Corbyn won by a landslide. The propaganda intensifies

It's been a summer of the refugee crisis and Labour leadership saga but it's now that time of year when shirking careerist elitist MPs are declared fit to work and will emerge from their expenses paid houses to swamp parliament.

http://politicalscrapbook.net/2015/09/mp-expense-overclaims/

Last week Tory-run BBC news had Daily Politics back on air with the usual cast of establishment careerists (mostly men) like Andrew 'plebgate' Mitchell and Tristram Hunt who was parachuted into a safe Labour seat because he was on the telly. Having put up the pretence of showing heart over the refugee crisis the war-machine quickly moved to make the case for more self-serving western imperialism. This was the trend of the week seen in The S*n and PMQs both used as platforms to push for a war. Would any of the establishment volunteer themselves of their loved ones to go fight? And who would really benefit from war? Perhaps this massive arms fair in London might hold some clues.

Later they had Waylon Smithers brown-noser, Toby Young smearing Labour which was mirrored on Newsnight. Just to be sure a Panorama hatchet job by 'journalist' John Ware was broadcast, in which 'experts' questioned Corbyn's electability while showing pictures of his rallies being attended by large crowds. They also smeared Corbyn's diplomacy fro including enemies, conveniently forgetting UK ties to despotic regimes around the world like wealthy Saudi Arabian fundamentalists - who by the way are not at all concerned about their fellow Muslims seeking asylum.

Talking of foreign policy, Israeli PM Netanyahu met David Cameron because presumably it's OK to call apartheid tyrants 'friends' if they are our apartheid tyrant. Israel is what S. Africa was before the 90s but with a greater death toll. This undermines so-called 'British values' our PM continually pushes and u;ltimately leaves us with no real diplomatic legitimacy in the Middle East even with moderates.

Then Corbyn won by a landslide - the largest mandate of any leader ever. After his victory he chose not to appear on Andrew Marr's BBC weekend politics show because he was fulfilling a promise to visit a mental hospital in his constituency.

The Times, as a paper full of tory elitists (If you don't want to visit the UKIP link then see image below) who trade on being progressive metropolitans went into full demonisation mode.

That's it for me. I'll see if the Labour party's still there in the morning. Maybe they'll abolish pubs or something. It's been a pleasure.

— Philip Collins (@PCollinsTimes) September 13, 2015

@PCollinsTimes I know, I get that feeling with 'journalism' in The Times too http://t.co/fdvoGvWKnv #JezWeDid

— JeSuisFedUp (@JeSuisFedUp) September 14, 2015

There were accusations from the usual voices who never before cared for women's representation or having quotas that his cabinet was sexist, even though there were more female members than the tories have, in fact more than ever. Sky news wannabe journalist Dermot Murnaghan even pontificated about whether Corbyn's casual dress sense could get him elected.

If you want to know what a proper mainstream media journalist looks like then watch this. It created the usual social media outcry, a measure of how low our standards and expectations have fallen.

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The tories want the tube strikes to sway public opinion against working people

Many London commuters today and tomorrow are upset that tube workers are inconveniencing them. As a local resident I am in this position. Personally I refuse to react in a way that simplifies a complex issue into one tweet-sized rant sent while we struggle to exploitative jobs we probably hate anyway.

The tories have a union reform agenda and aided by the usual media they are playing politics with working people's lives.

Firstly some misconceptions:

• Tube workers agree to work nights - it is about the implementation

• It is not just well-paid drivers on strike. Unions are have other tube staff as members too, including low paid workers.

• There are serious health and safety concerns about the roster proposals of TfL.

• There are politics at play - and it is coming from the top:

So it appears that LU are encouraging the strike by with unrealistic demands. Such tactics raise suspicions of a tory strategy (via Boris Johnson) to solidify a lot of misinformed public opinion against workers to push through 'union reform' (destroying workers' rights). 

They also want to automate the tube. It's a possibility as long as some money saved go towards helping the many made unemployed, having dedicating their lives to one job. Tory governments are not known for compensating those whose lives they ruin - ask any miner. 

Commuters should remember that every job lost to technology means another individual not paying tax and probably on benefits undermining the fabric of families and communities. We never seem to recognise or measure the human cost.

But never mind because tube strike is preventing you getting to work - maybe working on another great tech tool that will probably put you and your loved ones livelihoods in jeopardy.

Automation has limitations. How long until a robot can help save lives in an emergency like 7/7?

This government have proved at every stage to be ideological game-players from austerity to the welfare bill. They are shaping society to their advantage to a degree that no other government has done. Any government including 'politically astute' (conniving) George Osborne clearly has agendas beyond the issue itself.

And as for a wider reading of our society:

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How the media are smearing Jeremy Corbyn: A leadership campaign is not meltdown.

McCarthyism is alive and well in 21st century UK.

The mainstream media after smearing Nicola Sturgeon before the election and getting embarrassingly exposed after the source of the leak was revealed,  has now set it sights on Jeremy Corbyn.


HSBC propaganda leaflet, The Telegraph were chief perpetrators against Sturgeon. Now they actively encourage readers to vote for him under the pretence that his leadership will keep their beloved Conservatives in power. Or is this just a stunt to undermine him because he's a real alternative? Can he win an election? - who knows? Many thought the tories would be in permanent wilderness post-Blair. Remember baseball hat Hague and IDS's Quiet Man speech I don't recall the media being as aggressive.

A regular tactic is to ramp up the rhetoric on Labour with words like 'panic', 'existential crisis' and asking if the party will split, branding things 'dull' one minute then 'chaos' the next. Even supposedly 'left-wing' BBC is complicit - a cherished national institution but also a profit-driven global multinational. Media enterprises always sell business narratives because profit trumps public interest.

Unfortunately, the more the media scare-monger about alleged Labour disarray, the more likely swing voters will turn towards the tories or 'safe' Blairites, who then pander to the owners. Even the left-leaning New Statesman have run with this populist trend.

Ultimately it's no real surprise that Labour are having a heave-ho, they just lost an election they expected to get something from. It's easy to forget that despite attacks on Miliband and the SNP takeover, Labour increased their vote share - nearly double the tories percentage.

Those on the right of Labour are increasingly coming across as out-of-touch, something Miliband kept accusing the tories of. Most of their MPs abstained on tory cuts to tax credits for 3+ children families. This bill effectively dictates the size of a affected working families, the strivers this government pretends to reward. The media frame this as Labour in-fighting, instead of supporting those sticking up for the children who will be plunged into poverty as a result.

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So Osborne cynically plays political games with people's lives while trying to re-brand his party as pro-working people. And the Labour right allow him his win. This was a bill that could have been successfully opposed if Labour's 184 spineless MPs had grown one.

Then Blair emerged and, probably to the relief of the average citizen of the Middle East, dropped bombs on Corbyn's bid and his party. An interfering war-monger who commands huge fees to speak at world hunger events. I guess he's making the most of Chilcot report delays

To me the whole political debate since the 2008 financial crisis comes down to this:

a) Who caused the global banking meltdown?
b) Who should be protected from its consequences?
c) Who should be made accountable?

These are rhetorical questions for informed followers of news/politics with basic moral reasoning but please read/comment away if you want to discuss. Keep it constructive and witty please.

Finally, if you wonder why I am so bothered about the media, it is because key swing voters are still influenced by it, as I argue here.

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Selected campaign donations to UK political parties

Electoral Commission data here

Company and Individual donations to UK parties during GE2015 campaign | Create infographics

Meanwhile in Middle England: what the liberal left echo chamber needs to learn post-election

If you're pretty certain, as I and others are, that austerity is not only wrong but an ideological self-serving policy for the rich and powerful then you would have been disappointed with the election result. It's not as if Labour really challenged that during the campaign but under a broken voting system they were the lesser evil to challenge the unsustainable predatory culture that caused the banking catastrophe. A crash that laid the foundations for the cuts that somehow punish anyone but those responsible.

anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk

Now the nation has spoken we have an accurate barometer of the nations' politics. What can those opposing the tory agenda against the vulnerable do to win future battles?

It is important to identify the tory voters who swung it their way. Their shock majority came after poll after poll putting them level with Labour. Concluding that, firstly the polling methodology is questionable. By favouring people who are available and have time to reply - so working people would be under-represented in basic sampling bias. Furthermore respondents are approached incorrectly - being asked about voting intentions straight away produces instinctive responses that warm up questions could curb. Having studied social research methods this seems a incredible blind-spot for organisations who do this for a living.

Yet, this inaccuracy is also party beyond the pollsters control. As tory voters were not picked up it in the polls it is possible there was a 'shy tory' phenomenon. This was used to explain the infamous 1992 shock tory victory. Of course there are always polling in previous elections have been more accurate. This time it more likely that shyness was a factor compared to 2010 when the tories hadn't been in government and were a less toxic brand. The 1992 shy voters had had 13 years of tories to hide.

Other swing tory voters were undecided reflecting the anti-political feeling since MPs expenses and the banking crisis. Undecideds are more likely to be those who engage minimally with media for a small period at the end of a campaign. This could be because they are fed-up, too busy and/or generally consider democracy as something done once every general election. Their political interactions are short and swift and they judge parties on their own terms e.g, running a household finances like the nations - which is a nonsense as I argue here. Their media is likely to be from the most accessible traditional outlets which is largely right wing propaganda. They are exposed to politics as catchy headlines, personalities, catchphrases, gaffes etc. They are vulnerable to right wing propaganda and less likely to read independent counter-establishment blogs (cough) and liberal social media.

Yet for many 2015 swing tories, voting is simply an act of self-improvement - basically in a nation ever more materialistic, voting with your wallet. It is the economy stupid. So while many young rebellious twitter attacks and mocks the conservatives, tory swing voters are seeing their party being favourably reported as guardians of a stable economy. They do not debate politics in the pub like my left leaning peers do. They tend not to share strong opinions on social media. They're more bothered with house prices and child security than cool BuzzFeed articles and likes on Facebook. Many simply vote and their reasons are influenced a combination of traditional media narratives, fear of change and a 'feeling' in their wallet that things are getting better. This all points towards a coup for the tories.

This political identity is well known to me because it is my background as the son of self-made immigrants who adopted the values and aspirations of Middle England. If anything they hold Conservative values more dearly (thick and thin during the Blair years) because their journey to relative security was full of adversity unlike for many of their 'indigenous' Middle England peers.

Meanwhile in Middle England

So many tory swing voters are busy and misinformed or both hence the polling issues. They are from older richer demographics and concerned with money primarily with mortgages and families. They have financial criteria of security that they like to see matched in the nation. These are the ones that swung it for the tories in the southern rural areas. This geographical quirk is important because the swing voters inhabit the region which is the most populous with the most constituencies. Labour only managed to win 11 southern seats outside of their stronghold of London.

Of course these swing voters will choose Labour if the conditions are right. Before Labour's 1997 landslide the tories were in disarray, tired after Thatcher's legacy of social and economic dysfunction. Blair opportunistically rode the wave of misguided optimism as Thatcher's heir with a smile. He was a dog-whistle to these voters who responded to his statesman-like hope, secretly glad his New Labour project had curbed its traditions and moved rightwards away from unionism and nationalisation. John Prescott stood out as the lone high-profile stereotypical northern working class representative.

They are not Blue Labour or Red Tory voters because they are not concerned about fair meritocratic society where anyone can climb-up. They're already on the ladder. Labour will now debate the merits of a New Labour renaissance versus a socialist anti-austerity agenda. But are the Middle England swing voters really listening if the tories continue to appeal.

How can they be convinced that they voted for a short-termist ideological cuts that will do little to improve wages and chronic UK productivity. Will they ask if the hedge fund-backed Conservatives are going to stop the bankers getting away with it again? Is inequality on their radar? Do they realise that it harms the well-off as well as the poor?  These are some of the arguments that need to be made in the next 5 years.

For us who want to real change in the broken system we must ask can all the blogs, memes, tropes and counter-misinformation combat the fact that ultimately a significant section of voters allow themselves to be passively sold the idea of stability, competency and greater wealth under a system that already broke not too long ago.

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