New Labour has officially voted to support austerity, benefit cuts, government spending cuts, Trident missiles and rail privatisation, and done so without serious internal opposition. Polly Toynbee reckons that this is a sign of maturity, and that it is great that the party now has the approval of “Westminster” – her word, not mine.
She hails this as a return to the “spirit of 97”, and commends the wise advice of Tony Blair.
Scotland faces a stark choice between making its own way in the world, or continuing Tory economic policy that negates the idea of community.
So the choice at Westminster is the Proper Tories, that went to Eton and Oxford, or the Wannabe Tories, who missed out on the Eton experience. There used to be a third party too. Wonder what happened to them?
Seems plain to me what we have to do, unless, of course, our name starts with Rt Hon, or Your Grace.
Miranda’s malevolent mug – the stuff of nightmares indeed – from yesterday’s Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/10980546/Tony-Blair-I-believe-Scots-will-reject-independence.html
Polly Toynbee!!??
Living proof that fact really is stranger than fiction. Why she is employed (other than swinging a mop somewhere) and why people seem to take her seriously I will never understand.
Richard
She inherited a great deal of money. She would never swing a mop – she has people to do that for her.
The stuff of nightmares indeed. The good people of Scotland are charged with morality. Endure and accept the direction of establishment conditioning that begets divide over it’s lies and murder of the innocent;
or not…
Hint: Community is key.
Tris,
Not as plain as you suggest. My name is not preceded by the Rt Hon or Your Grace and I am still voting No in September.
Oh dear! A socialist philosopher king proclaiming the virtues of community. Guaranteed division can only ensue when his glorious State increases its hand in social affairs. Scotland’s ‘brave new future’ awaits.
The Westminster Metropolitan Elite is now totally disconnected with the real people of the U.K. Worse than that, as you point out, Craig, their policies are three shades of blue and there is really only a sheet of Izal’s thickness between them. Add to that the fact that they are mostly sold out to “Outside Interests”. Scotland would be well advised to go for independence. Pity England can’t!
@Tris & Craig – i’m not sure any of this is ‘Tory’ policy – if it was it’d be a damn sight more logical – this is some kind of amalgamated, focus group derived, metro-sexual, Islington bubble, triangulated, drivellous exposition of wedge issues whilst everyone else shouts – ‘but look at that fucking massive elephant!’ For Tories it should be the debt but it ain’t and for Labour it should be social justice but it ain’t.
I don’t know what the hells gone on with these political parties but to call them Tories or Labour is an insult to us dies in the wool Tories (in my case) and many of my socialist chums. Our main political chats these days start and finish with despair at the PR oriented empty shirt shits currently popped into authority by their daddies or mummies.
Toynbee is chair of an “equal opportunities” arts institution that refuses to pay staff a living wage.
She is a queen of hypocritical liberal lefty gatekeepers.
Correction:
Low pay campaigner Toynbee is chair of an “equal opportunities” arts institution that refuses to pay staff a living wage.
She is a queen of hypocritical liberal lefty gatekeepers.
Porkfright
“The Westminster Metropolitan Elite is now totally disconnected with the real people of the U.K.”
It has always been thusly*.
Dtp
“I don’t know what the hells gone on with these political parties”
Business as usual perchance*.
*In support of Ben’s Bring Back The Talk Of Yonderyear campaign
—
This idea of an estranged politcial class as a recent phenomena is codswollop that serves to defend the status quo by projecting the illusion we are merely in a slump.
If the Labour party proposed handing out free orphans to paedophiles Toynbee would come out in support. The woman’s an idiot and I wonder why anybody bothers to read her column let alone why the Guardian pays her to write it.
She is not by any shape or form a left thinking person she is a typical middle class airhead,she also performs the roll of a so called conciance of the caring middle class,if push comes to shove she would revert to type and sell out the working class like the numerous forbears have done since universal sufferage.
Tris
“Seems plain to me what we have to do,”
_________________
Which is….what?
Do enlighten us.
re Polly Toynbee
“She would never swing a mop – she has people to do that for her.”
_____________________
Provides employment, Craig.
Labour need a new leader in October… as long as not another Blairite. It is a very sad state of affairs if a political party has to follow the narrative of the mainstream media, rather than creating a narrative of their own.
Quality thread
Hold back what I said earlier. Miliband now seems to have discovered his vertebrae:
“UK shadow govt leader opposes Israeli invasion”
http://rt.com/uk/174668-miliband-opposition-israel-gaza/
Re. Miliband: It took him a fortnight, and he’s not exactly been leading the charge. Funny how it always takes a fortnight after the bombardment of Gaza starts before some weak acknowledgement that you know, it may be a bit over the top (but Israel must of course defend itself by means which have been tried and tested to fail repeatedly) is allowed to emerge, innit?
Re Toynbee -no need to get personal. She’s always wrong. End of
Re Blair – a concerted effort to rehabilitate this shitstain on the toilet paper of history is currently under way, with Progress hacks penning daily apologiae and Blair denying that £30 M in property alone rather argues against his claim of owning less than £20M*. More on this as time goes on, of course.
*£20M is by a strange coincidence the cash balance of the two companies in his asset-concealing setup for which books are required, with a few thousand more in the shells set up to exploit partnership rules. But two others, Firerush Ventures LP and Windrush Ventures LP do not have to produce books at all and are the real cash sinks, to all appearances. If Blair wants to prove his ‘integrity’ (using the term loosely) all he needs to do is account for what’s going on in his LP’s. Maybe we could see what he’s up to in Gibraltar, too. Oh, and there’s probably a trust fund or two in there as well.
Scotland/England are fascist police states.
Keep paying your taxes, permits,licence fees and fines. Do what you are told, shut up and keep voting for more of the same. Welcome to the gulags where you get to pay for your own enslavement.