Tory EU Vote Threat Exposed

As the campaign to persuade voters of the merits of remaining in, or leaving, the European Union gets under way, one of those in the firing line over the Tory bullying scandal has given his troops a personal rallying cry. Young Britons’ Foundation top man Donal Blaney has made his pitch via a Facebook post, demonstrating that the YBF account is in fact him, and also showing more than a little of the group’s sinister and menacing side.

Under the heading “Believe in Leave: a personal message to the conservative movement”, which Blaney concedes comes “from my sanctuary of the Sunshine State” - he and wife Marci own a suitably generously proportioned property within a gated compound in Tampa - the case is made for leaving the EU. Not much of this is surprising: the spiel could have come from any right-leaning Eurosceptic pundit.

What makes this diatribe significant is, first, the claim to victimhood, as readers are told “those who wish to keep us shackled to Brussels, and especially those with a political or financial vested interest in us staying in, with unleash all manner of threats and smears in the coming weeks. Some already have begun. It would be easy to meet fire with fire. But it is often more powerful to refuse to engage in gutter politics and to rise above the fray”.

It was for the likes of Donal Blaney that Olbermann’s Dictum - “The right exists in a perpetual state of victimhood” - was coined. But then we see the second part of Blaney’s pitch, and here it becomes infinitely more threatening. “Retribution is for later: many of us feel betrayed by those who secured our time, money and support by claiming to be Eurosceptics but who have now meekly backed the Prime Minister. We will not forget and there will be time aplenty to mete out disapproval on 24 June and beyond”.

Yes, Blaney and his pals in the YBF and elsewhere out there on the right are already putting names on their list, whether you tell them your name or not. He continues in the same vein: “Between now and then, however, we have a referendum to win. Don’t be distracted in the meantime by campaigning to deselect X or Y. It is waste of precious energy”. The conservative movement is coming to get you, disobedient Tory MPs.

“Save the goading and abuse to another day” counsels Blaney, which means that, when the time comes, there will be goading and abuse, of which he will wholeheartedly approve. This is confirmed as he continues “Internecine struggles can resume on 24 June”. He is asking Tories and UKIP followers to work together until then.

This missive ends with a dose of stinking hypocrisy, as befits anything from the YBF leader, as he concludes “On the morning of 24 June 2016, I want to awake with the words of Martin Luther King ringing in my head: ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last’”. Donal Blaney targets Barack Obama, Al Sharpton and Serena Williams, yet tries to lay claim to the legacy of MLK. Pass the sick bag.

But good of him to let us know there will be retribution and deselections. Imagine the press horror if that had been a Jeremy Corbyn supporter writing that. Then imagine also how many wavering voters that will drive into the Remain camp. Well done Donal.