(not satire – it’s the Lib Dems!)
Two years ago I would have been surprised to learn there could be any connection between the supposedly centrist Liberal Democrat Party and the far-right English Democrats.
But since then, the Lib’ Dem’s full support of the right-wing Tory agenda in the coalition has changed my opinion and now I see them very much as a party on the right of the UK political spectrum.
Still – it’s a bit of a shock to learn the extremist English Democrat candidate in the Eastleigh by-election is a former Liberal Democrat constituency party chairman and election agent.
Looks like I need to be shifting the Lib Dems even further to the right on the spectrum – somewhere around where the right-wing of the Tory Party and the left-wing of the BNP meets.
Maybe the Tories, UKIP, BNP, English Democrats and the Lib’ Dem’s should form an electoral pact at the next general election?
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Fresh outbreak of Foot-in-Mouth in Eastleigh as attempts to quarantine Tory candidate fail
Revealed! Nick Clegg’s secret love going back to his student days
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Please feel free to comment – you don’t need to register and I’m extremely minimal with the moderating – so please go ahead.
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jaynel62 said:
I’m petrified and disgusted by the rise of the far-right amongst main stream Politics, but more so by the large number of common people who support their agenda.
I don’t feel as I belong anywhere any more!?
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Tom Pride said:
There are plenty of us who are shocked by the acceptance of what used to be far-right ideas into the main stream.
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English Passport said:
It is true that Michael Walters has moved from the Liberal Democrats to the English Democrats, as did David Wildgoose (who stood in Rotherham) – what is not true is that the English Democrats is NOT far right – i quick read of their manifesto, clearly shows moderate, logical and sensible policies.
I would suggest that the author of this blog has seen the word “English” and jumped to a bigotted conclusion – I would suggest to engage brain, next time ?
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Mark Thompson said:
‘Far right’ lol I dont think you lot even understand the political spectrum. These so called far right parties are not on the traditional left or right. They simply want their country back.
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Mark Thompson said:
I couldnt put it better myself.
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Tom Pride said:
Mark and English Passport – it’s a truism in politics that nobody thinks they’re an extremist. I would suggest that the sentence “they simply want their country back” is an example of far-right ideology.
In a way though I agree with you. Right and Left isn’t a great way to describe political opinion. I prefer ‘authoritarian’ and ‘libertarian’.
The EDP looks distinctly authoritarian to me – especially on the issue of immigration.
Anyway, here’s the EDP manifesto if anyone wants to join in the conversation:
English Democrats – Putting England First
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English Passport said:
Do you think the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Fein to be extreme ?
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Tom Pride said:
Well OK I take your point – that just being in favour of English self-determination as a policy in itself isn’t necessarily extreme.
As far as I can tell – the SNP, PC and SF don’t have much to say about multiculturalism and immigration. In fact all 3 of those parties seem to me to be pretty ‘lefty’ about those issues – unlike the EDP. If the EDP wants to get rid of the extremist label – you would have to come out pretty strongly against the knee-jerk anti-immigrant/multiculturalism elements and put a stop to any BNP entryism you’ve been accused of.
But to do that would lose you quite a bit of support, wouldn’t it?
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rainbowwarriorlizzie said:
Reblogged this on HUMAN RIGHTS & POLITICAL JOURNAL and commented:
In Solidarity!
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bookwormbc said:
In fact all of the nationalist parties have rascist origins. Plaid Cymru was founded by people who believed in racial theory and the innate superiority of the Celt – and some still do; read any history book by a gentleman called Beresford-Ellis and you will see what I mean. Beresford-Ellis believes that domestic violence is a ‘German trait’ and did not exist in Celticdom! There were two Scottish nationalist parties up until the 1950’s, and at least one of them embraced racial theory, and finally the traditional IRA considered that all Ulster protestants were not simply religiously different but also racially different. The IRA bombing campaigns of the thirties and fifties targated enemies for racial as well as religious reasons. The breach between the Traditional and Provisional IRA was the consequence of a change in idealogy, from race hate to class hate. Interestingly all three have been accepted by the political ‘mainstream’.
All the political parties engage in subvert racism when it suits them. If a candidate has not been born in, breathed the air, suckled the milk, grown the crops of the Gorballs or Orpington; ‘They are not from around here’, they are other, alien. And it must be said that over the years in by-elections the Liberals have played this card most often and very effectively. It is subtle and all parties do it but do we really have to have councillors and MPs who are relatives in order to vote for them?
But Mr Pride, you have ignored the Labour Candidate, this sparkling pillar of virtue. He does not hate. I will not repeat the comments that have been made about his near orgasm at the thought of Margaret Thatcher being killed by an IRA bomb in 1984. Some folks get their rocks off in strange ways. This has been answered very well by Norman Tebbit today – which is does John O’Farrell hate so much that he approves of what the IRA did to Mrs Tebbit? The answer is obvious, yes he does. I will go on to his incite that it would have been better for Britain to have lost the Falklands War. How many dead British soldiers, how many maimed and wounded, how many ships and plains, would need to be sacrificed to meet the political aspirations of this champion of the people? How many Falkland Islanders would have to be raped, driven out or join the ranks of the ‘Disappeared’ before Mr O’Farrell would be satisfied?
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Tom Pride said:
bookwormbc – very interesting info about the nationalist parties. I’ll check it out.
As for Mr O’Farrell – well he’s going to come 4th in the election so he’s not really all that important enough to satirise.
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bookwormbc said:
Just a sign of how much perceptions have changed – and in the 50’s how difficult it was to be a nationalist of any description. The first series of the Avengers, depicted the three avengers, Patrick Macnee, Ian Hendrie and Honor Blackman; saving the country from a Hitler like charismatic figure, who intended to creat a free Scotland, with himself, (who else?) as the dictator of free Scotland. I believe the would be dictator was acted by the gentleman who played Quatermous?I doubt that is the right spelling! in the original, also black and white science fiction series.I do not know whether the Avengers was taped and if it was whether that episode has been preserved, but I am sure it would be more interesting now than it was then – at that time the script was deemed incredible.
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Michael Walters said:
In my unreported speech at the count, I pointed out that we were not the EDL and in Medway I was invited to a Holocaust Memorial Service by Churches together and the local authority, I told UKIP and the Tories to not blame Eastern European Migrants for problems of their own making, and pointed out that we stood an Eastern European Lady for Rochester in the 2011 council elections. I also pointed out that we had a zero tolerance policy towards Racism ! We knew there was an active anti Eng Dem campaign by ultra left UAF which was why I was asked to stand. Technically it was an advertising triumph in an area where we have zero members.
Clearly you must think that right wing . To a communist we are all right wing.
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Tom Pride said:
Michael – your comment was spoiled by your very last sentence which somewhat proves my point. Only someone who was far-right on the political spectrum would think someone like me was a Communist.
But to answer your other points. As I wrote above to English Passport – I don’t think having a policy of wanting an English parliament is far right-wing per se. However, the whole discussion about wanting anything to be ‘English’ is certainly authoritarian because it would mean at some point the state having to officially divide everyone in the country into ‘English’ and ‘non-English’. That fact in itself is authoritarian and not libertarian.
There is also the other little problem the EDP have of BNP entryism into the party – people such as Chris Beverley, Eddy Butler, Jim Dowson, Paul Golding and Mark Collett.
All of those people were BNP bigwigs and are now EDP bigwigs.
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