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The Wind Up of the Easily Led is working in the UK

On Thursday, an MP in the British parliament, one Rupert Lowe, (now independent because he was thrown out of Reform UK) having mistaken a charity rowing event as it passed the Norfolk coast for immigrants trying to land in a small boat, without doing any further checking, gave into his paranoia and took to social media with a blurry photograph and a declaration that he was going to make sure that everyone in the boat was going to be deported.

Immediately groups of people rushed to the coast to defend British soil. They were riled up and had stopped thinking. No small boats have ever landed on the Norfolk coast. The weather was not conducive to such a landing. Even if it was, is vigilantism now going to be the order of the day for anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant?

In interviews on television news, they of course blamed the idiot MP for sparking rumours in a volatile situation. Some truth there, I think. However, they are the tinder to his spark and need to take some responsibility. If we continue to move in this direction, with divisive politicians winding up people with real concerns to act foolishly, we all have a problem. 🙁

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdd32lnq445o

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Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

Good to see both the police and (for a change) reporting media attending the scene and BOTH showing just how wrong he was.

But this is what Reform and it's 'affiliates' do.
Present a lie; get (spurious) support from 'interested business supporters' (thus ensuring it's financial donations keep coming) gaining headlines everywhere and eroding ANY credibility politically as they go.

FreddieUK · 70-79, M

@Picklebobble2 I am hoping the media will keep exposing how shallow these people are, but my fear is that the people who need to hear what's actually going on don't consume proper journalism. That fear is borne out by the way they reacted to a social media post not a news bulletin on the radio or TV. I have no comfort from watching the way the US has gone in respect.

Edited to correct typo

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@FreddieUK Same here in the UK.

As a country we're in economic dire straits and the three major parties have absolutely no idea what to do....other than 'blame the other guy'.

What worries me is that when news companies align themselves with political ideology like this, younger people are assuming anything online MUST be true.
And I often think online politics is even worse 😑

FreddieUK · 70-79, M

@Picklebobble2 At the moment, British broadcasters have a pretty strict regulatory regime around them meaning that they can't ally openly with one political point of view. I don't think AT THE MOMENT we are in danger of going down the US road of partisan broadcasting. However, the way Ofcom (the regulator for readers not in the UK) has lost several cases it brought against GB News recently is of great concern.

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@FreddieUK Government of both Conservative and Labour try and 'rig' the board of the BBC to ensure it presents government policy in a 'good' light via BBC news.
Channel 4 has been 'threatened' with privatisation several times and ending independent journalism sourced by same.
ITN is HALF the size it used to be back in the 80's...not looking good.

FreddieUK · 70-79, M

@Picklebobble2 Remember ITN supply the news to Channel 4 and Channel 5 as well as ITV through independent units. But you're quite right commercial news supply is under a great pressure.But you're quite right commercial news supply is under a great pressure.

wildland · M

@FreddieUK The US is in the state it is because the media just didn't dare report on what Trump had planned, should he be elected.

But also, nowadays, it's very fashionable to believe the "mainstream media" are not to be trusted, and so people happily swallow whatever the algorithms are showing them on their youtube/social media feeds because they believe that that is the unfiltered truth (as if no-one has an agenda online 🙄)

FreddieUK · 70-79, M

@wildland Thanks for this helpful analysis.

wildland · M

@FreddieUK uh, are you bein' like, sarcastic dude? 😬

FreddieUK · 70-79, M

@wildland No, my friend. I think you have summed the situation up well. The sad face was because you describe a sad situation where trust has flowed into places it shouldn't have.

wildland · M

@FreddieUK I get it :)

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@Picklebobble2

As a country we're in economic dire straits and the three major parties have absolutely no idea what to do....other than 'blame the other guy'.

The government has a comprehensive plan for economic growth (one of its five manifesto "missions") including the first industrial strategy to be published in a generation. The trouble is that political discourse has now degenerated into childish demands for instant results, which are unrealistic in the current global economic climate. Personal criticism and this portrayal of a perpetual crisis are easier for the mainstream media to sell than nuanced opinion.

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ninalanyon · 61-69, T

@Picklebobble2

As a country we're in economic dire straits

Is this really true? The UK is usually ranked as one of the countries with the highest GDP in the world, ranked sixth in 2024 I think. It's not lack of money that defines the problems that the UK has. It seems that everything in the UK is done in the most complicated, indirect, and inefficient way that can possibly be devised.

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@SunshineGirl Oh for opposition parties it's an easy option.
You don't have to do or prove anything. You just make a noise, rile up your base, make as many threats of non-supprt as possible at any media outlet poking a microphone in your direction and watch 'polling companies"...most of whom you've never heard of "produce figures" from thin air that they say 'prove' their point.

Same tactics being employed by Trump aren't they ?
But we're still not seeing mass employment from companies expanding are we ?
But we are seeing 'threats' of leaving the UK because of the import tarrifs for exports to Europe from business.

Every benefit possible being paired down or stopped altogether leaving many not only unable to work but possibly unhirable anyway since they don't even have online banking or a form of acceptable I:D that the government now says is required.

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@ninalanyon We knew the post-covid era was going to be difficult. But add that to a post Brexit economic landscape and 'recovery' was always going to be difficult.

Every American post anywhere suggests 'business is the answer' but here business isn't doing anything !
Not hiring in numbers.
Not increasing pay.
Not expanding....

ninalanyon · 61-69, T

@Picklebobble2 But why was the post-COVID era going to be difficult? The Norwegian economy was back to pre-COVID levels of activity and revenue with nine months of the lifting of restrictions. Why was it different for the UK, why did the government of the time make such a pigs ear of organizing it all? And will it be any different when the next crisis occurs?

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@ninalanyon Norway has a total population 1/6 that of London !!
Norway is producing and selling oil and gas in a market they own at a time of massive rises in prices for customers !

The two countries aren't comparable.
Certainly not economically

ninalanyon · 61-69, T

@Picklebobble2 You are certainly right about them not being comparable economically, but perhaps not in the way you think. The UK has incomparably greater financial, human, educational, engineering, and scientific resources. Where Norway, and Scandinavia generally, excel is in simplicity, directness, and cooperation.

And the oil revenue is entirely consumed by the oil fund (State Pension Fund, Statens Pensjonskasse) which is forbidden to invest in onshore Norway specifically to avoid overheating the domestic economy. The state follows a self-imposed rule (handlingsregelen) that only investment income from the fund can be used and all political parties except Norway's answer to Reform abide by this.

Plus the boom in oil and gas prices came long after the Norwegian domestic economy had already recovered.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@Picklebobble2 The primary tactic of any populist part is to create a sense of permanent crisis from which only a demagogue such as Farage can deliver us. I do not underestimate the economic challenges that many people face daily, nor the dire state of public finances. However, unemployment remains low, wage growth strong, and the economy is underpinned by strong democratic foundations that most countries do not enjoy. The overall outlook is considerably brighter than in 1990-1994 or 2008-9. Stagflation (prices rise while the economy stands still), although disappointing, is preferable to a full blown recession in which people lose their jobs and homes. Handing everything over to a chancer whose main objective is to privatise what remains of civic society is a dangerous tactic.

FreddieUK · 70-79, M

@SunshineGirl You talk sense and give us a balanced analysis, so why doesn't this get through to people? What is it about their daily lives that make them think we ARE in a crisis? It seems that the Farage method is to point out issues which are genuine points of concern, then exaggerate them and then blame them on one particular group. People who are living in poor accommodation themselves or know family who are, will buy into this because the emotional attachment to their personal circumstance overcomes their ability to stand back and consider a wider picture. They crave simplicity of solutions. Hence they rush to the beaches, literally, believing that somehow they can make a difference themselves. I am frightened by that attitude, but don't want to fall into the trap of condemning people in my own country while defending those who are trying to come in through illegal routes when the situation is so complicated.

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@SunshineGirl Granted but none of that is any form of 'protection' from Trump-ist alignment to avoid unnecessary tarrifs for UK business trying to sell abroad.

Nor the nonsense from France trying to make the UK responsible for the migrant boat 'crisis' that in all fairness is also a France/EU member issue they want to turn a blind eye to.