Bastards – Sometimes I really think the British system is out to make life as irritatingly difficult as possible. I turned up in good faith to the count this evening, of course I had to queue to have my name checked and whilst I was waiting I felt what it must have been like to fly too close to the sun as Kilroy-Silk breezed in (suffice to say he didn’t have to join the queue or have his ID verified) all the TV flunkies shadowing the ponce in etc. Anyway there was a cock up, only 5 names had been put down for Respect, out of the usually allocated 8, and only 2 of the 5 given were local and 1 of them was away for the weekend, I don’t need to say that I wasn’t amongst the list so I wasn’t especially chuffed.

It all went bad after that, the votes started being counted and it was looking that the positioning was Tory then UKIP then Labour, Lib Dem, BNP and us with the Greens last of the mains it is looking like that situation may be plaining out a little but even so it has not been a strong night for us. This is an absolutely appaling result for anyone on the left because the real victories have been for anyone to the right of Genghis Khan. I am very worried about the BNP proportion because they are polling high %s, not enough to get them widely elected but it is worrying when you consider that the Tories are doing ok, tho’ so far not as well as they may have hoped their % is down but they are still getting the majority of seats, and the UK Independence Party are also polling high numbers that means that the share of vote for right-wing parties is high (and bear in mind I’m being kind not putting Labour in with that lot.) The worst thing for Respect is that I’m not sure that we will actually hold our deposit in any regions which is going to cripple the party because we were sufficiently skint that people were actually putting the deposit money on their credit cards and not getting that money back is going to be costly. You see non-UK readers I don’t know how it works in other countries but of course in the UK taking part in the ‘democratic’ process is an expensive business you have to pay about £5000 to stand in an election, now this is nothing for the big parties who can pop this money up and still have ample for nice advert campaigns. For us we had very little else left after that, I hoped that the Anti-war vote might have at least carried us thru’ the 5% share threshold and then we would have secured the deposit but it looks not.

What worries me is what tonight will mean for the genuine Left? I hope that we will have a good national conference that will inject a bit more feeling in terms of where we go from here but there is a very serious danger that it is going to lead to a split because of the existing disagreements that will need to be sorted, those people who decided to compromise in an effort to just push for electoral success in a short period of time. Now it will be seen that in spite of the compromises we didn’t get the votes and the Left didn’t turn out in huge numbers and nor did the Muslim community -even I can’t help feeling that this made a mockery of naming the party on the election forms ‘Respect (George Galloway)’ which was a move I was not comfortable with but went along with if the publicity was to work and give a platform for the party to build.

It’s difficult for me not to make a sweeping statement about this bloody country and the fucking people here but I will try to refrain. What people don’t seem to understand is that the Tory Eurosceptics and UKIP and the BNP want to remove Britain from the EU not to really help the people but because they don’t like Johnny Foreigner and because there is a rump of business that doesn’t wish to be beholden to EU employment legislation and such like. Furthermore the Labour Lim Dem etc. Europhiles don’t want to be in Europe for the people either they’ve got a fair whack of TNC business support who like trade subsidies. There are very few parties who say look let’s be European as a people not a trade block let’s reform the whole setup to reflect people’s needs not corporate profit. It looks to me now that the British aren’t interested in that and that does make me wonder whether they ever will. So ‘fuck off then’ I hear some say, would that it were that easy, if I didn’t have responsibilities here I’d probably go, but the question then is where to? Obviously Belgium is now out with their votes for the fascists.

Yes I’m demoralised, yes I’m dissolutioned, it is a feeling I haven’t had to deal with before because altho’ Tory victories in the 80s/90s were hard to bear inthe 80s I was still at school so things didn’t effect me personally and I only became politically cogniscent from around 1987, and in ’92 I lived in Germany so I didn’t feel the level of dejection felt by most of the left in this country. Besides this is the first time I have ever been actually involved and what a baptism, part of me wants to retreat back to the shadowy world of underground politics whence I came and another is waiting for some glimmer of hope to just kick start that feeling that we can do something and should at least try. The fact that this has been an abysmal result for Labour gives me little comfort because altho’ they don’t represent me at all there are still many comrades who believe in similar things to me who are still part of the Labour party for better or worse.

A strange thing is that I have had a number of Deja vues this evening so perhaps I knew it was going to be like this all along.

Still, every cloud has a silver lining and small tho’ it may be ‘Allez Les Bleus’! (Sorry Jimmy)

Song Of The Day – The The ~ Soul Mining

Original Comments:


Rachel made this comment,
hmm…apparently british politics aren’t as different as i thought they were. the bottom line is still a dictatorship, or something to that effect.
Visit me @ http://palmysinfullbloom.blog-city.com

comment added :: 14th June 2004, 02:24 GMT+01
A visitor made this comment,
I am so sorry for your disillusionment and dismay. My suggestion is to read (or re-read) The Birds, by Aristophanes and then, go gdrink until the numbness sets in. By the way, your comment today made me HOWL with laughter. HOWL. Thanks for the laughter– it’s the best gift going.
bluepoppy

comment added :: 14th June 2004, 04:11 GMT+01
A visitor made this comment,
Hi, and thanks for your comment. I completely agree with you: Usa never let her foreign policy be influenced by anyone; it has always gone this way. But things changes for what concerns economy. Once it was possible to close the doors and to switch off the telephone; today one has to think well before doing.
Europeans yesterday punished their governements not for the position they took on the war, but for the way they managed economy.
This may sound as an alarm ring for Bush too; that is what I meant when I wrote that the european results may influence him.
Just a few words on the war in Irak.
I believe, and I’m sorry to believe it, that Bush was forced to attack Irak quickly: France, Germany and others clearly had their responsabilities in this. I hope that soon America becomes stronger and that no Mr Chirac and no Mr Schroeder can oblige her to use the force instead of the policy.
Sorry if I was too long.
roberto

comment added :: 14th June 2004, 11:35 GMT+01
A visitor made this comment,
I’m sorry to say that, according to me, you photographed the real situation. About 9/11 I have some strange opinions, but I keep for myself: they are really too stupid opitions.
Many now want a change, I’m trying to give my little help so that America may change. Maybe it is not the real changement, but BUSH AWAY would be a better situation for all, a good start. A part this, here I’m trying to be realistic, but I do am a dreamer and I love all the dreamers of this mad world. Ciao!
roberto

comment added :: 14th June 2004, 12:39 GMT+01
David S made this comment,
tough luck Red, bad idea to have George Galloway as you figurehead for your party, seeing as he has a dodgy past and all. Well I’m not happy either with the BNP and the BNP in Blazers party doing well, but as you say silver linig is, Allez les Blue
Visit me @ http://glasgowdave.blog-city.com

comment added :: 14th June 2004, 12:43 GMT+01
john made this comment,
George Galloway may have a dodgy image, but so does bloody Kilroy-Silk and every old lady in the country must have voted for his lot just because the want to be able to buy a ‘quarter’ of spam.
Visit me @ http://bigjohn.blog-city.com/

[Redbaron responds – I have to concur entirley John, I actually stood in the smae room as Kilroy-Git and it was not a pleasant experience. The way he conducts himself is exactly how you would expect the man is a ponce. Now I disagreed with the politics of many there yesterday but I now know the reason K-G is so tanned it is becuase he spends so much time basking in his own ego!]

comment added :: 14th June 2004, 16:38 GMT+01
protagonist made this comment,
sorry you are frustrated. in america i am so friggin frustrated with both this inane government and the inane people who are stupid enough to vote for them. i am horrified that there is a chance bush will be reelected. i mean, it isn’t enough that over 800 kids died in an unnecessary war, that was waged over a series of lies and misrepresentations, that we are going into debt, that important social and educational programs are being cut. and still people will vote for bush because they lack the two brain cells to see any of this. not that politics is good anywhere, but anything has to be better than this.
sorry the votes and such aren’t going well. that sucks. good luck, buddy.

[Redbaron responds – Thanks mate, I tell you after the election results here, I feel your pain and I hope yours doesn’t go as badly as ours. Rome wasn’t built in a day is precious little consolation eh?!]

comment added :: 14th June 2004, 17:56 GMT+01
Pimme made this comment,
No matter where you live, there will always be people who support the parties that will ruin the nation. Whether they don’t care or don’t understand this is moot. It just sucks, period.
Visit me @ http://pimme.blog-city.com

comment added :: 15th June 2004, 00:41 GMT+01
protagonist made this comment,
the alter ego of the protagonist seconds the above. my mother, age 60, informed me last night that for the first time in her life she is ashamed of her nation’s behavior. that’s saying something.
yea, we jolly americans will re-elect (actually elect for the first time) our moronic president because it is easier to roll with it than to stand up and do something and risk having your toes run over. people vote their fears, not their hopes.

comment added :: 15th June 2004, 01:10 GMT+01
Rachel made this comment,
well, maybe the war only went on for six years, but apparently (?) hitler was scheming long before that. although england was our ally for WWII, has england really been involved in anything nationally related? lately?
Visit me @ http://palmysinfullbloom.blog-city.com

comment added :: 15th June 2004, 02:18 GMT+01