Usually I’m indifferent to politics. I will take a quick glance at the news every now and again, judge that there’s no way the BNP are going to get much of a following, then continue to chill out indifferently and apathetically.
UKIP disturbs me.
I can’t quite remember at what point UKIP really started bothering me. Bothering me to the point where I felt the need to start constantly writing about them. I think it has been a combination of these things building up over time:
a) Nigel Farage and other UKIP members being unappealing narrow-minded insane characters to me.
b) UKIP taking advantage (on so many different levels) of people’s ignorance, passiveness and complacence.
c) Their posters and leaflets that do the above.
d) Overhearing statements like ‘I don’t really know who to vote for. I think I’ll just vote UKIP’.
e) Stuff other friends have posted about UKIP.
f) Researching.
I feel a lot more productive not spending my time thinking about politics and what party might define me as an individual, let alone what their policies are and whether they are good ones. The Conservatives on many occasions have made me feel a bit sick inside, but all parties have done this to me at one time or another. As much as I feel dirtied by saying it, the Conservatives might not be (aren’t) completely incompetent and may do (do do) some good things.
Now let’s get back to UKIP. They are a completely different ball part to the Conservatives. To me they make the BNP threat look mild, mainly because they don’t try and hide behind a prettier label. Just because UKIP’s name doesn’t have the word ‘front’, ‘league’ or ‘national’ in it, and don’t admit to having a similar philosophy as groups that do use these words, doesn’t mean they can’t subscribe to the same philosophy. You can synthesise a new drug from the opium poppy and call it ‘nice happy relaxant’. It doesn’t change the fact it is related to heroin. What you need to do before buying ‘nice happy relaxant’ from the sales man, who says its nice and makes you happy, is DO SOME RESEARCH!
UKIP aren’t going to tell you they’re racist or prejudice! Racists are ignorant, ignorant of the fact they’re racist or prejudice. Have you ever heard someone say ‘I’m racist and prejudice’? Have you ever come across a party that has described themselves as racist or prejudice? You need to decide that for yourself, by being critical, active and aware of what’s going on.
Another analogy (I love them) . . .
If a telesales person calls you, the first thing they are going to say is not going to be . . .
. . .’I’m calling to sell you something through manipulation.’ . . .
They say something else, and through scrutiny and active thought you figure them out.
I could never have imagined myself urging people to vote Conservative, but if someone feels that this is the only other party they might vote for other than UKIP, it can only be a good thing. In the European Parliament (EP) the Conservatives are part of the marginal centre-right to far-right ECR Alliance the 5th largest in the EP (the BNP was the 5th largest after the latest UK General Election). Compared to UKIP within an EP context, the Conservatives are a shining righteous beacon of light.
OK, so here’s your 5 step guide:
[time guidelines include reading and doing]
STEP 1 . . . (30 seconds)
Know more about the EU institutions, specifically the European Parliament.
Just in case you didn’t . . . . ***Realise that*** . . .
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a) The UK cannot obtain independence from the EU through the European Parliament.
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b) The Parliament cannot initiate laws, for example, on immigration.
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c) Parties from different countries band together to form ‘alliances’ (or super parties) within the EP, to organise the power of voting in unison. UKIP makes up the bulk of the EFD Alliance which is the smallest and least influential of the 7 alliances within the EP. The UK equivalent of a party much more marginal than the BNP after the last general election.
[more on the EFD shortly]
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If UKIP cannot get UK independence or introduce or affect laws on immigration in the European Parliament, what are they doing there, for you, and for their MEP salary (roughly the same as an MPs)? Read on to get an idea.
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STEP 2 . . . (30 seconds)
What do UKIP MEPs do with their seat? How often do they turn up for work to vote? How well organised is their alliance in coordinating it to vote uniformly?
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a) FIRST CLICK HERE then scroll to the bottom of the page.
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b) In the drop down menu for the ‘display records’ settings . . . . . . select > ‘all’ then scroll back up
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c) The heading for the far right column is ‘Participation in roll-call votes’. Click on the heading so that the two little arrows point upwards. Scroll to the bottom to find half of the UKIP/EFD MEPs. Note the lack of unity of their voting with the rest of their alliance when compared to the other parties.
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STEP 3 . . . (45 seconds)
How much work do UKIP MEPs do for you? How much work do UKIP MEPs do for their MEP salary?
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a) CLICK ON THIS and scroll to bottom.
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b) In the drop down menu for the ‘display records’ settings . . . . . . select > ‘all’. Scroll back up
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c) Do the same for all the headings as you did in STEP 2, but this time have the two little arrows point down to show the lowest ranking at the top to save some time with scrolling down.
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Step 4 . . . (1 minute 45 seconds)
As said previously, UKIP is part of the EFD Alliance (Europe of Freedom and Democracy) where the other radical parties that form this alliance can mostly only gain 1 or 2 seats. These are parties that would not be touched with a barge pole by other creditable parties (or voters) that value there integrity.
With any good educational program, there will be a time when there’s a focus on learning through play. You’ve worked hard and made an effort to come this far, so let’s do something a bit different and play a game.
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a) Quickly scan down the column of words below . . .
Immigration
Ultra
Nationalist
Religious
Islam
Christian
Identity
Bible quotes
Ethnic
Racism
Anti-Democratic
Radical
Xenophobic
Men
Women
Not equals
Abortion
Gays
Discrimination
Fascism
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b) CLICK ON THIS
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c) Randomly click on a party name in the party column of the Wikipedia page.
On the page you get to, just by quickly scanning with your eyes, try and not notice the words previously listed (or different forms of), either combined or in an emphasised context.
Focus on the first few lines/short paragraphs of the page.
Then move onto either the first few lines/short paragraphs of the ‘ideology’ section, ‘policies’ section or ‘immigration’ section.
Give yourself 45 seconds to click on as many parties as you wish.
If you want to spare the time, go to more EFD party pages.
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Step 5 . . . (1 minute 30 seconds)
Watch a part of an interview with Nigel Farage and see how he uses words, or fails to use the right ones, to the point where if you took what he says as truth, you would end up with a distorted perspective on reality.
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a) Pop this on and skip to 12:00:
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b) Listen to 13:15 (more if you want of course)
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One must note that this program assumes that you are not a . . .
Racist
Religious extremist
Homophobe or
Sexist
. . . or that you don’t prefer people you employ to do a job for you to work as little as they can get away with . . .
. . . or after appointing and paying a taxi to pick you up, you don’t feel satisfied with there being a 50% chance that they’ll show up, and no possibility of getting a refund if they don’t.
If you are all of the things listed above or do prefer worker that don’t do much or don’t show up, please accept my apologies for wasting your time. . .
. . . UKIP is the party for you.
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This blog here pointed me in the direction of the EP MEP statistics. He’s most likely, much more knowledgeable, intelligent and much better at writing than me. You might want to check him out, rather than wasting your time on me, the pretender.
