Reform UK- Fascists in Clacton
Like many of you I was shocked to find racists among the ‘Reform UK’ candidates as exposed by a Channel 4 undercover documentary team yesterday. We are as ‘dismayed’ as Nigel Farage is at this turn of events.
Exclusive: Undercover inside Reform’s campaign – evidence of homophobia and canvasser’s racism
Watch the full report by @darshnasoni pic.twitter.com/NqH2RSDy6X
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) June 27, 2024
Maybe now we have to add this to the other issues that are absent from this General Election, issues like climate change, ‘Scotland’, the costs of living crisis and the consequences of Starmer’s proposed spending cuts – and the war on Gaza. So now we can add the emergence of full blown English fascism to the list. Oh, for sure Farage will denounce this (he’s already backtracking claiming it was a Channel 4 ‘set-up’) – but in reality the politics being expressed here “Just ******* shoot them” – does not come out of the blue.
This is the culmination of the dehumanisation and othering of others that has gone on for years, nurtured by the whole media-political class until it has now become utterly normal. After fourteen years of different flavours of racist Tory leaders, from Theresa May’s Hate Vans and hostile environment, to Priti Patel and her colleagues Rwanda policy to the surround-sound of state violence and racist policing.
But it is the language and actions around immigration that has gained momentum since it was the mainstay of the Brexit campaign that has led ‘us’ to this point. Reform isn’t really a party at all, its just an edifice for far-right rhetoric and open racism.
This is the nascent fascist party that is replacing the Tories. British politics – or certainly English politics is being re-made before your eyes. Don’t complain that you weren’t warned. It is what it is.
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If only there was a way for Scotland to disassociate ourselves from the lunacy going on next door, eh?
I said this was the direction of travel at end of September 2014 after 55% of Scotland’s electorate decided to stay governed by Westminster. The writing was on the wall then with the Tory party inevitably having to go ever harder right to avoid losing votes to Farage and UKIP. We now see Reform in England being the preferred choice for many Tory voters. Some polls have the two parties half and half. And here we are. Ten years on shackled to this UK government where Labour can’t even claim to be New Labour but a very deep shade or Blue Labour. They too are having to tack ever more to the right to secure votes where it matters most to them to get reelected: England. Indeed, if only there was away for Scotland to escape. But then I’ve been saying that for more than the decade since the Indy ref. Scotland handed its power back to Westminster in 2014 having held it for that one referendum day. I will keep campaigning but it’s a tough battle and as you say Mike, I really wish more would wake up to what’s been going on for years now and decide, finally, enough is enough. Independence really is the only way out of this. And people really need to vote for it every chance they get.
No one can really be shocked or amazed at the recordings of Reform activists. We know this is exactly how the majority of the far right feel, think and speak among themselves.
It would be interesting to get more recordings with the channel 4 plant actually speaking . What did he say in the conversation?
While “nurtured by the whole media-political class” is an overstatement, as a broad trend the corrupt, lying, authoritarian, science-denying, history-fabricating, ancestor-worshipping behaviour of this class (which as Bella has pointed out has a dynastic and plutocratic character) is definitely enabling Farage-Reform extremism and punching down. And not just in this country: as I mentioned recently the failure of the British to reckon with the atrocities, abuses and oppressions of their own past is enraging and bolstering the far right in Europe, particularly among losers in WW2 and faded colonial powers, and those who are currently rushing to join the British as subordinates to the USAmerican empire in NATO.
What Medialens has described as a British political-media tendency towards totalitarianism and suppression of awkward questions and uncomfortable truths enables the loathsome likes of Farage to state simple facts like NATO provoked Russia (or that NATO is conducting a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine which many analysts agree with) and seem like an honest dealer by contrast, even for a fleeting moment.
When did it become mainstream again to support genocide, ecocide, and global nuclear holocaust in Britain? Because that is apparently the state of our degeneration. Possibly the political-media class’ preference for symbols and superficial representations over critical thinking, rigorous investigation, self-reflection and international perspectives has some responsibility for this. Why does the once-MI5-vetted BBC pay its (male, mostly) talent so much, when they so frequently turn out to be so reprehensible? It is clearly a systemic phenomenon. It this the best the patriarchy can offer?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/27/great-white-male-tv-anchor-facing-extinction-save-the-species
It’s quite extraordinary that the most ethnically diverse cabinet in history is also the most racist, (demonstrating that there is no automatic solidarity among the oppressed). Patel, Braverman, Cleverly et al will have experienced more than their share of racism. They cannot be unaware that the currents they are courting utterly despise them. I was genuinely disgusted that Sunak’s daughters had to hear their dad being spoken about in that language. But he cannot be unaware that that is also how a huge cohort of Tories refer to him in private. Class only trumps race so far in the Tory scheme of things. If Reform were ever to take power, Patel would be on the first plane out to Kenya; yet still they fan the flames.
I don’t think the sentiments, expressed by The Reform activists could have come as any great shock to anyone who has lived in various parts of UK. This was an undercurrent of Brexit which The Leave side were happy to capitalise on but don’t like when it comes back and bites them on the bahookie.
I expected Reform to pick up votes from older predominantly Leave voters who cannot face up to society in 21st century. I am more concerned if they start picking up votes from disaffected younger voters who are faced with the dealing with the consequences of supporting an increasingly older population, housing challenges, an economy that is not working for majority of population and the realities and cost of climate change. The two main political parties are shying away from discussing these issues let alone putting plans into place to deal with them. This leaves the door open for populist’s to exploit the discontent as we are experiencing on mainland Europe and maybe in UK. History has shown us that this is a dangerous path to go down.
Although Reform do not seem to be having such a big effect in Scotland but we should not be smug or complacent as no country is immune from the politics of hate.
The only way to counter Reform and other such populist parties is to confront them head on while effectively tackling the underlying issues causing discontent without compromising your principles of fairness and tolerance.
Better Not Together
I’m distressed to see that Reform UK are up to 8% in Scottish opinion polls. That means only 92% of those asked reject the snake oil.
‘the emergence of full blown English fascism’.
This is nonsense. Farage represents a reaction against large scale immigration. This has been happening – at the ballot box – across Europe; in France, Germany, Spain and Italy to mention only the large countries. (And , yes, his supporters include the – thankfully – diminished number of racists around.)
One reason that people like Farage have had so much success across Europe is that much of the left assumes that there is no downside to mass immigration.
Roughly 5% of immigrants are “illgeal” – the rest are legal and a combo of those that work & pay taxes or those that study (& keep UK unis afloat). UK gov’ statistics. Immigration is a “problem” because Fart-rage & co have decided to make it one to give them electoral leverage. The tories blow hot & cold (depending on the electoral cycle) and Brits are groomed by a media that takes anything but a foresnic approach to immigration.
I’m not offering a point of view, these are realities. Immigration is a non-problem. NHS under-funding is a (gov) problem, shit schools ditto, housing ditto, all gov problems arguably immigration provided workers that the UK state/privaet enterprise has failed to train – immigration is the easy way around this …. government created problem. On & on it goes.
Mike – you are correct in your analysis.
The demographics of all nations within UK mean we have an increasing number of older people which requires an increase in working age population to being employed in care services to look after them and pay the taxes to support public services. It appears that this can only be achieved by more immigration of working age people or/and increasing the falling birth rate. The problem is that successive governments have not invested in the infrastructure or services to support any increase in population.
The residents of this country are living through difficult Financial Times and inequality is rising. it is easier for some politicians and citizens to blame others eg immigrants rather than face up to the realities of the UK in 21st century. History has shown that this can be a successful short term political strategy but does not provide any longer term solutions.
@John, because it is an unsustainable pyramid scheme. I mean, in Japan, they are apparently looking at robots providing elderly care, but…
‘Immigration is a non-problem.’
Across Europe, voters are disagreeing; most recently in France today. The Left’s electoral response to this ? There really isn’t one.
You seem to suggest that if fascists gain support in another European country we must/should somehow follow? What a weird argument.
Yet again, you conflate opposition to mass immigration with fascism. This approach has been, and continues to be, electorally disastrous for the left.
Well, fascists are gaining support in Europe (and here) – this is just a fact.
Farrage is a success ? Successful at getting headlines rather than actual parliamentary seats. Even a guy dressed up as a dolphin beat him in an election ! Farage is nothing more than a spiv.
In the 2014 Euro election, UKIP – led by Nigel Farage – got more votes, and seats, than any other party. This paved the way for him to demand that the Tories hold a referendum on Brexit. His role in this makes him one of the most significant figures in British politics this century.
He did and one of the things that has long frustrated me is one of the resons for that was the usual voter turn-out apathy. Where were all those who professed profound love for the EU after the Brexit vote was lost? Sat at home not bothering to vote in 2014 and indeed in 2009 when UKIP also had most seats, though equal to Labour in that case. And this includes a seat in Scotland in both cases I think. If UKIP had not done so well in 2009, the vote may not have been even on the cards and in 2014 not providing a tenable demand from Farage to the Tories for a referendum. It also provided a platform for Farage in the European parliament from which to pontificate and endlessly diss the EU, which of course the media was obliged to report and thus his message was spread further and deepened in the minds of voters.
So, the C4 undercover team “discover” a vile racist amongst Farage’s helpers. Proper cockney accent n’all. Turns out, to be a soft-spoken actor specialising in “rough speaking” and “secret filming” . A helper who no one in Farage’s team actually knew.
The Far-Woke are so desperate to oppose the only party who doesn’t follow the Woke religion, that blinds itself to its own racism and bigotry.
Sure, the new kids on the block didn’t get it right allowing in people whose anger at the way the Far-Woke have been destroying society, they were imprudent in their language. What’s labour excuse for the deeply embedded antisemitism. Just because its heard less overtly, doesn’t mean its gone away. Its simply less overt.
Its the Far-Woke who are the most bigoted and racist. Its critical race theory based ideology divides society by uts identity group based ideology which especially condemns white, Male, heterosexual men based merely on their immutable characteristics, putting members of the global majority on a pedestal, despite Farage’s Labour opponent “Tears of a white man” revealing a depth of racism no one seems to have been able to to pin on Farage himself.
Another inconvenience is that Farage had attracted a huge donation from a rich Muslim, and Farage has been filmed amongst smiling black kids demanding selfies with him.
Farage is a real inconvenience to the Woke graduate elite. He defies every attempt at silencing him.
It seems to me that despite the Elite’s best efforts the disillusioned masses are beginning to flock to him.
Maybe not this time, but next time it’ll be Prime Minister Farage. Isn’t democracy inconvenient.
Nigel, thanks for your comment on this
Farrage as PM ? I’ll have some of the stuff you must be partaking of ! Jesus H Christ, he couldn’t even beat a guy disguised as a dolphin in an election !
@SteveH, so sad that you haven’t achieved your professed lifetime ambition of dying for the country you love/hate yet. Maybe you are starting out slow, aiming to visit a first aid tent perhaps as this year’s performance target?
Ah, Reform, as Greenpeace and Desmog say:
“are bankrolled by fossil fuel interests, polluting industries and climate deniers”
https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/resources/reform-manifesto-analysis/
And Nigel Farage, man of the plutocrats (that’s a clue as to why a rich person would support him, by the way). “Reform UK will back risk takers and wealth creators and make sure that Britain is open for business.” as they say (open especially for USAmerican and other foreign business, they should say, but that doesn’t chime with their ethnostate base).
Odd that your dissection of Labour’s alleged anti-semitism (you do know that Keir Starmer is backing Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians and expelling Labour members who oppose him on this?) and analysis of overt-covert racism (if Labour racism goes covert, how can the same thing not be said for Reform for the same reasons?) is even less coherent than your usual Nazi ramblings under your Captain Manwhoring mercenary-to-sado-regime persona. Perhaps you have had a bang on the head? In the service your beloved/hated country! Off to the first aid tent then, and wear your small dressing with pride.
Thankfully the British people have never been attracted to the political extremes of either left or right (2 sides of the same coin).
Unlike the French……..let’s see what happens when the French elect a far right govt (civil war at worse, large scale rioting at best)thank god the majority of us had the common sense and voted to leave.
@John Learmonth, yeah, I’m gonna add that to the ‘racists who try to prove they are not racists by saying their chosen people are not racists like those beastly foreigners’ epic-fail highlights package for this week. Thanks for your contribution.
Nobodies the ‘chosen people’ just merely pointing out that the ‘fascists’ will probably be in charge of France soon, meanwhile the ‘fascists’ in the UK will be in charge of Clacton on Sea. Go figure
@John Learmonth, I’ve boiled your comment down to a hashtag, save you some typing:
#OnlyBeastlyForeignersAreRacists
Shouldn’t Reform have discovered that its candidates, Messrs Oakenfull, Lomas, and Lilley were ‘really’ undercover actors during its vetting process?
Face it, Steve; Reform’s policies and the general tenor of its campaign are going to attract c*nts like those.
@SteveH, I have just been reading about the background to the murders of three civil rights activists in Mississippi who were encouraging Black Southerners to vote, and watching the fictionalised movie Mississippi Burning made from the case.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Chaney,_Goodman,_and_Schwerner
The racist Ku Klux Klan-supporting white folk talk just like you about educated liberal elite outsiders coming in and upsetting the status quo, and circulate conspiracy theories such as the activists faking their own deaths under instruction by the likes of Martin Luther King. Susan Neiman later interviewed some Mississippi racists and the striking feature is how incoherent, self-contradictory and lie-based their own voluntary utterances are. Burnt some crosses in your time, have you?
Anyone who remebers the heyday of groups like the NF recognises characters like this who then were the young, thiggush racists you avoided at all costs. Now in late middle age, Reform is their perfect home. They are the only party in town for that sort and whatever political legitmacy the party has, it will be dogged by this sort forever.
As for the so-called set-up, why would a jobbing actor ruin his entire career by appearing to be a vile, nasty racist turd on camera, an apprent ‘act’ he could never reveal? How much money would you need to be paid to do such a thing?
@Niemand, it’s also bemusing for people who see ‘crisis actors’, agents provocateurs and ‘fake news’ everywhere to turn 180° and see genuine public affection in every staged photo-op for their own party. Nazi Steve’s “and Farage has been filmed amongst smiling black kids demanding selfies with him” is probably the dumbest example I’ve heard for a while, but the campaign isn’t over yet, and began if I recall with questions about Tory ‘plants’ in audiences:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/23/questioners-at-sunak-warehouse-speech-turn-out-to-be-tory-councillors-derbyshire-euros-wales
Another issue touching on your point is the easy entry into police, army and other organisations by the far right since those days. Maybe the Met, MI5 or the Paras are as likely a ‘perfect home’ for NF types.
Immigration is great! The UK can strip Ghana of all it’s best doctors without having to educate anyone! I can get dinner delivered to my door by a Bengali on a bike! Honestly…. This is lazy global exploitation by the rich (yes, that’s you). At least the UK’s lower middle-class plumber party involves Nigel rather than Marine.
‘This is lazy global exploitation by the rich…’
No it’s not; it’s how the international labour market works. Where the movement of labour is free and unregulated, workers tend to migrate to where pay and conditions are better.
You mean labour goes to where the rich people live……
Not necessarily. A lot of rich people live in Ghana and Bengal (to use Satan’s examples).
Pay and conditions are better in Britain and Europe than elsewhere, which is why people come from elsewhere to work here.
I will never holiday in Clacton again.