Any vote would be unprecedented and would put pressure on Conservative MPs to change the leadership rules and allow them to hold an early vote on Mrs May’s future which could see her being forcibly removed from office. […] MPs on the executive of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs are meeting on Tuesday to discuss an early vote, rather than waiting until December as they have to under current rules.” (paywalled link)
There are ‘rebels’ on the Tory Remain side as well though. Tory Party donors are now going to donate to MPs rather than to Tory Central Office:
“[Party donors] have called for MPs to back Mrs May as the only leader who can deliver Brexit. […] The warnings come as […] there were claims last week that the party’s top official is having to reach into his own pocket to cover some of the costs of the European elections. Sir Mick Davis, the chief executive and treasurer of the party, has told cabinet ministers that the Brexit impasse and infighting is putting off supporters.” (link, paywalled)
Oh really? Interesting that the Tory Grandees only take notice when it’s a question of money! Moving on:
“Many Conservative MPs believe a crunch moment for Mrs May could come next week if the party performs badly in local elections. […] Local election experts yesterday warned that the Tories were on course to lose 500 council seats on May 2. But the cost could be as high as 1,000 seats if polls showing a collapse in support prove accurate, they said in an article for The Sunday Times.” (link, paywalled)
Ah – those local elections … finally entering the field of vision of the MSM! This scandal however – and it is one, indicating how democracy is being killed off at the grassroots level – has only been mentioned in passing:
“New research by the Electoral Reform Society ahead of next month’s vote shows 300 council seats in England have been guaranteed for one party or individual before a single ballot has been cast, weeks before the May 2nd polling day. […] Nearly 150 councillors will win their seats without a single vote being cast, because candidates are running totally uncontested. They’ve already ‘won’. Around 270,000 potential voters in these ‘democracy deserts’ will be denied their democratic right of expressing a preference about who will represent them locally.” (source)
Given the Remain HoC, it seems we’re living an a ‘democratic desert’ anyway. The MSM however are only really interested in the EU elections because: Brexit Party! Nigel Farage! How exciting!
Labour’s Tom Watson, who fancies himself as a contender in a possible Labour leadership fight, has now come out on the side of those who demand a 2nd Referendum – like that Mr T.Blair …:
“Mr Watson said: ‘Labour won’t defeat Farage by being mealy-mouthed and sounding as if we half agree with him. We won’t beat him unless we can inspire the millions crying out for a different direction. We won’t win if we sit on the fence about the most crucial issue that has faced our country for a generation. Now that we know a bit more about what Brexit means, the very least that Leavers and Remainers deserve is a final say – a confirmatory referendum – on any deal.’ (link)
Note how, for Labour, Brexit is now only and exclusively about defeating not just the Tories but also Nigel Farage. It’s about their beloved political games – the EU’s intransigence, the fate of our Nation and our democracy: irrelevant!
Now allow me that brief excursion from Brexit: the atrocity which took place yesterday in Sri Lanka. You’ve seen the headlines, the photos, the number of dead and wounded.
There are two things, in addition to this crime ,which made my blood boil. One is the mealy-mouthedness in our MSM, where reporters and opinion writers simply could and cannot bring themselves to put the blame where it belongs: on islamic terrorists.
They more or less openly tried to insinuate that this could have been a return of the civil war – Tamil Tigers – or perhaps, given that Sri Lanka is mainly Buddhist, some fanatical buddhist group …That there was a warning received by the police, that the atrocities were committed by suicide bombers: that is shamefacedly hidden in subordinate clauses.
The other item is a report in The Times, and I quote:
“A sense of “post-colonial guilt” and a belief that Christianity is the religion of the rich and powerful have held Britain back from supporting persecuted Christians around the globe, according to the bishop leading a government review into their plight. […] Speaking before the attacks in Sri Lanka, Bishop Mounstephen told The Times that Britain had “something of a blind spot to the persecution of Christians”. The Foreign Office has conceded: “The UK’s foreign policy response has not always reflected the suffering of persecuted Christians.” (link, paywalled)
But wait – haven’t we been told for decades that everything is our fault because of our ‘colonialism’? And now the persecution of Christians across the globe is also our fault because we’ve accepted that burden of guilt? Oh my … words fail me!
Do enjoy this Bank Holiday and relax – it’s the last breathing space before the coming turmoil of the next weeks which will demand all our strength.
KBO!
The government is clearly in Lala Land. It needs a clear message sending.
The worst thing that can happen is that people stay at home.
This is what the Li Lab Cons are hoping for. That way the win even on a 1% turnout.
On sunday night on the sky news paper review, a woman writer & broadcaster of Pakistani origin, basically said that “we MUST not speculate on who was responsible for the Sri Lankan terrorist outrage as it would not be helpful”.
As she saw it, Sri Lanka is a very complicated Country, politically and ethnicly and religiously.
She also said that ultimately the outrage was he responsibility of the Sri Lankan government as they had been warned of the possible attacks in advance but had done nothing to stop it. (No speculation there then!!!!).
Clearly a muslim herself, her outrageous views and comments brought no challenge from the reviews host or her fellow panellist.
Why not just blame Britains imperial past and Brexit and have done with it!
How I wish we could lose sight of party labels in local elections (General elections, too, for that matter) and vote instead for the known and named person. Parties exist for the continuation of the party and are corporations. People truly ought to vote for people they know, like and trust. Not for corporations.
So we have UKIP, a party founded in 1992 which won the 2014 EUro Elections and was third most Popular Vote in GE 2015 with 27,000 active members (not mere subscribers), with a regional, branch and Four Nations structure (unlike TBP),with an Executive to which the Leader is subject (unlike Farage) and which is told it is irrelevant by the very people who are adamant to RemaIN EU.
The Farage-Brexit Party is not standing in the 2nd May Local Elections but UKIP is – some 1800 candidates. What if May -Corbyn cook up an agreement which they claim will be ‘LeavEU’ but is of course BRINO? Well that means cancelling the EUro Elections and where does that mean that the Brexit Party can go – no elections will be the end of it.
Excellent summary viv. Strange indeed that the refererendum for the Tories was exclusively about ‘stopping Farage’. Now labour wants to join in the ‘stopping farage’ game and back a new referendum when they will presumably campaign for a soft boiled brexit or some such nonsense. Can the labour party actually see what ‘stopping farage’ has done to the conservatives? You couldn’t make this up. “A plague o’ both your houses!”
Here’s a nightmare scenario. If Mrs May is mad enough to want her Surrender Document deal above all else then a ConLab pact could squeeze it through. She’d have to give Corbyn something in return for his support.
How about a General election?
By August Diane Abbot could be Chancellor and Corbyn could be PM.
She’s mad enough Be afraid.
JF
It’s not that she’s mad enough. It’s that she’s communist enough. These are her objectives: to deliver her country into vassalage to a foreign communist power, and to install a communist government in the UK.
The local elections have always been difficult, people standing as an independent or a minor party always seem to be crushed by the party politics of the local ‘elite’ plus the total apathy of local voters who usually vote along tribal lines.
At the last district/county elections here, some really good independent candidates stood, the voter turnout was derisory and the local donkey was returned as usual. Following that no one stood this time around, why waste your time and money for an electorate that just can’t be bothered, the same people who complain they have lost their democratic right to vote, doesn’t seem to bother the same people who either don’t vote or want to remain in the e.u. As for the general election my guess low turn out and the same lab/con result as still nearly a third of the ‘electorate’ intend to vote Labour or Conservative .
I agree, things could be so much more different – at a local level at least – if the people who didn’t bother to vote made the effort to trot down to their local polling station. Also, if the people who do make the effort to vote, actually thought about who they were going to vote for, rather than just doing ‘what they’ve always done’, or just voting to ‘send a message to the Government’.
As I’ve stated on numerous occasions, this is why we end up with so many Labour-run local authorities, often run poorly, and tainted with scandal, corruption and other nefarious dealings. I fear the same thing will happen this year, and Labour will just assume control of more councils, as voters turn on May and the Tories.
There are no local elections in Birmingham this year, thanks to a nice bit of gerrymandering by Labour which means after last years ‘full’ election, they now only have to hold full elections every four years, rather than the ‘three years on, one year off’ partial elections previous arrangement. We now can’t vote this shower out for another three years.
So I will be watching with interest the local council elections in nearby Sandwell; Labour run for over 40 years now, and a virtual one-party state as there is no opposition. I will be looking at how well the UKIP and For Britain candidates do, and I’ll also keep an eye on the new ‘Black Country Party’.
I live ‘ere. I went to school here. My wife is Daisy Smith from the village. If you tell me what you want at least I’ll try. Better than him anyway. Never mind his precious party.