Far Right v Far Left (or not as the case might be!)

[kettering_baggie]

A major problem lies in the fact that the British ‘Establishment’ is now well to the left of centre; Mick referenced an article written by Andrew Neil a week or two back that hit the nail on the head in this perception. I read that piece, too, it was accurate, in my opinion; Andrew Neil is an excellent political journalist. So this ‘Establishment’, which includes much of the media and the police, is now joined by a Labour government, so of course they will not refer to the ‘Far Left’ because some of them are in that bracket! We are indeed in perilous times. The rioters are quite rightly dealt with by the law but the underlying issue that provides the excuse continues. Will that issue be satisfactorily dealt with? No, it won’t, because in so doing the government would upset its left leaning friends in the EU. It’s a sad state of affairs when, even in Britain, we are not being fed the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

[Omegstrat6]

A major problem lies in the fact that the British ‘Establishment’ is now well to the left of centre; Mick referenced an article written by Andrew Neil a week or two back that hit the nail on the head in this perception. I read that piece, too, it was accurate, in my opinion; Andrew Neil is an excellent political journalist. So this ‘Establishment’, which includes much of the media and the police, is now joined by a Labour government, so of course they will not refer to the ‘Far Left’ because some of them are in that bracket! We are indeed in perilous times. The rioters are quite rightly dealt with by the law but the underlying issue that provides the excuse continues. Will that issue be satisfactorily dealt with? No, it won’t, because in so doing the government would upset its left leaning friends in the EU. It’s a sad state of affairs when, even in Britain, we are not being fed the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Not so sure about the newspapers being too left wing Ketts. Of the old "broadsheets", the Times remains centre-right whilst the FT has become more centrist but the Telegraph group seems to have moved from centre-right to far right. The Independent seems pretty centrist and the Guardian appears to veer between centre-left and left wing. Of the "tabloids", the Mail, Express and Sun groups are overwhelmingly right-wing and Conservative supporting which leaves the centre-left Mirror Group supporting the Labour Party, the Morning Star the hard left and the Star ti ts and titillation

I personally still see much of the "Establishment" as being centre-right conservatives (small or large C ) who have their own vested business interests to protect and many of whom are still drawn from the public schools. I'm sure that there are a few "champagne socialists" but not many and whilst there are undoubtedly quite a few left leaning celebrities (eg Lineker, Vorderman), I doubt that they have any real influence. If the "Establishment" was truly so left-leaning, how is it that inequalities in the country have continued to grow?

I too believe that Andrew Neil can be a very knowledgeable and sharp political commentator but under his tenure at The Spectator he has given-and continues to give-a platform to the likes of "Takis" Theodoropoulos who publicly supports the neo-Nazi "Golden Dawn" group. Neil seems to become less impartial and more right-wing with age.

The BBC? There are undoubtedly some at the corporation with left wing biases but I personally don't buy all the right-wing rhetoric about the BBC as a whole being Left leaning. Check out Robbie Gibb for example who is undeniably right leaning and who flitted between jobs at the Conservative Party and the BBC. BJ got him a place on the board of the BBC under the guise of establishing some "impartiality". I don't think so. Prior to the 2019 election, many journalists (OK, they were admittedly either Left wing or Centrist ) complained of a Conservative bias at the BBC but then the current DG, Tim Davie, appointed in 2020, is a former Conservative councilor and Richard Sharpe, Chairman until June last year had formerly worked at Goldman Sachs and managed Rishi Sunak's finances prior to his appointment and had donated substantial funds to the Conservative Party over the years. Sharpe, of course, had to resign in the wake of revelations that he breached rules on public appointments through his connection to a secret £800,000 loan to Boris. Given that these individuals had great influence in the editorial policies of the BBC, the reality doesn't quite seem to chime with claims from the Right that the BBC is a hot bed of Lefties for me. Mind you, might explain why some Tory MPs are unhappy with current chairman, Samir Shah.

Whatever the differences in our political viewpoints, the main thrust of this thread however is about the increased polarization in this country which is a dangerous slope already leading to extremists on either side gaining traction. Think we can all agree on that. The right to free speech is an important one to protect but the country cannot afford to allow those who incite hatred or violence to get a grip and a failure to deal with them isn't worth contemplating. Tolerate them and the intolerant will surely take control. I abhor the racist ideology of the far right (just as I do that of Islamic extremism for example) but the comments made by Labour councilor Ricky Jones were disgusting and glad to see he was arrested and should now be charged, punished and lose his job.

[WBA123]

A major problem lies in the fact that the British ‘Establishment’ is now well to the left of centre; Mick referenced an article written by Andrew Neil a week or two back that hit the nail on the head in this perception. I read that piece, too, it was accurate, in my opinion; Andrew Neil is an excellent political journalist. So this ‘Establishment’, which includes much of the media and the police, is now joined by a Labour government, so of course they will not refer to the ‘Far Left’ because some of them are in that bracket! We are indeed in perilous times. The rioters are quite rightly dealt with by the law but the underlying issue that provides the excuse continues. Will that issue be satisfactorily dealt with? No, it won’t, because in so doing the government would upset its left leaning friends in the EU. It’s a sad state of affairs when, even in Britain, we are not being fed the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Can someone explain to me who 'the establishment' actually is? Surely Andrew Neil is establishment who you are referencing? Or the Daily Mail/Express/The Sun. Or Rupert Murdoch, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage?

Or is it just the Government? If so, we've just had 14 years of Tory rule.

Is it the BBC? Which a recent YouGov poll more people thought that were more favourable to the right rather than the left.

It really perplexes me when people talk about 'establishment' and 'elites'....most of this garbage comes from people like Farage - who ironically is the exact embodiment of this narrative.