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

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

hartfire · 61-69

So sorry to hear it's come to such a point.
Forty years ago, I lived 5 years in London as an art student.
I loved the multicultural life. I lived for two years with a Parsee man from Bombay, played chess with a Druiz man in a cafe, rallied with West Indians in Kensington, read the Koran to try to better understand the Muslims... I felt that life was far richer for all these experiences.

wildland · M

@hartfire It hasn't come to this yet. There's still time to turn this around.

hartfire · 61-69

@wildland That's a relief. I hope the more sensible heads prevail.

FreddieUK · 70-79, M

@hartfire So do many of us. It's worrying to read that some people are even considering voting for those out to destroy the fragile social cohesion we have.

hartfire · 61-69

@FreddieUK The right in politics around the world, via the think-tank the Altas Group and its affiliates, has been researching and experimenting with ways to sway people to their agenda.
The wealthiest have been paying rightwingers from universities, journalism and market research to come up with one liners, reposts, and social & news media campaigns.

The left and greenies need to do the same. We can't keep relying on just the methods worked 80 years ago.
We must do it with honesty and integrity; politicians are more mistrusted than carsalesmen for good reason.
Nothing causes mistrust more than not keeping one's word. Never make a promise one cannot keep.

FreddieUK · 70-79, M

@hartfire Your last two sentences say something very important about today's politics. The problem is that if a politician standing for office tells people that some problems do not have quick fixes, or point out that the voters themselves may have to change the way they do things in order to solve the problems the votes aren't going to go in their direction. e.g. dealing with climate change.