UKIP and the Conservatives – more similarities than differences?

No control: Nigel Farage in front of one of his party's anti-immigration posters. He says he doesn't hate foreigners; judge for yourself. [Image: BBC]

No control: Nigel Farage in front of one of his party’s anti-immigration posters. He says he doesn’t hate foreigners; judge for yourself. [Image: BBC]

Isn’t it interesting that the first of the large political organisations to descend into UKIP-style racism is the Conservative Party?

The BBC has reported that both have lost council candidates after they made anti-Islamic comments on the social media.

From UKIP, Harry Perry (candidate in the Offerton Ward, Stockport) was suspended after calling for Pakistan to be “nuked”, saying David Cameron was a “gay-loving nutcase”, Muslims were “devil’s kids” and homosexuality an “abomination before God”.

UKIP’s official line is that it has started disciplinary proceedings against this man and did not condone his “crackpot” views.

Nigel Farage has admitted his party contains “some idiots”, but added that the reporting of such problems within UKIP was “disproportionate”.

Then along came David Bishop (candidate in Brentwood South, Essex) to prove that the Tories have these problems too.

This man has resigned from the party after passing messages including one that said Islam was “the religion of… rape” and another that read “How CAN a gay guy keep a straight face?”

In a statement, he said, “I recognise that someone standing for public office should show leadership and seek to unite communities, not divide them.”

Isn’t dividing communities what both the Conservatives and UKIP are best at?

Self-preservation society: The Tory "all in it together" attitude, clarified here by Conservative poster-boy Michael Caine.

Self-preservation society: The Tory “all in it together” attitude, clarified here by Conservative poster-boy Michael Caine.

The Conservatives want you to believe that “We are all in this together”, but it seems clear that some of us are more “in this” than others – are we all “in this” with the “scroungers”, or “skivers” (the Tory label for people their policies have forced out of work and onto the state benefits for which they have paid all their lives)? Are we all “in this” with our fellow citizens who were unfortunate enough not to “sound British” (like those who were stop-checked during Theresa May’s ‘Go Home’ van campaign last summer)? They were encouraging people to accuse their neighbours; how divisive can they get?

What about the changes to pensions? Are the MPs who have “transitional” protection that will allow them to draw their extremely large, taxpayer-funded pensions at the same time as they always expected “in this” with those of us who are now having to work six years longer than we planned?

Of course not.

As for UKIP, try this comment from a UKIP supporter on the Vox Political Facebook page: “Britain is now full of multiregional people from other countries, by winning their vote he can sort out the rubbish later & give Britain back to the English!”

(English? I wonder how the Welsh, Northern Irish, and particularly the referendum-bound Scottish react to that.)

This person continued: “Not racist, just plain common sense!!!! The British want their Britain back.”

I asked then – and I ask now: “Does that include the Afro-Caribbean British, the Indian-British, the Pakistani-British, the southeast-Asian-British, the Polish-British (including both recent arrivals and those who stayed after World War II), British people whose racial origins are from any other part of the former British Empire or current Commonwealth – or just white Anglo-Saxon Britons like you and me, who are in fact descended from people of French and German origin?”

(Even this omits another foreign-descended group – those with Viking blood.)

I could never use my vote to support anyone who put forward such vile opinions; they are not “common sense” and the people spouting them are those who have no place here.

It doesn’t matter where our ancestors were born – we are all One Nation now.

Follow me on Twitter: @MidWalesMike

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15 Comments

  1. Barry Davies May 4, 2014 at 11:01 am - Reply

    Ukip has similarities with labour as well because there are a huge amount of disillusioned labour supporters that have joined UKIP, part of the 70% that are not ex tory supporters. UKIP doesn’t have similarities with the only party never to have had a period of euroscepticism the lib dums though, even if some of their disillusioned supporters have joined. The racist argument is of course not based in any reality, because UKIP is multi ethnic in its make up, and when all is said and done is not xenophobic, because there is no fear of foreigners at all and not racist because wanting self governance and control of your borders is accepted as reasonable throughout the whole world, unless you are a racist europhile who thinks that the mainly white population of 28 of the european nations should have a freedom to migrate whilst the rest of the world, mainly non white doesn’t have the same rights. Europhiles are the racists in this argument, UKIP certainly is not, so the lib dums the tories and lately labour, who all support the racist notion that we have to have unfettered immigration from europe because British people are to idle to work and prefer to live it up on £70.00 a week, or the money they don’t get for being sanctioned for breathing to heavy when they have climbed the steps to the jobcentreplus fascist cave.

    I wonder just when Labour is going to do something about Diane Abotts racist tweets?

    • Mike Sivier May 4, 2014 at 11:07 am - Reply

      UKIP does have a few left-wing supporters, but this is because the party has hidden its extreme right-wing agenda from them.

      Your argument that UKIP is not racist is invalid. Look at the actions of members like Harry Perry. Interesting that you are now trying to turn that argument around and say that the rest of us are being racist by holding different views (albeit somewhat childish: “I’m not racist! You are!” What are you going to do next – say I pulled your hair and made you cry?)

      I note you go back to UKIP’s default – divisive – position by harping on about people who are “too idle” to work. Skivers and strivers again, is it? And you say your party isn’t like the Tories.

    • dgcarter1949Don Carter May 9, 2014 at 11:38 am - Reply

      Anyone who thinks that farage and UKIP are not racist should try the following simple exercise. Take any of Farage’s speeches on immigration. Wherever he mentions Immigrants foreigners, immigration etc, replace it with Jews, Judaism, jewish etc. Then whenever he mentions britain, British etc, replace those with German, germany etc. It starts to soubnd chillingly familiar.

      • Barry Davies May 13, 2014 at 9:33 pm - Reply

        Well if you actually listened to what he was saying you would realise that he is not racist if anything it is the opposite, it’s the eussr which stops people from the mainly coloured world having the same immigration rights as the mainly white eussr, UKIP want controlled immigration like 90% of the world has, that isn’t racist it’s sensible. Farage has a German wife which makes you post even more obnoxious.

        • Mike Sivier May 13, 2014 at 10:01 pm - Reply

          Barry, are you aware that the term ‘EUSSR’ for the EU had its origins in the rhetoric of the League of Empire Loyalists – a fascist group that founded the National Front with the British National Party and the Greater British Movement?
          Your use of the term defines your party’s place on the political spectrum.

  2. Damien Willey May 4, 2014 at 11:08 am - Reply

    (English? I wonder how the Welsh, Northern Irish, and particularly the referendum-bound Scottish react to that.)

    Much like the omitted Cornish(!) Incensed of course! But I’m more incensed at the number of people that still buy into UKIP – swallowing whatever the media throws at them rather than reading into it themselves, and lets face it, the media is giving Farage a ridiculous amount of screen time! Every other news story, hes there and oh look, he’s on question time AGAIN this coming week…..

    • Mike Sivier May 4, 2014 at 11:11 am - Reply

      Oh yes, the Cornish! In my defence, I was thinking of the countries of the UK, three of which had been ignored by the commenter. Cornish people are a recognised minority whose home is part of England.

      I do agree with you about the time being given to Nigel Farage.

      • robinmcburnie May 4, 2014 at 2:07 pm - Reply

        Going by his questionable employment policy, and a few other bits surely Monsieur Farage (a Belgian sounding name if ever I heard one – that comment would make him choke on his beer) perhaps Time should be called on his time in the media and he should simply be doing time?

      • jess May 4, 2014 at 8:25 pm - Reply

        The Celtic League admitted both Kernow and Mannin as full members when they were formed in 1961, they maybe they should be included too?
        http://www.celticleague.net/about-us/

  3. robinmcburnie May 4, 2014 at 12:39 pm - Reply

    Excellent post! I agree with all of it bar the very last few words “and the people spouting them are those who have no place here”

    Britain has always been relatively understanding of nutters. Of course they should never be allowed to go unchallenged and there is, , no place for them in government of any sort.

    Perhaps the ballot papers should have a reminder on them “Voting for vicious, self-obsessed sociopaths could seriously harm your country and your humanity”.

    More seriously this is leading to more and politicians pointing fingers at each other, supported by whichever media sources are ‘on their side’ simply saying “They are worse than us!”. At a time like this we need to see politicians who are willing to take the lead and put forward what good things they have to offer and be willing to have those ideas properly evaluated and challenged in an intelligent way.

    Oh, sorry shouldn’t comment on posts while “Imagine” is playing on next door’s radio…

  4. david May 4, 2014 at 1:33 pm - Reply

    Unfortunately Islamophobia and general xenophobia seems to be part of the British psyche. Even back in the 16th and 18th C it was rampant and used by the powers that be for their own ends. OK we had just had a German King imposed on us by parliament but the island mentality will probably continue. Interesting article that covers early an example of this http://www.brunel.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/185854/ET53AljenfawiEd.pdf

    • jess May 4, 2014 at 8:57 pm - Reply

      Thanks for the link. An interesting read.

      I had assumed that the attacks on islam would have their roots in that nasty old bigot, Count Gobineau, especially in his writings about Persia, and what we now call the ‘Middle East.

  5. jaypot2012 May 4, 2014 at 3:34 pm - Reply

    I hate this run up to the next election – a whole twelve months of non stop bleating and dummies being thrown out of prams. This year is going to be worse of course due to Ukip supporters who don’t even know what the policies are, what the backgrounds of members are (we’ve had enough of a historian running a budget!)
    I’m in Scotland and doubt very much we’ll get a Ukip gaining anything in the European elections, certainly not the referendum and definitely as an MP.
    I would not vote for Ukip if my life depended on it – too many tories and far too many crackpots.

  6. jaypot2012 May 4, 2014 at 3:34 pm - Reply

    Reblogged this on Jay's Journal and commented:
    You can see I’m not a lover of Ukip…

  7. amnesiaclinic May 4, 2014 at 5:58 pm - Reply

    I think Farage has done a good job in the EU parliament highlighting the unpopular, unelected fascist government there.
    But all the rest is a distraction – the usual divide and rule tactics while the agenda rolls on.
    It’s the system which is totally corrupt and voting for it makes you complicit with it.

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