This Facebook group seeks to emulate the "success" of those who made a Simon Cowell act Christmas Number One, instead of another Simon Cowell act. It seeks to put Lord Pearson of UKIP on the Leaders' Debates, and therefore claims to be raging against the political machine.
How apt.
Pearson, an economic neoliberal who therefore fully supports neoconservative foreign policy, has promised to dissolve UKIP if the Conservative Leader, but no one else, promises an In/Out referendum on the EU, but nothing else on any issue. Those who thought that they were striking a blow against Simon Cowell were not in fact doing any such thing, but the very reverse. And those who think that they are striking a blow against One-Party Britain by giving any sort of support to UKIP are not in fact doing any such thing, but the very reverse.
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David,
ReplyDeleteYour assumption that Pearson is a neoconservative on foreign policy by virtue of him being an economic neoliberal is simply fallacious. It is possible to be, like most UKIPers, pacifist/libertarian and not neocon/interventionist.
Secondly you say Pearson offered to dissolve UKIP. No he did not. He offered to stand down all candidates against the Conservative party in the next general election. He only commented that if we got the referendum and won it, then we would be in a different political game where any number of things could happen, even UKIP disbanding.
It is true that our FPTP electoral system means the only way for small parties to exert political influence is in the way UKIP does (influencing outcomes in marginal seats). The hope is the centrist party compromises to neutralise the threat, and thus retaining their big tent.
Unfortunately, on the EU issue especially, there is a refusal to do this and represent the views of at least 2.5m voters, meaning the price for Tory refusal to compromise is loss of votes and seats.
Under a PR system, for example, UKIP would have representation in Parliament and the Conservative party would be smaller. It is just the same pressure showing itself through our FPTP system which cannot handle a fractured political landscape.
Pearson is in fact a supporter of the neocon foreign policy agenda, as I again submit that his economic views require.
ReplyDeleteSaying that UKIP might disband if there were a referendum vote to leave the EU makes my point: whatever happened to flat taxes, grammar schools, and everything else? Not least including opposition to the neocon wars.
My point is also made by the fact that the Lib Dems have already promised an In/Out referendum, yet there is no suggestion of standing down against them.
UKIP are non-domiciled Tories, who may not currently vote Tory or be Conservative Party members, but to whom that party will always be their natural home. They simply cannot imagine life without it. And now, they are going home to it. Entirely unmoved by what it might actually be like. But then, they never were concerned about that.