Saboteur Democracy

imagesSome of the noises coming out of the Conservative government and party are chilling. The idea of ‘crushing dissent’, the slip-up that the intent of the election was to ‘silence the SNP in Westminster’, the increasing authoritarianism of surveillance culture and the coming undermining of human rights through Brexit, should all be alarming for people committed to defending democracy. May’s talk of the need for ‘strong leadership’ and the demand for ‘unity’ should be sounding alarm-bells. This comes in the context of criminal activity:

“At present, up to 20 sitting Conservative MPs are the subject of criminal investigation by 16 police forces. If any of the candidates are charged and found guilty of an election offence, they could be barred from political office for three years or spend up to a year in prison. The whole case is unprecedented: this is the largest number of MPs ever to be investigated for violations of electoral law.”
The Guardian, 23 March 2017

The Conservatives’ proposal to reduce the number of MPs in the House of Commons from 650 to 600 is likely to boost the Government’s electoral advantage for many years to come.

You could be looking at a permanent Conservative Govt, an elected dictatorship with an in-built majority of 150 seats.

All of this comes with a backdrop of privatisation, deregulation and the sell-off of the public sector.  Scotland is not immune to this but across England the situation is critical:

c9xwunswaaeqxqw“This is an inhumane government,” said Paula Peter, spokeswoman for Disabled People Against Cuts. “Thousands of people are seeing their health deteriorating, they’re having their care packages cut, they’ve lost their Pip, lost their Motability Cars – they’re imprisoned in their own home.”

“This is an ideological policy designed to remove the welfare state and just leave us at home, unable to take part in society.”
New Statesman, 9 March 2017

“A total of 33 casualty units could face closure or being replaced with minor injuries units, according to documents drawn up across the country.

The plans are part of efforts to close a £22 billion hole in the health service budget by 2021.”
The Telegraph, 6 February 2017

““Tory privatisation” of the NHS has been condemned by Labour after new figures showed that roughly half of new cash pumped into the system was spent on private sector treatment.

An analysis by the Health Foundation think tank found that £900m of the money promised before the 2015 general election was spent on buying care from independent and other non-NHS “providers” – compared with £800m spent on the same treatments from NHS trusts.”
Huffington Post, 27 March 2017

In this context Scottish self-determination becomes an act of solidarity with the people of England.

This is about regime change and given the kind of statements challenged by Lesley Riddoch here:

 

 

… the tactics taken to oust the Conservatives, should be bold and imaginative and should include electoral alliances (already being agreed), direct action and voter registration on a mass scale.

As Ben Wray writes: “We should build a #indyref-like atmosphere around this general election:- a movement-style campaign to boot the Tories out of Scotland.”

Comments (6)

Leave a Reply to Duncan Ferguson Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

  1. Saltiregrace says:

    We should view this election as a chance to highlight the true impact of Tory policies and contrast it with the positive vision of an independent Scotland.

  2. Mach1 says:

    There is a real threat of autocracy under the next UK Tory government, and alas Jeremy Corbyn and whoever is leader of the LibDems do not offer a “progressive” response, as they both lead parties wedded to the marketisation of the NHS, or so-called internal reform, and the goals of economic liberalism, sold to the public with the “balance the books” rule. Or at least that’s where they were at the last election. Jeremy may be knocking up a new manifesto in his potting shed as we speak, and LibDem man may be trying to pose as all-things Europhile but both are futile postures when it comes to the battle for real democratic self-determination, whether in Scotland, Ireland, Wales or, dare I say it, even England.
    The BBC at present is majoring in apathy, in fact much of the media seems to suggest that ticking a box in a polling station is some Herculean task and simply too much for the ordinary voter… some of said media also think a “strong leader”, more certainty, stability, or just more of the same is in order. Hitler’s Nazis would be proud of such reactionary inanity, calculated to paint anyone who wants real change, real progress, real democracy appear somewhat unhinged.
    It is time to vote for independence within Europe. Let the reactionaries line up behind the ineffectual Mrs May while the progressives get behind the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon for a brighter future for Scotland.

    1. Frank says:

      Anyone concerned about “real threat of autocracy” needn’t look as far a Westminster, have a good unbiased look at what is going on right here in Scotland.

  3. Duncan Ferguson says:

    It’s all or nothing this time round!

  4. SleepingDog says:

    Historically, there have been numerous dissenting voices from deep within the British establishment, however narrow or flawed that dissent may have been. In the last century, this might have taken the form of covert employment as an agent for a foreign power, or as a reformer or isolated academic.

    What form does such dissent take these days, and where is it? The prevalence of digital recording devices makes unguarded revelations particularly dangerous, yet ranks seem to be close. It may be that the lack of apparent elite dissent is a sign of weakness; the privileged may fear that they are one damning exposure away from public revolt, and very few want the responsibility or danger of bringing the house of cards down.

  5. Eleanor Ferguson says:

    If all these alarm bells don’t send us to the polling stations I don’t know what will. This is our big chance to get out of this nightmare- I hope everyone realises that they must vote the Tories out of Scotland completely and vote SNP.

Help keep our journalism independent

We don’t take any advertising, we don’t hide behind a pay wall and we don’t keep harassing you for crowd-funding. We’re entirely dependent on our readers to support us.

Subscribe to regular bella in your inbox

Don’t miss a single article. Enter your email address on our subscribe page by clicking the button below. It is completely free and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.