BY BRAD JAMES
Politics is a small pond and inferences of elitism and a “Boy’s Club” aside, more than one form of Darwinism stalks the corridors of power. Power itself becomes an issue, and an ascendancy into the glare of relevance can be shocking and even painful to those not use to it, like the right and left. UKIP and the Green Party, two parties seen as tangible alternatives to the drudgery of red vs. blue. A narrative as predictable as it is banal, so muddied by sleaze, false promise and rhetoric that Westminster is seen as a fetid sludge, and government’s blue seems more diseased of late, cut through with yellow pus.
Pessimism is the default function after being served a government none asked for over the course of half a decade. The rise of UKIP is seen by many (and often a toad too conveniently for the Westminster in crowd) as a protest vote against a rot that set in long before the Expenses Scandal – Blair’s endorsement of the Iraq War springs to mind. The rise of the Green Party is viewed as a resort to common sense and the propagation of a party that offers real solutions to many of the issues. However, scandal in politics is contagious and is a rash that is smeared quickly over the avaricious landscape of the media. UKIP have courted this since the rise of Farage. Nasty Nige and his the questionable antics of his party have shown the beliefs that can be concurrent with what was once a fringe party, is the same now happening with the Greens?
Appearing on The Sunday Politics, Green Party leader Natalie Bennett has raised a few eyebrows by stating that it should not be a crime for people to belong to organisations like ISIS or Al-Qaeda, as people: “should not be punished for what they think.”
“What we want to do is make sure we are not punishing people for what they think or what they believe. Obviously actions of inciting violence, supporting violence, those are absolutely unacceptable, illegal and should be pursued to the full extent of the law.” – Green Party Leader, Natalie Bennett.
She also added that the policy: “dates back to the age of the ANC and Apartheid in South Africa.”
Current UK terrorism state that it is illegal to belong to any recognised terrorist organisation, such as al-Qaeda, ISIS or the IRA.
On the other side of the coin from freedom of speech is bigotry (which oddly comes under freedom of speech legislation if it does not directly incite hatred or violence) courtesy of bigotry’s well-acquainted companion, UKIP. 2015 is looking a little choppy for the good ship Farage, falling opinion in the polls has been met with controversy over the NHS (the biggest thorn in UKIP’s side save immigration). Former comments from Nigel over his belief that the NHS will have to be bolstered by some form of health insurance in the future have surfaced and more recently defecting UKIP MEP Amjad Bashir has left a bruise so common with the UKIP colour purple.
Mr. Bashir, a former Tory, was elected as a UKIP MEP last year, although he has come under fire recently as the party has accused him of several allegations, including “unanswered financial and employment questions” and “interference with candidate selection processes.” – Official UKIP Party Office Statement. Speaking to Andrew Marr on BBC One yesterday, Nigel Farage appeared unflappable, even after Mr. Bashir’s desertion and subsequent accusation of UKIP’s ridiculous lack of policies. Farage also shook off the recent revelation of UKIP’s General Secretary Matthew Richardson via the Sunday Times said the party’s supporters were “bigots.” Richardson – hired to put an end to UKIP’s PR gaffes and to prevent ‘bad stuff’ reaching the media – told the paper he had been quoting Tory MP Eric Forth, who once said:
“All this sucking up to minorities is ridiculous; there are millions of people in this country who are white, Anglo-Saxon and bigoted and they need to be represented.”
Richardson dismissed the Tory’s quote as ‘harmless banter.’ Yet it speaks volumes pertaining about the transition to being major players on the political field. A pond of government is a mire, clogged with the detritus of rhetoric, empty promises and selfish, unadulterated ambition. Fringe elements are always the victim and sacrifice for ecumenical voter policy. Natalie Bennett’s highlighting of the not being persecuted for belief is actually a contravention to inherent freedoms that should be enjoyed by all, regardless of race, gender and sexual orientation. Organisations like ISIS are known for persecuting women and the LGBT community, the distinction between joining ISIS and being a woman or LGBT, is that joining ISIS or al-Qaeda is a choice. Natalie Bennett quotes the policy from having it’s origin in support of the ANC, the ANC favoured racial freedom, being black is not a choice and therefore should enjoy the freedoms inherent with what comes naturally to you, joining ISIS/al-Qaeda is a choice, this is why it is wrong to equate the ANC with those organisations. The Greens would obviously abhor UKIP for their bigotry (and rightly so) will overlooking this marked difference in their opinions. It is this balance between opinion and said opinion infringing on the terrain of innate sex, race or orientation, that blends fringe party into the mainstream.
