Juxtaposition

From the Observer - a report by former policy chief Jon Cruddas which says the party is alienating socially conservative voters on issues such as immigration and welfare.

Labour’s major challenge, the report argues, is to find a way to rebuild a coalition of support. It needs to “stop patronising socially conservative Ukip voters and recognise the ways in which Ukip appeals to former Labour voters”, the report says, adding: “Labour is becoming a toxic brand. It is perceived by voters as a party that supports an ‘open door’ approach to immigration, lacks credibility on the economy, and is a ‘soft touch’ on welfare spending.”

Sound common sense but will it get through? Step forward, in the same edition - Gideon Ben-Tovim,  Senior fellow in sociology, University of Liverpool who argues Labour shouldn't respect but challenge 'white working-class xenophobia'. "Culturally and socially we are enriched, not threatened, by their (immigrants) presence – as with previous waves of immigration."
There you go, your superior is telling you.

Of course not everyone is like Gideon, we have traditional leftism as well...Ian Hughes,
Bridgend, writes...  Labour has lost its traditional working-class voters because of a loss of trust ....and forgetting practical ideas to satisfy working-class aspirations, such as the repeal of anti trade union legislation...
Another bloody doorstep winner there. 


 

State control of the Media

In view of the debate happening around the future of the BBC I thought I'd post this little gem. It's been posted by Christine McIntyre on the blipfoto page of one Mike Russell MSP.

Now look, I know this is only one stupid SNPer, albeit one who is the mother-in-law of a new SNP MSP and one who preaches indy wherever she goes in her capacity of teaching and examining Gaelic singing.
However, "Please get control of state broadcasting" (interesting to note that the STV were no better - get control them them too, presumably, the bastards) is a pretty good example of the nationalist mindset. How lovely - public broadcasting under the executive's control. There's a great vision of a future Scotland, is it not?
And if not... your own political channel... surely that would be a good idea. Like 'The National' newspaper.

Perhaps Christine should consider for a moment the words of Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian on Friday 13th May....

the rise of ..... in the US, cable TV channels and radio stations defined by political hue, means voters can easily get the entirety of their information from sources tailored to reflect their own views back to them.

 That, in turn, makes them ever more unwilling to accept contradictory facts. The editor of the Washington Post Marty Baron, addressed this in a speech last week noting how easy it has become to wave aside discomforting facts as the work of the hated “mainstream” media, pushing its secret agenda. “What has taken hold is an alternate reality, a virtual reality, where lies are accepted as truth and where conspiracy theories take root in the fertile soil of falsehoods.”
......In the US, that’s become a pressing question. In Britain, we have not yet fallen as far. That’s partly because we still have one forum which cannot so easily be dismissed as peddling a partisan agenda, though its critics, right and left, never cease trying. I’m speaking of the BBC. For all its flaws, it has retained the status once enjoyed by the US networks, broadly trusted to play umpire between competing claims on the truth – or at least to try.