As if the milking of alleged wartime spirit - being evoked among people who, sadly, were not actually there when it happened - could not get any more blatant, the Brexit Party has just held a rally during which Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage entered the arena to the sound of air-raid sirens. That’s the kind of sirens that warned the civilian population of towns and cities across the UK that they were about to be bombed.
Squeaky descent into 1930s fascism finger up the bum time
Some cities could summon up anti-aircraft guns, although these would at best merely deter Hermann Göring’s finest. Only rarely did the carpet of “flak” manage to pot one of the German aircraft. Smaller towns and cities were not so fortunate: Midlands and Northern conurbations like Derby, Coventry, and yes, Crewe (where what is now the Bentley factory built thousands of Rolls-Royce Merlin aero engines) had little defence.
You'll have to speak up, I'm a bit Mutt and Jeff
Anywhere with extensive rail infrastructure, aircraft production facilities, engineering works, port facilities and communications networks was a prime target. Worse, around 60,000 civilians - innocent people not participating in the fighting - lost their lives. Bombing accuracy was poor, whoever dropped the projectiles. Often the attackers would just loose off their payload without identifying their target.
That is what Mr Thirsty and his pals are evoking. It did not impress James Melville: “Just look at the state of the Farage / Brexit Party rally (with air raid sirens). Britain is in an era of demagogue populism and xenophobia. There are parallels with the early 1930’s Weimar Republic. We forget the tragic lessons of history at our peril”.
Kerry-Anne Mendoza of The Canary was equally unimpressed. “Nigel Farage entering the Brexit Party venue, to air raid sirens. Air. Raid. Sirens. Their take on WW2 seems to be: ‘Remember the good old days of global bloodshed, Holocaust and rations? Let’s make Britain great again!’ That’s the wrong take guys!”
Brendan May was concerned: “Final proof, if it were needed, that the #BrexitParty thinks we are actually at war with the rest of Europe. Farage comes on to the sound of air raid sirens. These people are deeply ill”. And Mary Heywood added “Dear God! What sick person decided it would be a good idea to include air raid sirens! I can only conclude it was Farage himself, which proves he IS sick - in the head! My heart rate went up hearing those sounds, as I remember sirens like that from just after the war, practising!”
Mark Priestley wasn’t happy, either. “The video from the Farage intro was disturbing. People waving glow sticks to the sound of air-raid sirens. Clearly a proto-fascist movement, taking lessons from Trump re the big rallies, simplistic negative messages etc”. Another Tweeter concluded “Looked like the Nuremberg rally. Air raid sirens, torches, one-man messiah cult. Careful what you wish for. These people won’t stop with EU citizens. There will be more breaking point posters”. Disturbing. Very disturbing.
And Elly Davis summed it up: “How appropriate. Air raid sirens warn of an approaching enemy - then enter stage left Farage”. Remember Michael Rosen’s prescient words: “Fascism arrives as your friend … It will restore your honour … make you feel proud”.
That’s what the Brexit Party promises. But in reality it is the enemy. Of all of us.
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12 comments:
It would be interesting to see Farage try that in Liverpool, which he won't.
Oswald Mosley tried it pre-war. On Scotty Road he got as far as, "My friends -" before someone beaned him on the forehead with a half brick. He never returned.
Prescient, as it turned out, because "Various quibbles are possible, but the answer is clear and unambiguous - London was a safer place than Merseyside in which to spend the [blitz] years 1940-41." Page 160 with statistics, Port In A Storm by John Hughes (National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside/Countyvise Limited/Merseyside Port Folios,1993).
Farage of course would know none of this because he's a dickhead. No surprise there, then.
Well, according to the ever fragrant Ms Widdecombe, Brexit will not be as bad as WW2. You know, the global conflict which witnessed nearly half a million Brits killed and nearly 70m killed worldwide.
He's so tough he's upset about Matt Berry's new series.
In another parallel, 2 people have crashed aeroplanes during political missions:
* Rudolph Hess.
* It'll come to me in a minute.
What a shame Leni Riefenstahl isn't still alive to record the glorious event.
Dear Zelo ,
With regard to Brexit I can say that I made the ‘wrong’ call twice , voting ‘Leave’ in 1975 and ‘Remain’ in 2016 . However ultra-Remainers are repeating making the wrong call that they made in 2016 . The problem has arisen from an old under challenged philosophy attributed to Ms Thatcher ‘there is no such thing as society’ , this aspect of a Central European dogma of neo-Liberalism is obviously counter to the Marquis of Queensbury injunction and repeated by a ring referee before a bout ‘keep your guard up and defend yourself at all times’ . Unfettered neo-Liberalism globalism as a doctrine has allowed Governments everywhere to dodge their responsibility for all their citizens , and the protection of the British public should not be ceded to such as Mr Farage . Negotiations with the EU undertaken with the attitude of ourselves as a ‘victim’ is unBritish and does cede the stage to such as Farage . Much better a determined negotiation with our guard up and obliging a Government to make the best deal ‘on behalf of the whole British people’ . This is especially confusing for the Tory tribe with their old ‘One Nation’ tradition and their new neo-Liberal cloak . How about ‘Thatcherism unfrocked !’
Derek 08:16
If you think that someone other than the Tory Government can take over the negotiations, you're going to be disappointed.
Dear Anonymous ,
We've been negotiating with the EU since the early seventies and we'll continue to do so , hopefully after a GE with a Labour Government . Cliff Edge's fallacy is just that , life will go on despite him !
Derek 17:57
The UK Government has been negotiating, at times, with the EU since we joined.
Government and the media have used the EU as a scapegoat and it works with millions of Brits who think that everything is the fault of the EU holding the country back.
I cannot see the next Tory PM, be he Al de piffle or Isaac, calling a GE. So, the negotiators will continue to be Tories.
However, if there is a GE before the UK leaves the EU and the Labour Party wins, all hell will be unleashed by the right-wing media and the Tory Party if Labour doesn't give them what THEY want.
What THEY want isn't what the country needs so, Labour needs a massive majority if their plan is to have a favourable EU trade agreement.
You will be disappointed.
1. Labour will not form the next Government.
2. The NF Poncing Prick Party (version 2.0) will win seats.
Dear Anonymous ,
You acknowledge that we’ve been negotiating with the EU since we joined (and years before I remember) and I recognise that since the referendum the extent of the negotiation has increased and that was one of the reasons I voted Remain , however experience illustrates that negotiations of one sort or another will continue , and I believe indefinitely at different levels of intensity . Despite the obfuscation as to cause , to which you refer in your second point , IMO the actual main problem in the UK is the application of a neo-Liberal agenda . You talk of a GE as if the next falling before whatever ‘EU Departure Date’ is currently set is especially important , but you recognise that the EU has had little effect on our real problems and I believe is likely not so to do in the future .
With the false dawn of Blair’s first election in 1997 I have been waiting since 1979 for the British public to realise the bankruptcy of the neo-Liberal system (since 2008 actual !) . Membership (Total/Associate/Treatied) of the EU is not the crucial policy matter for the UK . Disappointment has been my lot since 1979 , maybe I fear little change in that but I see current Labour policies as hopeful ,
Derek 09:32
The type of negotiation undertaken by the Tories includes opposing the EU's plan to raise the tariff on imported steel when China was dumping vast quantities on the world market at below cost price.
Dear Anonymous ,
Highlighting random negotiations the results of which you disagree is normal and obviously every citizen is at liberty to express their position on it , and I agree that China’s dumping of steel below cost price is something that should be opposed . In or out of the EU the UK can make common cause with efforts to oppose such acts . One of the possible benefits of being out of the EU is that when that body takes a position AGAINST against the interests of the UK we can try to take defensive measures .
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