From the Westminster Arms, Nigel Farage bellows across to Parliament that its occupants of all parties ought to rally round him.
Yet even the one who is still nominally a member of his own party shows no sign of having noticed.
Farage probably thinks of himself of Moses on the mountaintop. But he is much more Jude the Obscure.
Far from leading the No Campaign, UKIP in general and Farage in particular are going to be banned from any role whatever in it.
The media outlet that is closest to UKIP is trailing a policy of disgusted abstention, in order to secure all the relevance of Jim Sillars in 1997. Or ever thereafter, really.
Moreover, other than Douglas Carswell and, depending on the terms, possibly also the DUP, it looks increasingly likely, and even certain, that around 20 Labourites are going to be the only MPs in the No Campaign.
Unless Cameron's terms are as bad as they might be, of course. Then there would have to be the Labour front bench's "reluctant" change in attitude.
But either way, Andy Burnham has ruled out any crossparty campaign for Labour. That, and today also ruling out any separate party in Scotland.
He'll go far.
Indeed, Andy Burnham said Labour would run a "distinctive" Yes campaign. As the EU desperately wants.
ReplyDeleteThus while the Tories make the big business case for Europe, Labour will make the social case for Europe, (as espoused by Left Foot Forward recently). For the last thing the EU wants is for the Yes campaign to be based entirely around David Cameron's case for staying in-they need the badly-misnamed "Opposition" to make their own case for Yes, to bring their supporters onside too.
The campaign is already over-with a cross-party Yes campaign against solitary UKIP (giving the BBC the excuse to exclude the No campaign from airtime) the resulting Yes vote will seal the issue and finish us as an independent nation for good.
People will rue the day those 4 million UKIP voters did not get the Parliamentary representation they deserved. Just as the millions more eurosceptics who stupidly voted Tory because they believed the delusion that "only a Tory victory and referendum offers a chance to exit" will rue the day they didn't vote for the one party that actually favoured an exit. UKIP would never have won-but with 83 MP's, we'd have had a real Eurosceptic voice in Parliament.
Now there's none.
Oh, get over it, darling.
DeleteBurnham has yet to see the terms. A few hours ago, while Jeremy Corbyn was stating the old Bennite case by reference to Greece, Burnham was telling the Fabian Conference that he would insist on "the right to work, not the right to claim" for EU migrants.
Well, there is absolutely no chance of that.
There is one group of people whom we already know will certainly not be in the No camp. UKIP. Barred. Reduced to the position of the National Front in 1975.
As in 1975, though, that will not apply to the Far Left, who will share platforms with all sorts of people, as they will be perfectly willing to do with the Far Left. But not with UKIP.
Which other party but UKIP would or could lead the No campaign?
ReplyDeleteAs the only party that got anywhere near 4 million votes that favours a British exit. UKIP's also the only party thats genuinely against limitless immigration Equality & Diversity, Human Rights and so it's the only party that can make a real argument for exit.
Like it or lump it. There just isn't another one.
Bless.
DeleteIt is simply not about you anymore. Your four million voters delivered one MP, and he is about to leave. The DUP will have a better claim to lead the No Campaign than UKIP will have.
Expect your known members and supporters to be asked to leave No Campaign meetings and rallies, or prevented from entering them in the first place, just as those of the National Front were in 1975.
And for the same reason, namely that their mere presence was lowering the tone.
You are right, the likes of the RMT and the Morning Star will be welcomed to platforms with open arms by the Tory Eurosceptics but known Ukip types will be barred at the door and those who revealed themselves during meetings will be kicked out by the stewards. Redwood etc. have already as good as said so, anyway he's hinting he might call for a yes vote after all, so God only knows who, if anybody, is going to lead the no campaign. But one thing is for certain, it won't be Farage or any other Kipper, they have already been told they are not allowed anywhere near it.
ReplyDeleteJeremy Corbyn?
DeleteThe Morning Star Readers' and Supporters' Group in Parliament is quite large. Whereas UKIP has one MP officially, none in practical reality, and soon to be none even on paper.
UKIP is a fringe oddity led by a drunken, buffoonish Walter Mitty. Forget about it.
Oh, and Breitbart is trailing a UKIP line to abstain in the referendum, because it cannot be anything important if Nigel is not important to and within it. You have to laugh.
Delete