Standing Up to UKIP in Margate

Both the author and her husband are in this picture - if you look carefully...

This is the front of the anti-UKIP march that I helped organise on Saturday (well, if I'd waited until Saturday it wouldn't have been very organised.- ha-ha). 

Although I spent much of the day feeling anxious and "on duty" it went off remarkably well and everyone was kind and smiley and my jacket was admired as usual (despite the hi-vis vest on top of it) and there was singing and laughing and brilliant posters - and quite good speeches, although I didn't really hear most of them.  I spent 4 hours standing/walking without sitting down - which is why today I am completely knackered.  

It felt worth it - we brought out a lot of people who don't normally appear locally - and to feel the support we got from people waving from windows (yes there were some vote UKIP posters too) and vehicles, including an ambulance, hooting as they went past was great.

There were the predictable shouts from the fascists - the EDL stood by the clocktower - and the Britain First lot were outside the Winter Gardens "guarding" UKIP.   Nigel wasn't there - and neither was Douglas Carswell - he left the conference while we were still assembling at the station.  So really it was just the usual Dad's Army types there plus a few suits who walked briskly past us..

Interesting, if unsurprising, that the fash don't stick together - unlike us.  Although I have joked about Thanet SUTU being mild-mannered, middle aged people, with this march lots of young people were there, and it was good to have evidence that there is a real visceral resistance to them.  In some ways the young are more opposed, because they haven't seen this sort of thing before, whereas a lot of us saw the rise of the NF in the 70s and very nasty they were: old Rock Against Racism and Anti-Nazi League logos have been revived and re-utilised, and as well as the "official" SUTU and Socialst Workers banners there were many great home made, individual creative efforts.

Are the left better-looking than the right?

There is a wonderful set of photos here https://www.facebook.com/funk.dooby.5?fref=photo&sk=photos which give a flavour of the day.   I will post a few below - but the last observation I want to make is that while us lefties were a pretty cheerful, nice-looking bunch of people, it was quite striking that the fash and their chums on the whole are pretty ugly.  I wonder whether from an early age they'd experienced less positive reactions - as the less cute child they were smiled at less, and it goes on from there.  Can that have somehow transposed into a wider perception that the world was against them, and then a search for someone to blame?

Here's a section of the crowd photographing the far right who are "guarding" UKIP - if our lot look less than sunny it is because the fash are snarling and shouting at them...

I think my observation about the fash is fair.  That hoodie does him no favours. 

Two of my favourite home made placards from the demo - and the essence of the cheerful atmosphere!

I should also say that I did two media interviews, one with Meridian - which wasn't shown - since they decided it was more important to report on the "violence" - they failed to explain it very well, but essentially what happened is that a fascist ran to the crowd because he was being photographed, seized a placard and broke it and was then restrained by the police.  So that was Meridian's story.  The BBC rather awkwardly filmed me as I was walking along with the banner.  I was shown for a few seconds and said something good - but I looked beyond hideous.  Fortunately they used most of what I said behind pictures of the demo. 

Springtime for UKIP

.... and somehow this little song came to mind:

Springtime for UKIP & Thanet South,
Ramsgate is happy and gay
We’re putting imm-i-grants in their place
Look out here come the master race!

Springtime for UKIP & Thanet South,
Winter for healthcare and rights,
We’ll vandalise the NHS,
Cre-ate an economic mess

Springtime for UKIP & Thanet South
We ‘re Europeans and proud 
Nigel can just, go take-a-hike,
He can get on - his flipping bike!
(repeat ad nauseam!)

Mel Brooks/Kate Hamlyn

My press cuttings

As things hot up in Thanet I get to do a bit of press work - latest article in RS21 here
http://rs21.org.uk/2015/02/26/thanet-activists-prepare-for-protest-against-ukip-conference/  and I've been interviewed for background/research purposes as well.  On Monday I called in to Radio Kent and got 10 minutes on air on the subject of ex-UKIP councillor Rozanne Duncan.... Fame at last!

SUTU - it's being so cheerful as keeps us going!

Spent the last two hours on Fb - trying to calm troubled waters, as well as provoking further turbulence... and being called a Nazi.  I am now so battle hardened by the whole social media thing that I barely noticed... or perhaps it was the port at supper that dulled my sensitivity.

So there was an hour or so of fire-fighting, messages, comments, sniping etc.  and then at last things calmed down, and then we all started making little jokes about the far-right who have been threatening us.  And all seemed sweetness and light again.

Of course, in my new discreet LP wannabe councillor guise, I cannot say more.  I suddenly realised that although I am not exactly prominent, being a "leader" of SUTU here (officially co-chair) will make me more of a juicy target for UKIP.  Then again, since I daresay a lot of kippers are not terribly hot on social media, they probably wouldn't know where to look - so I may be safe.

However, the truth is, the next two months will be a bit gritty.  I am more confident than ever that Nigel Farage will not get a seat here.  I wouldn't put it past him to do a flit to a more juicy prospect.  Then again, where would he find one?  Nationally their support is down to 11% and it's a bit of busted flush.  Maybe Carswell will be re-elected and struggle on as leader for a bit, but I would not be surprised to find him dropping out, or "discreetly" rejoining the Tories...

The Rozanne Duncan revelations were pure joy.  How can you be a councillor who denies services to black youth - because they are black - and say you aren't racist?  Clearly she has no understanding or insight - and is thus pretty typical UKIP material.

Really insulting UKIP is very infra dig. like shooting rats in a barrel really (or is that meant to be hard?  Rats move fast).

An Introduction to UKIPIA - the British Caliphate

Now that I'm a Labour candidate for the Council, I am expecting UKIP to be all over my social media offerings, so I thought this blog post might particularly delight them.  

I was writing a few months back about the idea of the Caliphate - as a Utopian society...and it occurred to me that that was what UKIP was offering their followers: Ukipia


When I hear their nostalgic chat about what the UK should be like, I wonder if UKIP have a sort of utopian ideal of the UK, where everyone is English and happy, smiling and cheerful (this would make a change from the UKIP supporters, who tend towards the snarling, grumbling end of the spectrum - but perhaps that would all change in UKIPIA).   

 As well as there being no, or very few foreigners (wives and concubines of leading party members would be permitted to remain - as long as they continued to please these potentates) we would be living on English produce from our own fields, and having our own nuclear energy (instead of having to buy it from the detestable French), and, once we had opted out of human rights legislation, we would be able to enslave people, and remove any of their human rights we chose to. There wouldn't be much tax, but there wouldn't be any services any way - everything would have to be paid for.

Women wouldn't work, unless they were very old and unlikely to require maternity leave.   Education would be optional after 12 and useful apprenticeships in mining and the chimney sweeping sector would become widely available. 

As a result of opting out of the EU with its tyrannical water purity standards, the sea would gradually become disgustingly polluted.  Planning controls would have been relaxed, so there would be no problem about siting say, a cement block works, next to a beach and a conservation area.   Pubs would become grim, fuggy places once more, as businesses are no longer allowed to operate a non-smoking policy. 

LGBT people would be "discouraged" - and would find themselves spending more time indoors, if not actually in the closet, since there would be few penalties for those who harmed them. 

Economically UKIPIA would be a bit of a mess as we would be losing a great many of our export markets once we left the EU.  We would not have the income to import foreign goods - especially foodstuffs, which would gradually become more expensive. The tax on luxury goods was initially welcomed, since most of us don't regularly buy Prada handbags, but the need to raise more money means the definition of "luxury" is gradually extended and now includes cat litter, deodorant and quilted lavatory paper. The sales of skin whiteners went through the roof initially as people attempted to diminish their ethnicity, but now they too are taxed at luxury rates.

It becomes more apparent that the senior party members are living a rather more luxurious lifestyle than ordinary people.  These career politicians most have their own small businesses too, and there is persistent talk of UKIP MPs cheating on expenses.  It is brushed off as "confusion" about legitimate business expenses.    

Despite all this, after 5 years, election publicity shows happy smiling faces, and even fat people (most of whom have disappeared in the last few years since biscuits, cakes, fish and chips and Coke were declared  "luxury goods" and attracted the top rate of tax).


This is just off the top of my head of course, further research in the UKIP manifesto will no doubt reveal more potential horror.   Their fantasy British caliphate, would emerge just as unjust and cruel as any other similar regime... The important thing to remember about the word Utopia is that it is concocted from the Greek ou topos - No Place!  And this is never going to happen.

The Candidate

I am now a Labour candidate for Thanet District Council, in Viking Ward Broadstairs in a seat that has never been won by Labour.  The word candidate comes, as you may know, from the latin candidus - white, shining, bright etc.   Nowadays a candidate has to be whiter than white.  

I live a pretty well ordered life, no cruelty, abuse, affairs, underhand financial dealings etc.  However, it has been pointed out to me that UKIP will be scrutinising the social media of candidates, and using anything discreditable that's been said.  So, since I have treated my blog rather like an online diary, I will now have to remove everything that contains anyone's name and a revelation of my personal feelings.  I have always been glad to be frank and honest, and perhaps even slightly trenchant in my views... these will now be supressed until after the election on May 7th.

Mercifully, probably, the most popular posts do not have anything too personal in them.  So they can stay - but otherwise the ranks are a little depleted.  If Kippers decide to pore over my blog, they will be puzzled by the Latin quotes, the literary and historical posts and all the relgious stuff.  I expect them to be enraged or derisive about the anti-UKIP stuff.

I am not sure if my candidacy will make me want to blog more, or not. 

The next two weeks

In a fortnight's time the SUTU demo will be over.  I haven't had to do a great deal, but I've been in the middle of things, and I am finding it very hard... cat-herding springs to mind with certain comrades.  It is difficult when someone is much more active and effective than you are yourself, to have to call them to account occasionally.  Now I understand the true martyrdom of management.  Except that I'm not anyone's manager.  I just have to be sure that everything is happening as it should.

I will also be struggling with attempts by the LP to co-opt more and more of my time. They will probably expect a lot of canvassing...

There will be a readthrough of the script this week, followed by a big de-briefing afterwards...

This week is half term - so spending time with Finn and helping him organise his workload - and a day trip to France too.

Maybe I will also write a bit more of MoF....I just need to learn to write in the gaps a bit more.