Now that the general election has been called, the gloves are off for just about everyone. It seems that to Theresa May, now is an opportune time to seek another election. Now, being just after Article 50 has been triggered meaning in her own words that there is no turning back from what will be a period of gross uncertainty for this country. This is on top of the soon to be published results of the Crown Prosecution Service investigation into Tory election spending, and what that may entail for over thirty of their MPs.
But what’s possibly even more sinister about current happenings in politics? The rise of dangerous rhetoric such the Daily Mail’s interpretation of Theresa May’s desire to ‘crush the saboteurs’ should be a good contender. Despite condemning it, her smear against the other parties as wreckers of Brexit panders to those who confuse a strong hand in the coming EU negotiations and a strong country united behind a powerful leader. Indeed, as always, the Tories have been quick to scapegoat anything that can let them convince people they represent their interests.
The ‘others’, meaning those who have come to Britain to make better lives for themselves and their families are the ones under attack but not those who hold the real power. They are of course the employers who stage a tragic race to the bottom for the wages and job opportunities of the burgeoning precariat class in our society, whose role is to provide expendable labour power to those who can exploit them most efficiently.
But why phrase it in those terms? It would be simpler for a Conservative politician to talk about a ‘strong country’, more ‘security’ and foreign policy driven by the ‘British National Interest’ rather than broadening or even maintaining human rights. Similar in some ways, in fact, to the 2005 BNP manifesto. Former British Ambassador Craig Murray has pointed this out, also highlighting the fact that on issues such as the NHS and local government accountability, the Tories are EVEN MORE right-wing than the BNP!
How many more leaves should she take out of the BNPs book in order to win this squalid election? As well as blaming immigrants for the severe economic woes of citizens, May wants to increase military spending whilst reducing development aid, a path already well beaten by the BNP. Their 2005 manifesto mentioned the voluntary registration of immigrants, followed by ‘assisted’ registration after that. It also claims that:
“The human need to belong is best met at a ‘tribal’ level, and the best way to avoid such tribalism leading in turn to clashes with other tribes is to encourage its realization at the level of a genuine nation-state, particularly one whose dominant political elite regard their primary duty as being to mind their own nation’s business and looking after their own people. This half-way house between the expansionist Empire and the nihilistic football gang is the best hope for peace.”
Sound familiar to anyone at all?
But would the Tories turn to such blatant language in order to achieve their goals? Wouldn’t they have some prevailing sense of decency throughout all this? Yeah right. If they are willing to scapegoat those whose only crime is being different, surely this despicable tack cannot be ruled out. They’ve proven time and again that the suffering of the poor is simply none of their concern, all the while ruthlessly taking to task anyone or anything they consider a threat. That includes taking advantage of those who can’t defend themselves.
So when will the voices of fairness and social justice be heard? Doesn’t everyone in our society, the sixth richest one in the world, deserve to be looked after? Or is identification and solidarity with the entire human race in the pursuit of a better world, in the words of the BNP in their Manifesto, an “intellectual fantasy”?
Try asking a Tory.
