A Real Alternative

Following the local election results the BBC took great delight in proclaiming the collapse, and virtual extinction of UKIP, a belief repeated by the morons of that open sewer, social media. The latter remind me of P G Wodehouse's description of those occasions concerning his character Bertie Wooster when "Aunt is calling Aunt like mastodons bellowing across primeval swamps". This image of brainless, and totally ignorant beasts, making a great deal of noise, is best summed up by Macbeth when he referred to life as "a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." This, as a description of the nonsense to be found on Facebook, Twitter etc., can hardly be bettered, although 'empty vessels make most noise' comes close.

In reality, as Mark Twain said, when premature notices of his demise were printed "The report of my death was an exaggeration", UKIP is anything but dead. It is true that many people think that Brexit is an accomplished fact, and that therefore UKIP is no longer required, but, as we know, the government is very far from implementing the result of the EU referendum. When this becomes clear to all, the only choice for Leave voters will be to turn back to UKIP if they wish to see the UK free of rule from Brussels.

Even as I write we see the three stooges Nick Clegg, David Miliband and Nicky Morgan trying yet again to overturn the referendum vote, as they pursue their anti democratic, and unpatriotic, efforts to ignore the clearly expressed wishes of the British people. At least the first two are not MPs, but Morgan was elected in 2017 on a Conservative manifesto which promised to leave both the single market, and the customs union, so she is in breach of trust with those who supported her at the general election. They are joined by accomplices in the Lords, the Civil Service, and the media, who are making an all out attempt to defeat Brexit, a truly disgraceful campaign.

It is anyway true that, even temporarily disregarding the vital issue of EU membership, there has long been a need for a democratic alternative to the consensus policies of the three old parties. On matters as diverse as defence, public health, education, free speech, manufacturing, energy supplies and law and order the electorate are confronted by parties claiming to advocate different positions, but in fact merely echo their shared desire that, as the proverb has it “the more things change, the more they stay the same”, ensuring that the comfortable status quo remains inviolable.

On defence, despite the protection of the realm being a government's most important responsibility, we see the budget for the Armed Forces constantly being reduced by so called reviews. We have an army which could not fill Wembley Stadium, an Air Force which has suffered cut after cut, and even the Royal Navy, despite the advent of the new aircraft carriers, lacking the actual fighters to operate from their decks. On matters of morale ministers seem happy to subject our brave soldiers to repeated enquiries about their conduct in combat, although the vast majority of the claims made about unacceptable behaviour come from politically motivated enemies of this nation.

The main parties always claim that the NHS is a major priority, and safe in their hands, yet do nothing about the vast numbers of parasitic managers, whose financial burden upon the service is only exceeded by their consistent incompetence. How many times must it be pointed out that the NHS pays far more than is necessary for basic supplies before these people take any notice. We could cut the number of bureaucrats involved by at least half, saving vast sums which could be spent on the front line, where patients need it.

The education system is a joke, left liberal ideologues having totally undermined the system set up by Attlee's Labour government, based on the 1944 Education Act, which gave intelligent youngsters from poor families the opportunity to enjoy a grammar school education. The dumbing down which has taken place over past decades has had the obvious consequences for the universities, which are now expected to take in large numbers of those completely unsuited to degree courses, causing youngsters to run up huge debts to obtain qualifications which are of no real use in the jobs market.

One of the greatest betrayals is that of freedom of speech at the hands of the pernicious doctrine of political correctness. The universities, supposedly bastions of open debate and freedom of expression, now allow arrogant students to 'no platform' those with whom they disagree, to limit, by the use of so called 'trigger warnings', the open expression of certain ideas, in case the poor little snowflakes would be upset by it, and even to ban major newspapers which do not slavishly espouse the left liberal agenda. In society in general there is much talk of diversity, by which its vociferous advocates mean in such matters as race and sexual orientation, but which does not extend such to opinions which challenge their narrow view of the world. Again the imbeciles of social media generate 'Twitter storms', directed at anyone who disputes their idiotic ideas. The answer to such things should be the sort of Anglo Saxon expressions previous generations would have used, but which now too many feel too cowed to utter.

The demise of so much of manufacturing is a disgrace. We now have the situation where the great yards of the North, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which once turned out enormous numbers of ships, are silent, while we spend great sums buying from manufacturers in such nations as Italy and France. British workers are as capable as anyone of building great ships, but successive governments see only pound signs, and sacrifice domestic industry to save money, ignoring both the jobs lost, and the fact that strategic industries are essential to our survival in times of war. It is a scandal that British firms are frequently ignored by our own governments in favour of those located abroad, even when purchasing weapons. Our much vaunted service industries will be of no use in the event of combat, unless we believe that throwing stock certificates at tanks will ensure victory. Associated with this is the farce of energy supplies. The politicians have chosen to believe all the nonsense emanating from the militant environmentalists about anthropological global warming, and have therefore decided to abandon all our reliable sources of energy, and turn to so called renewables, which cannot, except in the minds of fanatical greens, ever provide a substitute for traditional means of energy generation. As a consequence our coalfields close, and the possible benefit we might gain from fracking for natural gas, is ignored, in fear of offending the tree huggers. The really effective alternative of nuclear energy is also given a low priority, again because these people seem incapable of distinguishing between power generation from nuclear fission and thermonuclear bombs. All this in spite of the fact that China will be increasing carbon emissions by an annual amount exceeding our total figure, and that the evidence for human agency in any possible changes in global climate is patchy at best.

When it comes to law and order successive governments have chosen the soft option, treating criminals more like victims than perpetrators, imposing soft sentences even for heinous crimes. We should be seeking to emulate Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado, in making the punishment fit the crime, not leaving society prey to vicious thugs. Often theses weak policies are advocated by the left, yet the greatest victims of crime are usually from the poorest neighbourhoods. The prisons seem to be open house for drugs, and are laughed at by career criminals.

One could go on and on about the utter failures of the political class over the past five or six decades, but the point is made. We have an elite of selfish, career politicians, who are both incompetent and frequently corrupt, as illustrated by the scandal of MPs' expenses a few years ago. That is why we need a sensible, democratic party to offer a real alternative to the failed consensus parties. Only today in the Daily Telegraph it was suggested that there was a gap for such a new party, but that is not necessary, as one exists, and its name is UKIP.