As per hostly suggestion, here is a new thread on UK politics. What is the government up to? Who is the real opposition? Why are Reform getting so much promotion?
Anything about UK politics is welcome.
I will start. Should Westminster ignore voices like Musk or Trump?
Comments
Well, in fairness, who would you say gets mentioned more often here on the Ship? Farage, or the Green Party leaders?
Farage, but only because he's not popular
Bingo.
Also, they're a threat to the established order in a way the Greens and Lib Dems just aren't. Nothing sells papers/gets clicks like a viable threat to the established order.
Furthermore, they are the British manifestation of a seemingly global trend (in the democracies, anyway) towards populist right wing parties and politics - part of an apparent sea change in popular political sentiment that may well be unrivalled in living memory and could dramatically change the political landscape for decades to come. Again, nobody could say that of the Greens and Lib Dems with anything like a straight face.
That's kinda my point. Seemingly disproportionate media-attention to Farage might be justified on the grounds that he provokes a lot of controversy.
(And, yes, I realize there's a chicken/egg question here: maybe he's only able to provoke controversy because the media gives him attention in the first place. Though I suspect most progressives would be happy with him getting a lot of media attention, IF they thought it was turning people against him.)
The coverage of Farage et al predates that level of popular support.
What has he said that is racist ?
The whole discussion of grooming gangs is racist, in varying degrees. Jenrick is ratcheting it up, no doubt for his own career.
Guess which course of action the paedophiles would prefer?
Directly, yes. But the populist right fascists are winning globally, including here in the UK; Badenoch, Jenrick, Farage.
Good summary. I would add that the right wing are trying to turn it into a race war. How successful that will be with the great British public, I don't know.
They have been since the beginning. The Right Wing version is "Lefty Councils Let Muslims Rape White Girls Because They Don't Want To Upset Muslims."
Muslim of course code for South Asian.
Except most of the young men involved were born in Britain, they've not been "transplanted" anywhere, and presumably are as capable as the next man of seeking hookups with adults on Tindr. Instead they decided to rape kids.
I should point out that the report published in November on grooming gangs specifically does contain an ethnicity breakdown (p17), and that of the offenders is largely in line with proportions of the population:
https://www.hydrantprogramme.co.uk/assets/Documents/CSE-Taskforce-Group-Based-Offending-Publication-November-2024.pdf
Well, yes. And in the case of the specific practices we are talking about; Nick Davies wrote Dark Heart in the 90s, and it sunk without much of a trace.
Teenage girls being picked up from school by their much older 'boyfriends' was enough of a cultural phenomena to have made it into light entertainment ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita,_Sue_and_Bob_Too )
And of course the practices of radio DJs and rock stars has been well documented, and the specific reaction some of Saville's victims received has many similarities in the cases referenced above.
The enquiry into child abuse is an Epiphanies topic. If you want to keep discussing it, please start a new thread over there.
Hostly beret off
la vie en rouge, Purgatory host
What does "Ascot" refer to here?
Royal Ascot races.
Here's a guide to the "alien culture" in question:
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/g61191876/all-the-photos-2024-royal-ascot/
(changed link, because there was a paywall)
I fully endorse Reeve's and Starmer's budget, but they will not be forgiven. Utilitarian economics are not in the Overton Window in the UK & US, or anywhere in Europe as far as I'm aware. Immigration is key everywhere, but nowhere has the infrastructure; housing on up (schools, hospitals).