I cannot pretend that I have ever heard of Ben Manton, the Conservative Party candidate in South Belfast.
The prominence of the British Flag is unlikely to attract “Catholic” or “nationalist” voters. The Conservative Party is a total irrelevance in Norn Iron. Some Manton posters along Great Victoria Street but this poster is at the corner of Lisburn Road and Cadogan Park.
In Belfast 4th April 2015. A lot of generic SDLP posters around City Hall.
A cluster of Alasdair McDonnell (SDLP Leader and currently MP for South Belfast) posters around St Georges Market.
As many of you will know, I collect Irish stamps.
Take a look at this envelope and stamp I bought today….very cheaply. A few pence.
This is an envelope posted in Cork on 8th May 1941. The stamp is a temporary issue because of war-time shortages. The overprint commemorates the 25th Anniversary of the Easter Rising. A “proper” commemorative stamp was issued later in 1941.
The address is interesting. “The War Office, Arnside Street, Walworth, London”. So a letter sent to the War Office but no censorship markings in either Ireland or England (I need to get more information on war time regulations). But the letter is forwarded to “SW1”.
Walworth is well known to me. My sister lived there in the 1980s. It is a long way from “Whitehall”. In fact “Arnside Street” is notorious in military history circles. It was a warehouse, storing military records, widows pension, orphan allowances from World War One. It was destroyed in a German air raid during the Blitz (Battle of Britain) in 1940. Notwithstanding the unprecedented scale of the bombing, the records should have been moved to safer ground.
I am not sure if there were fatalities but I would assume that people died.
But the legacy is not inconvenience to military historians. There was actual human tragedy in disrupting the lives of many widows and children, trying to make their way thru even more difficulty.
I would assume that the person in Cork had a British Army connexion to World War One. And there is an irony that a stamp commemorating the 1916 Rising is used on the correspondence.
The Footnotes in History are as interesting as “The Big Picture”.
Watching “Question Time” on BBC last night, I have to say that I was disappointed in Andy Burnham who is a leading member of the Labour Party. Indeed, he might well be a future Deputy Leader or even Leader of the Labour Party.
Burnham is usually my kinda Labour guy. He may not have had a real job…spending his post Cambridge University life as a political advisor and from 2001, a Member of Parliament but the Cambridge University degree is not exactly privelege. He is the son of working class parents, his father worked for the Post Office, born in Liverpool and he is MP for Leigh….a solid Labour town in the old Lancashire mining area. He is still loyal to his South Lancashire Catholic background. He is a convincing supporter of Everton Football Club.
He is probably the most authentic and highest ranking politician from that solid Labour demographic. He has certainly made mistakes in his career but at least he is a Labour man with whom, I can identify.
And yet last night, he was making ferocious attacks on the Scottish Nationalist Party and nationalism in general. Even in the context of the Question Time programme being broadcast immediately after Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), Leanne Wood (Plaid Cymru) and Natalie Bennett (Green Party)….note all WOMEN had basically destroyed David Cameron (COnservative), Nick Clegg (Lib Dem), Nigel Farage (UKIP) and Burnhams Leader, Ed Miliband.
The strong performance of SNP in particular means that Labour faces near wipe-out in Scotland and Plaid Cymru can take votes, if not seats off Labour in Wales and the Green Party can do the same in England. These left-leaning parties can offer alternatives to Labour deserting their roots for Focus Group Politics. And deprive Labour of the majority it seeks.
While Burnham launches into making rarified statements about a world without borders…and a Britain without borders…and parochial politics of nationalists….he misses the point.
The point he misses is that Nicola Sturgeon is a nationalist….a SCOTTISH nationalist. He misses the point that Leanne Wood is a nationalist….a WELSH nationalist. But Andy Burnham is a nationalist ….a British nationalist.
It is a strange thing about the “British” mindset. Whether conservative or liberal minded, they feel that nobody has a right to be nationalist except of course a British nationalist. The narrative is that Scottish and Welsh nationalism is a relic from the past and not acceptable in the 21st century. British nationalism is …its supporters would claim “progressive”.
Irish? Well nobody in England gives a damn about Norn Iron. Routinely,the English unionists of three parties talk about “the success story of the United Kingdom”. Hmmm nearly 4,000 killed in Norn Iron…hundreds of British soldiers….that’s hardly the case.
While Conservative, Labour and Lib Dems lied thru their teeth to keep Scotland in the Union last year, nobody will be care about keeping Norn Iron in the Union.
The British parties fight in Scotland and Wales. They dont fight in Norn Iron because Norn Iron is toxic.
Actually not standing in Norn Iron is not strictly true. The Conservatives were linked to the Ulster Unionist Party but the link was broken as the Tories had to appear as honest brokers during the conflict. Post-Conflict attempts to revive the link have failed. There IS a rump NI Conservative Party and no doubt they will field three or four candidates in the upcoming Election and no doubt, David Cameron will make a visit to Belfast in the next few weeks. It will be a photo-opportunity but the Tories wont get 5,000 votes.
The Liberal Democrats, the wishy washy Party in Britain have a relationship of sorts with the Alliance Party. Clegg will make a visit. But curiously the only Alliance MP sits on the Opposition benches at Westminster. Even more curiously an Alliance hopeful, Paula Bradshaw for the ill-conceived UUP-Tories in 2010.
Labour….well there are a bunch of local eccentrics who call themselves Labour NI or some such and they demand that British Labour organise here. It is, they claim their right. British Labour wants little or nothing to do with them. To patronise them, they will send a junior spokesperson to the Belfast Partys so-called conference but will send the senior spokesperson to the SDLP conference.
Currently sending three MPs to Westminster, the SDLP is much more important in British Labour planning. SDLP is the franchise holder of the Party of European Socialists …and yes the SDLP is nationalist….Irish nationalist. Andy Burnham would hardly be one of those pathetic Labour MPs like Kate Hoey who want Labour to organise here.
SDLP and British Labour are “sister parties”. Labour NI is a joke.
The great problem with British unionist politicians is that they dont understand Nationalism. I think it was the novelist brother of Sinead O’Connor who said that the British cannot understand anyone not wanting to be British. Thats the great advantage that Nicola Sturgeon has.
The Westminster Establishment thought that the Scottish Nationalist Party was neutralised by granting limited Home Rule to Scotland, two decades ago. In fact they only provided SNP qith a bigger platform. They actually empowered and enabled the SNP to flourish. Likewise the unionist “victory” in the Referendum last year comes with the price tag of more concessions. Thats how Nationalism works. NIneteenth century concessions to Irish nationalism…..the policy of “killing Irish Nationalism with kindness” did not work. A fairer franchise, a fairer land rent system, universal education all made nationalists stronger.
The only winners in May will be the Scottish Nationalists. They more than anyone will hold the balance of power. A Tory Government suits SNP….the SNP need Injustice. Nobody does Injustice like the British Conservative Party. And it seems unlikely that Labour will be able to form any kind of government without a formal coalition with (maybe Lib Dems whoring themselves again) or an “arrangement” or “understanding” with SNP ….a Party that hates the “United Kingdom”.
Nicola Sturgeon knows her History. Andy Burnham hasnt a clue.
So Nicola Sturgeon, Leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party and First Minister for Scotland won the Great Debate last night. It is ironic and hilarious that she wants to break up the DisUnited Kingdom. The two great rivals David Cameron (Conservative) and Ed Milliband (Labour) were underwhelming.
It has led to some amusing English “tweets” that people would vote SNP in England.
Should SNP put up candidates in England? Well…hardly. But the policies of SNP …left of centre…do actually resonate with the voters that the British Labour Party have abandoned in the unholy rush to the “centre ground” where conventional wisdom says elections are won and lost.
Yet there is a curious precedent…..T P O’Connor, journalist was Irish Nationalist MP for a Liverpool (England) constituency. Scotland Road …or “Scottie Road” as the Scousers would say was the centre of the Liverpool-Irish community from post-Famine Ireland (1840s) right up to the Beatles era of the 1960s.
Indeed Liverpool’s Catholic Cathedral is known as “Paddy’s Wigwam”.
But the story of 19th Century electoral reform is the story of Catholic Emancipation, Increased Education, Literacy and the increase in the franchise especially after the Reform Act in 1884.
Thus the 1885 Election changed the face of British Politics and would have far reaching effects …not least in Ireland. One of the new Members of the new Westminster Parliament was Tay Pay (T P) O’Connor….representing Liverpool-Scotland (sic) and elected by those post-Famine refugees. He represented the Irish Nationalist Party. So curiously, the Irish Nationalists had a MP on the British mainland.
Even more curiously, Tay Pay was a MP for the Nationalists until 1929, years after the Irish Free State (later Republic of Ireland) was established. He was even “Father of the House” (the honoury title given to the longest serving MP).
There is also a connexion to Texas. O’Connor was married to a daughter of a District Attorney from San Antonio.
Watching CBS News tonight on the Sky Channel. Interview with (Republican) Congressman Peter King of New York about Iran.
But here’s the thing. That Green Flag behind him is an Irish Brigade Flag from the American Civil War.
The Great Debate…the seven leaders of major political parties in England, Scotland and Wales…ahead of the Westminster Election. Confirming the fact that Norn Iron is a semi-detached part of the DisUnited Kingdom, no Party gives a tinkers curse about Norn Iron. It is totally irrelevant.
So how did they all do:
David Cameron…Conservative…..he is a Conservative. ‘Nuff said.
Ed Milliband….Labour…intellectual socialist royalty, from posh Islington in London and representing a working class constituency in South Yorkshire. He is at least trying to draw Labour away from the “New Labour” crap of Tony B Liar. His most obvious problem is that he looks like a geek or a nerd. His most obvious advantage is that he is not a Tory.
Nick Clegg…Liberal Democrat and Deputy Prime Minister. The problem is that the Lib Dems sold out when they threw themselves into a coalition with the Tories. Of course they will claim that they mitigated the worst excesses of a Tory-orientated Government. Will their 2010 voters be forgiving and put the proverbial clothes peg on their noses and vote for them again?
The minority Party in any Coalition is a loser. Labour in the Republic of Ireland will get slaughtered. Deservedly so. Liberal Democrats in “Greater England”. Deservedly so. He looked like a Dead Man Walking. In five weeks, he will be a former MP.
Nigel Farage…..UKIP. He can pose as an outsider. But really his Party is the old nastier side of the Conservative Party. Migration. Europe. Their biggest asset is that Nigel Farage is an amateur and a self styled “man of the people”. The biggest problem is that Nigel Farage is an amateur and a self-styled “man of the people”. Xenophobia and Racism is never far from the surface.
But thats the double-legacy of Imperialism. British Liberals think that the sins of their ancestors can be forgiven by a multi cultural society and tip-toeing around sensitive issues like radicalisation of young Muslims. British “conservatives” are bullish about their imperialist past.
The problem with Farage is that he can say the politically incorrect and it resonates. And then he can go too far. So making the usual “man of the people” point about Migration, he struck a sour note when he spoke of HIV infected migrants using the British National Health Service. Tellingly it was the women on the panel, including the two nationalist leaders who challenged him
Natalie Bennett….Green Party….in some ways it is impossible not to be sympathetic to “green issues” like climate change, energy, the environment. But to a traditional socialist like myself, I preferred the Greens when they were simply a pressure group on the fringe of mainstream politics. They are like UKIP…amateurs. Indeed as Conservative and Labour have spent two decades rushing to the political “centre”, UKIP on the right and Green Party on the left have picked up support from people who feel abandoned by their tribal leaders. For now, Greens nibble at Labour votes but it will be a generation before they ever emerge as a genuine political Party.
And what of the nationalists? Well it is in itself interesting that the Scottish Nationalist Party and Plaid Cymru-Party of Wales are led by women.
Leanne Wood from Wales is unknown to English audiences. Indeed PC has struggled to come out of the remote Welsh speaking areas in North Wales. Most of Wales is solid Labour. Yet there is a perception that the British Labour Party have taken Welsh votes for granted. At best PC will take four or five Welsh seats and Leanne Wood could have been easily overwhelmed by the experience. Wisely she started by making the point that she was speaking to people back home in Wales. She grew in stature during the two hours.
But the star of the night was Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP. She is already First Minister in Scotland where the SNP is in government and is not even standing in the Westminster Election. Yet SNP are expected to get at least thirty five seats (they currently hold just six seats) and will possibly damage Labours chances of forming a government.
Nicola played a “canny game”. Arguably SNP would prefer a Tory government in Westminster. And almost certainly a minority Labour Government will need SNP support. A coalition would suit neither Labour or SNP. Much of Labour is “internationalist”, politics without borders rhetorical shite. Labour hates the nationalists. And yet paradoxically, the nationalists …in Scotland, Wales and Norn Iron are more left-wing than mainstream British Labour.
So ALL of the Parties from England, Scotland and Wales were on the platform. But nobody invited the Norn Iron parties to attend. Peter Robinson of DUP made some threats about legal action but it was never going to happen.
Why not? Well I dont think SDLP gave a tinkers curse about the Leaders Debate. And Sinn Féin wouldnt care either. Only the DUP took synthetic offence that Robbo wasnt given his due as a Party Leader with eight seats at Westminster….SNP have six , PC four, UKIP two and Green one….so why was DUP sidelined?
Well simply put the Conservative Party and Labour Party do not put up candidates in Norn Iron. The local Parties cannot take seats from the two Parties which can provide the a British Government. The seven parties in the Debate are actually in competition.
So …..what can it all mean for an Irish Nationalist like myself? Well, my politics are defined by my Irish nationalism, my republicanism and my socialism. I want the DisUnited Kingdom to fall apart so good luck to SNP and Plaid Cymru. And both are at least as socialist as British Labour. And UKIP are the Trojan Horse in the “United Kingdom”. Effectively they are English nationalists ….racist and xenophobic but the best possible revenge on British Imperialism is the exploitation of the fault lines in the British imperialist legacy.
Is that ignoble of me? Probably. I want to see the DisUnited Kingdom dissolved, under the weight of its own contradictions.
Alas, I will be unable to attend the East Belfast Hustings. I thought there might be an area for VIPs like Quintin, Patrick and Felicity. But seemingly it is ticket only and all are sold out.
Maybe there will be more events.
Last night, I sent a message to Bill White, the main man at Lucid Talk about the upcoming, East Belfast hustings. My message.
Bill has now replied. Judge for yourself. The reply is along the lines that Alan Meban used to justify the Hustings.
I think the main points are that…..
1 This is a Slugger O’Toole event.
2 It complies with Electoral Law.
3 The Formula used to arrive at the head-to-head.
4 The audience will be “informed” about the other candidates and parties contesting the election in East Belfast.
5 The same procedure has been followed with regard to the UK (sic) TV Debates which exclude DUP.
6 I asked whether Gerry Lynch was still a consultant at Lucid Talk. I got no answer to that.
A couple of other points.
Alan Meban used the same links yesterday. But further described the Hustings as “legal” and “decent”.
And Mick Fealty in a Facebook exchange with me today praised the hard work of David McCann setting this up.
Am I alone in thinking that Rory Trainor, the Newry business man is a very lucky man.
Trainor is a convicted money launderer and £63 million much of it the proceeds from criminal activity in both Norn Iron and Republic of Ireland passed thru his Bureau de Change. Some of the criminal activity was drug related.
His jail sentence? Well actually, he isnt going to jail. He got a suspended sentence.
It seems very light for such a serious crime. There is too much criminal activity in Norn Iron. Too many people…not all of them front-line criminals ….live off crime. This includes “respectable” people in “professions”.
Victimless Crime? White Collar Crime? Lets not kid ourselves. Criminal gangs are ruthless and often violent. We have dodgy petrol, we have dodgy alcohol, we have dodgy cigarettes. And we have criminal gangs involved in bank robberies and drug dealing. People die.
The judge imposing the suspended sentence said Rory Trainor made “bad decisions”. Actually it looks like he made some excellent decisions.
Keeping An Eye On the Czar of Russia 