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Bitter and then some
The post hung-election political mêlée really has been hilarious to watch. From those who take pride in their ignorance over the constitutional process that has ensued, to some astonishing (and most probably/hopefully career damaging) outbursts from Sky News ‘journalists’ (see below).
The apparent failure of The Conservatives to secure a majority despite near-universal media support, the deepest recession since the Great Depression, and an overwhelmingly unpopular Prime Minister, has led their supporters and party members (though not, to be fair, its leadership as of yet) to claim that ‘we won’, despite evidence to the contrary like, um, the number of seats The Tories now hold.
With Gordon Brown promising to step down from his position as leader of The Labour Party by the time of their party conference in September, and the consequent development of formal talks between the Lib-Dems and Labour, the right-wing press has somehow managed to appear even more shrill. May 10 was apparently a ‘bleak day for democracy’ according to The Telegraph, whilst the Mail went (predictably) further, claiming that it was in fact a ‘squalid day for democracy’. In this context, ‘democracy’ evidently means The Conservatives getting into power.
Perhaps the most amusing (albeit unimportant) facet of this right-wing fury, was the following pretty-much-insane tirade from this apparently none-too-happy-chap. The comment was hidden deep amongst the usual idiotic suspects on the Mail’s article regarding Adam Boulton’s embarrassingly undignified rant at Alastair Campbell.
What bothers me more than anything is that little Communist RED STAR on the odious Campbell’s lapel. THAT is what “New” Fascist Labour was all about, a nasty MARXIST confiscatory, freedom stealing junta hidden behind Blair’s grin. campbell will soon be changing his name to Berya, although with the way they scapegoat and demonise people GOEBBELS would be more appropriate
Jeremy Zeid, Harrow, HMP-Loonybin-England, 11/5/2010 7:59
Zeid is a familiar presence to those of us who waste our lives trawling the Daily Mail comment sections. Although blatantly unhinged, this is nothing strictly new for Mr Zeid, although there is one noticeable difference. Never one to miss the opportunity to remind those around him of his status, Zeid proudly posted previous diatribes under the title, Cllr Jeremy Zeid. A quick google search leads us to Harrow council’s website and the discovery of this simple albeit telling statement on Zeid’s profile – ‘Not currently an elected Councillor’. Zeid lost his position during the under-reported (somewhat understandably) local council elections held alongside the general election last week. Hardly a surprising result in the wider context, though undoubtedly deserved. Acting almost as a caricature of Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge, Zeid wins this week’s right-wing-sore-loser award. Brilliant.
Appalled.
Of all the disgraceful articles the Daily Mail has ever published throughout its miserable existence, this piece of awful journalism, that basically tells us nothing at all, is probably the worst. Congratulations on reaching a new low. The comments on the article are especially worrying (see below).
This is RUBBISH. I am an immigrant in Greece, I have to pay for any treatment I receive, I don’t expect the Greek tax payer to pay for my treatment like the immigrants in the UK.
– Roly, Corfu, 27/11/2009 6:28
Just maybe that’s because Greece doesn’t have an equivalent national health service. It’s hardly that Roly is paying more for treatment than his/her Greek counterparts. It’s not some racially-based two-tier system of payment, which appears to be the favoured choice for most Daily Mail readers.
We are not talking of Europeans who get reciprocal care as we would in their country, or those who live here and pay taxes, or those with insurance.
It is commonly known that some women from Africa and some countries in Asia treat London maternity units as their own.
– Jennifer, Yorkshire, 26/11/2009 19:43
Oh. So Jennifer is clearly fine with white people using our health services as long as no dirty ‘darkies’ do. Blatant racist.
English is our national language and it is the only language that should be in offical print. Our fight back has got to start somewhere, with our lanuage.
– Fed up with it all!, Lancashire, UK
Not only is this comment massively irrelevant but also just a little ironic. I somehow doubt that Fed up with it all! will be leading such a fight back.
There are British infertile couples on a very long waiting list that are turned away because there’s not enough money in the kitty to treat them but there’s enough to treat the fertile ones from overseas
– Sally, Ibiza Spain, 26/11/2009 18:59
That’ll be because IVF treatment is far more expensive than the care needed in a routine birth Sally (clearly one of the many Daily Mail reading expats who have bizarrely ended up living away from the motherland. Probably getting some kind of neo-colonial kick from it though).
The comments continue in this predictable, tedious way. All seemingly assume that these ‘foreign’ mothers are scrounging from UK taxpayer money, as though nobody born overseas can work and pay tax in the UK. Pretty weird really. Homogeneous white populations outside of the major British cities have clearly led to a country riven with ignorance and racism. Solution? More immigration please.
Worst scoreline of the year
The threat to media diversity
As was touched upon in this post, and following a week in which we have seen The Sun unsurprisingly shift its political allegiance to the Conservative Party, the influence that the media holds over our parliamentary representatives has never been greater.
The Sun has a remarkable track record in recent general elections of always backing the winning party. Is this merely that it closely matches the prevailing mood of the British public or, rather, that it shapes this public opinion through its editorial stance? Obviously these processes are not mutually exclusive, yet the idea that the present UK media could strongly influence UK public opinion is deeply troubling.
The timing of The Sun’s shift in political allegiance (on the night after Gordon Brown’s keynote speech at the Labour Party conference) was intended to cause maximum damage to the Labour brand at a particularly sensitive time. Labour, to their discredit, appeared to fall into denial. Dismissive and mocking of The Sun’s decision, whilst simultaneously not failing to make repeat mentions of it throughout the remainder of the conference.
Labour are concerned and rightfully so. Clearly, there is more to this story than a mere editorial decision. Cameron openly welcomed The Sun’s move with an element of faux-surprise. His disingenuously earnest face matched by his now all-too-familiar empty rhetoric about ‘the task in hand’. Whilst The Sun’s decision has the dirty prints of the Tories all over it, particularly with respect to its timing, the even filthier paw of the Murdochs left its greasy residue for all to see. The Sun openly admitted so, yet this makes their overwhelming involvement no more palatable.
It has become increasingly clear that the Murdochs are fantasising over the potential dismantling of the BBC, and the Tories are happy to comply if it gains the support of one of the globe’s most powerful media actors. Both have made threatening noises over the perceived media dominance of the inefficient behemoth that is the contemporary BBC. The Conservatives will almost certainly prevent any further rises to the licence fee over the coming years, which (due to inflationary pressures) will significantly reduce the BBC’s amount of revenue leading to possible job losses, lower quality programming, and the loss of channels BBC3 and BBC4.
Mini Murdoch has, unsurprisingly, reinforced such attacks upon the BBC, citing in a speech at this year’s Edinburgh TV festival that the BBC’s prominent position across a range of media is a threat to private competition. Such apparent concern for retaining media plurality is disingenuous at best, given the apparent ease in which the Murdoch empire continues to expand, removing many competing media outlets as it does so. The BBC stands as a major obstacle to a Murdoch media monopoly, an entity that would prove extremely threatening to democratic ideals in the UK.
Given the apparently coincidental coalescence of both the Murdoch and Tory attitudes to the UK media’s future, it is pertinent to question the relationship between the two. It seems increasingly likely that a behind-the-scenes deal has been brokered. The Tories will emasculate the BBC in its current form, providing an increasingly open media market for the Murdoch empire to further increase its presence and, potentially, control. In return, the Murdochs will use their increasingly dominant media presence to promote the Conservative Party and its ideals. An easy decision given the favourable economic and sociopolitical climate that the Tories will provide for the Murdochs. Make no mistake, this is an overwhelmingly political decision. The creation of this coalition is a serious threat to an already divided and weak British Left.
Further evidence is provided by the Conservative’s threats/blackmailing of The Guardian. Removing the newspaper’s invaluable revenue stream by ensuring that “all government and local authority jobs will only be advertised on a single government-run website” could very conceivably lead to its destruction. The notion that both the BBC and The Guardian have given the Conservative Party a relatively easy ride in recent months is becoming increasingly prevalent. Blackmailing the media’s Left into submission is a cowardly act by a Party that is only too self-aware of the unpalatable nature of many of its policies and members.
The financial crisis is central to these recent media developments. Besides obviously suffering a sharp reduction in advertising revenue, the Murdoch’s media empire represents a world view that has become almost wholly discredited. The same view that is largely shared by the Conservatives. The idea that unfettered markets have failed is unquestionably damaging to the Right. However, much of the UK media has spun the lie that it is the monolithic UK state that is to blame for our economic downturn – a view widely supported by the Conservatives. Unfortunately, a large proportion of the UK public appear to be buying this myth. A fact that has not gone unnoticed to Murdoch et al.
Whilst global opinion favours a return to more Keynesian economic models, the Conservatives will reduce state expenditure on a level not experienced since the Thatcher era. Despite such ideas holding little credibility amongst most prominent economists, they do gain support from many media owners. The gravest short-term danger of this Conservative-Murdoch alliance is that the UK public will support economic reforms that will lead to a double-dip recession. The long-term effects could be even more damaging. Attacking what remains of the media Left will only serve to reduce government accountability in the UK – a healthy society has a balanced political spectrum. Without a credible opposition, government can operate with impunity.
A final note should be made of a definite trend, particularly (although not exclusively) prevalent amongst media outlets on the Right of the political divide, for misinforming the public. The mythical association between the state and the financial crisis is relatively benign in comparison to the recent rise in the number of children suffering measles infections – a direct consequence of Right-wing media outlets’ lies regarding the MMR vaccine. Recent belligerence from the Daily Mail with respect to the alleged (though completely unfounded) dangers of the cervical cancer vaccine suggests little has changed.
The consequences of a Daily Mail diet
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/sep/29/hate-mail-elderly-writer
A week or so late but still equal parts amusing/disturbing.
the letters are all pro-English in content and racially inflammatory, with many appearing to have been sent in response to Daily Mail articles. All the letters are offensive and racist against a wide variety of nationalities and cultures.
Mr. Hattsi writes 