The Times They Are A-Changin’: Makerfield, the Battle for Britain’s Soul

 

“Somebody gotta save my soul”

 

Without wishing to overdramatise the situation, the Makerfield byelection is likely to influence British politics for years to come.

 

Luke Tryl, the director of the research group More in Common, said of the byelection : “We have two amazing forces playing against each other – the demographics of the seat, which all point to a Reform win, versus Burnham’s personal factor.

“It makes the result really consequential. If Labour can’t win they may as well pack up and go home. If they do win, all bets are off in terms of the prime minister’s future.”

If Burnham were to lose to Reform, Starmer would remain in place, but he would be terminally wounded, facing a Farage buoyed up by victory. Challenges would soon follow, be that from Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner or Ed Miliband. But, as a result, Labour’s 2024 offer of dull stability would become a repeat of the chaotic Tory years.

Voters expected change, change requires a radical rethink. Tax changes need to look beyond mansion tax or non-doms, neither of which will raise the revenue needed. Then there is growth, we need a return to the Britain that made goods the world wanted. There also needs to be clarity on place in the world now that the US seems to be as much a foe as it was friend.

Clearly the final point isn’t a question Reform will be asking as we line-up to become Trump’s bitch.

 

‘the final point isn’t a question Reform will be asking as we line-up to become Trump’s bitch’

 

Farage, the Reform leader, is likely the most divisive mainstream British politician in my memory. He is also one of the most acquisitive, seeking to monetise every opportunity. However, this continues to be swept under the carpet along with his schoolboy antisemitism, as the predominantly right-wing UK media prove the saying that love is blind. A luxury not accorded to Angela Rayner whose tax issues were played out on the front page of the Daily Mail.

Readers will no doubt be aware of Farage’s £5m gift from Christopher Harborne, the crypto billionaire.

After keeping the money under wraps for two-years, we were told the money was “to support Nigel’s security not just now but for the rest of his life.”

Now, we are being told that the money was a “reward” for campaigning for Brexit. Quite why someone residing in Thailand was grateful for Brexit escapes me!

Referring to his Brexit campaigning, Farage said: “it’s very unusual for someone to give up 27 years of their life to campaign for something”. Clearly he forgot that, as an MEP, he once boasted of claiming £2m in expenses alone in just over 10-years

Farage also said the gift was “purely private” and “wasn’t political in any sense at all”.

 

‘Quite why someone residing in Thailand was grateful for Brexit escapes me!’

 

This was revealed in an interview with the Sun, in which when asked whether “he who pays the piper picks the tune”, the Reform leader said: “I can’t be bought by anybody.”

Coincidently, shortly after receiving the gift, Farage bought a £1.4m house.

A Reform UK spokesperson said: “Mr Farage had already passed proof of funds and the relevant checks before receiving the gift. The purchase was therefore already proceeding independently of it.”

In the same month, Farage also applied for planning permission to redevelop one of his Kent coastal homes, and then his partner, Laure Ferrari, bought the Clacton property outright for about £900,000 in November of that year.

To paraphrase Four Weddings and a Funeral; “… that Farage bloke’s doing terribly well.…”

 

“… that Farage bloke’s doing terribly well.…”

 

Speaking of all things fascist we turn to this weekends ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally, which, if anything is likely to disunite the kingdom.

Clearly, learning from Farage and Trump, the rally resembled a burgeoning multimedia enterprise flogging merchandise on the back of a platform that has increasingly added Christian nationalism to its anti-Islam message.

Christian iconography was particularly visible, with marchers helping themselves to piles of large wooden crosses left out on the route while evangelical preachers joined Robinson on stage and Christian activists in the crowd handed out free copies of leaflets and books.

Alongside a proliferation of the flags of St George and union jacks, there was also the flag of Israel – hoisted by long-term Robinson supporters but also by groups with T-shirts saying things such as “Jews for Tommy” – and the flag of Persia, or pre-revolutionary Iran, with a golden lion and sun at its centre.

Somewhat confusingly, another white nationalist group, the White Vanguard, carried banners saying: “End Zionist Occupation of Britain, Stop White Replacement.”

As a spokesperson for Amnesty International observed, Tommy Robinson aims to “whip up hatred towards Muslims, migrants and people of colour”.

 

‘Farage and his hordes don’t have a clue, its pub politics. For proof there is no need to look beyond his only political achievement; Brexit!’

 

This rally is driven by a vicious combination of tech companies profiting off the amplification of hate online, “funding by the likes of US tech billionaire Robert Shillman to further their own agendas and the scapegoating of migrants and people of colour for rising inequality by media commentators. Instead of countering this narrative, we have seen politicians responding by doubling down on racist rhetoric.”

Amnesty called on the government to “do more to protect racialised communities from this rising tide of violence and hate, and stop us going down this dangerous path.”

 

‘Whilst Labour under Burnam might not be everyone’s chosen solution, it is a great deal better than a disunited kingdom based on divisiveness, hate and intolerance’

 

The flyers handed out to people marching summed it up; “In a country saturated with degenerates, grifters and imported political enemies … We are a brotherhood of White Europeans who share the same values.”

The reality of all this is simple.

Whilst Labour under Burnam might not be everyone’s chosen solution, it is a great deal better than a disunited kingdom based on divisiveness, hate and intolerance.

Farage and his hordes don’t have a clue, its pub politics. For proof there is no need to look beyond his only political achievement; Brexit!

 

“And I’m the world’s forgotten boy”

 

 

A somewhat evocative title this week, but it really does feel as if everything is predicated on this byelection.

If Burnham wins he can challenge Starmer for the leadership. He might not be the answer but his track record in Manchester suggests someone who thinks outside the box and gets things done.

What we don’t need is a lame-duck Labour government, suffering a personality crisis and not knowing what it is, let alone what to do.

Should Reform win, then Labour and Starmer aside, Farage will assume the mantle, and fancy himself as having a clear  run to No.10.

Farage is seemingly as non-stick as Trump brushing off scandal after scandal as mere irritations. That is, of course, the beauty of a right-wing, rather nasty media.

It really is that simple!

Good old Wes set the cat amongst the pigeons by supporting BrexIN. Readers should worry, it could lead to a whole new column!

This weekend’s fascist rally summed-it all up. Christian nationalism, national populism, a sea of divisiveness and hate. It just isn’t nice!

Looking at the crowd it resembled an England away game — the shot when they are pictured outside a bar. A group of white shaven-headed men, bedecked in flags singing songs about the war, whilst bemused locals look-on thinking the war ended in 1945.  

Lyrically, it’s the classic “Search and Destroy” by The Stooges, often cited as the first punk song.

Philip.

 

@coldwarsteve

 

 

Philip Gilbert is a city-based corporate financier, and former investment banker.

Philip is a great believer in meritocracy, and in the belief that if you want something enough you can make it happen. These beliefs were formed in his formative years, of the late 1970s and 80s

 

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