What you need to ask yourself is whether the BNP has lost a single vote since Question Time went off the air yesterday evening? The answer is probably not.
Everything played right into his hands. Not only did every insult from the hostile crowd and panel consolidate his support by allow him to portray himself as someone being thrown to the lions, he was asked a series of questions which the average ex-mainstream party voter who is now voting for the BNP could not care less about. Financial crisis, unemployment or MP expenses anyone? No. The Holocaust, the KKK and hanging British generals (WTF). This may gain traction in a multicultural and prosperous city like London, but certainly not in the places where he is actually getting votes.
Why was he not asked how he actually plans to solve the problems which he uses to drum up support?
Griffin is nowhere near having any of the oratory polish of a Le Pen (some of his answers were frankly ridiculous and someone like Paxman would destroy him easily), but the more he is vilified, the more he will be able to cry foul and strike a chord with disenfranchised voters by continuing to rail against the "establishment".
October 23, 2009
July 12, 2009
Heaven has no rage like the EPP's love to hatred turned
Nor hell a fury like the people scorned...
The Conservative Party's departure from the European People's Party and decision to spearhead a new, anti-federalist group has ruffled a few feathers. Unsurprisingly, media coverage and political reaction to the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group has, by and large, been negative. Much has been made of statements on civil liberties issues and climate-change by some members; others have been accused of being Nazi sympathizers. To everyone’s relief though, these stories have mostly been dismissed as either being exaggerations or half-truths. On the other hand, two realpolitik-influenced contentions over the move have gained traction with the European Parliament's chattering classes. Firstly, that as a result of having left the EPP, the Conservatives have isolated themselves in Europe - and the United Kingdom in the process. Secondly, that the party itself has lost considerable political influence in the biggest political group in Strasbourg.
I fail to understand the line of reasoning used with regards to both points, especially if one looks at the situation as it stands today in the European Parliament. Why would the Conservatives be "isolated" merely because they do not belong to a dominant political group within a political chamber? If, from the Assemblée Nationale to the Bundestag, smaller parties are able to have their say by forming coalitions or cooperating on a need-to basis with others, I am confident that as the fourth biggest group in the European Parliament, the ECR will do just fine. As a matter of fact, smaller parties often obtain excellent results if they play their cards right. One need only look at the regional election results in Belgium last month, where the francophone green party, Ecolo, surprisingly became key post-electoral power brokers despite having finished third overall!
When parties choose to work together because they have common ground, they work together, when they don't, they don't. The group that the Tories are actually in is irrelevant and does not mean that they cannot cooperate with allies in other groups when needed and vice-versa.
The other big issue brought up by the new group’s detractors is the Conservatives’ alleged loss of influence (read power) engendered by their departure from the EPP. The Tories did negotiate an exceptional "package" in 2004, however five years ago the Socialists had not just been obliterated in the elections and the EPP *needed* the Conservative MEPs in order to stiffen their ranks. Accordingly, they were allowed to punch above their weight and given several plum positions. Considering that, in addition, the Conservatives would hypothetically be the fourth or fifth party in the EPP today, I am puzzled as to why anyone thinks that the Tories would be able to obtain anything close to what they were able to obtain in the previous legislature.
The real problem, in my humble opinion, is that Tory core principles of "eurorealism" and classical liberalism are simply not compatible with the EPP's collective consciousness and the enormous influence of French economic dirigisme and German über-federalism on its political agenda. The hoopla over "isolation" and "influence" are non-arguments. There is bound to be considerable friction in the next couple of years between London and the Franco-German axis over Lisbon and their regulation-happy social market policies - this has nothing to do with what political group the Tories are in!
As an aside, I also find it surprising that David Cameron has been subjected to so much criticism for having had the unmitigated gall to merely carry out a campaign promise! What is more important? Being true to your principles or compromising yourself on key ideological issues in order to stay in the European Parliament's Christian Democrat cum Socialist good-ol’-boy network
The fact of the matter is that the Conservatives have simply exposed the elephant-in-the-room that EU federalists have been hiding their head in the sand over for several years.
Many things in Europe are not working and millions of Europeans have realized it. And no, sorry, they are not just ignorant Little Englanders or political zealots. They are normal people, who pay taxes and are asking themselves serious questions about the European Union, where it is headed and whether its influence should increase in their everyday lives.
Thanks to the creation of the European Conservatives and Reformists group, a clear fault line in European politics has finally been drawn by a mainstream and resolutely democratic political party. Now the ball is in the federalists' court. If they continue to pompously dismiss the real concerns of millions of Europeans instead of trying to reconnect with the people and making Europe work, they will continue to disappoint and alienate the electorate, from referendum failures to the steady decline in voter participation.
As the inspirational (sigh) campaign slogan concocted by the European Parliament for the recent elections read: it's your choice!
The Conservative Party's departure from the European People's Party and decision to spearhead a new, anti-federalist group has ruffled a few feathers. Unsurprisingly, media coverage and political reaction to the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group has, by and large, been negative. Much has been made of statements on civil liberties issues and climate-change by some members; others have been accused of being Nazi sympathizers. To everyone’s relief though, these stories have mostly been dismissed as either being exaggerations or half-truths. On the other hand, two realpolitik-influenced contentions over the move have gained traction with the European Parliament's chattering classes. Firstly, that as a result of having left the EPP, the Conservatives have isolated themselves in Europe - and the United Kingdom in the process. Secondly, that the party itself has lost considerable political influence in the biggest political group in Strasbourg.
I fail to understand the line of reasoning used with regards to both points, especially if one looks at the situation as it stands today in the European Parliament. Why would the Conservatives be "isolated" merely because they do not belong to a dominant political group within a political chamber? If, from the Assemblée Nationale to the Bundestag, smaller parties are able to have their say by forming coalitions or cooperating on a need-to basis with others, I am confident that as the fourth biggest group in the European Parliament, the ECR will do just fine. As a matter of fact, smaller parties often obtain excellent results if they play their cards right. One need only look at the regional election results in Belgium last month, where the francophone green party, Ecolo, surprisingly became key post-electoral power brokers despite having finished third overall!
When parties choose to work together because they have common ground, they work together, when they don't, they don't. The group that the Tories are actually in is irrelevant and does not mean that they cannot cooperate with allies in other groups when needed and vice-versa.
The other big issue brought up by the new group’s detractors is the Conservatives’ alleged loss of influence (read power) engendered by their departure from the EPP. The Tories did negotiate an exceptional "package" in 2004, however five years ago the Socialists had not just been obliterated in the elections and the EPP *needed* the Conservative MEPs in order to stiffen their ranks. Accordingly, they were allowed to punch above their weight and given several plum positions. Considering that, in addition, the Conservatives would hypothetically be the fourth or fifth party in the EPP today, I am puzzled as to why anyone thinks that the Tories would be able to obtain anything close to what they were able to obtain in the previous legislature.
The real problem, in my humble opinion, is that Tory core principles of "eurorealism" and classical liberalism are simply not compatible with the EPP's collective consciousness and the enormous influence of French economic dirigisme and German über-federalism on its political agenda. The hoopla over "isolation" and "influence" are non-arguments. There is bound to be considerable friction in the next couple of years between London and the Franco-German axis over Lisbon and their regulation-happy social market policies - this has nothing to do with what political group the Tories are in!
As an aside, I also find it surprising that David Cameron has been subjected to so much criticism for having had the unmitigated gall to merely carry out a campaign promise! What is more important? Being true to your principles or compromising yourself on key ideological issues in order to stay in the European Parliament's Christian Democrat cum Socialist good-ol’-boy network
The fact of the matter is that the Conservatives have simply exposed the elephant-in-the-room that EU federalists have been hiding their head in the sand over for several years.
Many things in Europe are not working and millions of Europeans have realized it. And no, sorry, they are not just ignorant Little Englanders or political zealots. They are normal people, who pay taxes and are asking themselves serious questions about the European Union, where it is headed and whether its influence should increase in their everyday lives.
Thanks to the creation of the European Conservatives and Reformists group, a clear fault line in European politics has finally been drawn by a mainstream and resolutely democratic political party. Now the ball is in the federalists' court. If they continue to pompously dismiss the real concerns of millions of Europeans instead of trying to reconnect with the people and making Europe work, they will continue to disappoint and alienate the electorate, from referendum failures to the steady decline in voter participation.
As the inspirational (sigh) campaign slogan concocted by the European Parliament for the recent elections read: it's your choice!
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