The
Prime Minister is visiting Wales today, and is delivering a stern warning
about the dangers of “an unstable
coalition of nationalists”. I think
she’s absolutely right on that; being governed by such a coalition is a recipe
for disaster. The difference between us
is that I think that the phrase “unstable
coalition of nationalists” is a near-perfect description of her Conservative
Party.
Their nationalism, of the worst kind, is becoming increasingly and stridently obvious
in the tone she and other members of her party are adopting. It’s not just the primacy of immigration
policy regardless of economic consequences, although that’s bad enough. It’s also the way in which our future over
the next few years is increasingly being defined in terms of the UK standing up
to the rest of Europe. It seems designed
to evoke memories of the wars of the past.
Just take this phrase from her article in the Western Mail “as 27 other European countries line up to
oppose us”. This is not the language
of friendship or co-operation; it is the language of naked nationalism. It’s hard to believe that anyone talking like
this ever believed in the idea of European co-operation.
And
the instability of the nationalist coalition which is the defining feature of
the Conservative Party under her leadership is at the heart of the fact we are
having an early election. It isn’t, and
never was, the opposition parties, whether Labour or independentistas, which threatened to derail or undermine her
negotiations over Brexit – she has had no difficulty to date in getting her way
in parliament with the aid of a clueless Labour Party. No, any threat to her majority comes from
dissident Tories, and the election is aimed at neutralising that threat. With the need for rapid candidate selection,
she has given herself an almost unparalleled opportunity to influence the
nature of the new Tory intake which she is expecting, and ensure that they will
be more loyal to her.
Particularly
in the light of yesterday’s opinion polls, I hope that people in Wales will think
very carefully and take note of her warning.
Helping the Prime Minister crush her internal opposition is neither the
only way, nor the best way, of getting rid of the current unstable coalition of
nationalists which is governing the UK.
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3 comments:
Get used to smug, crowing Tory speaking for Wales because in a few weeks after Wales votes for a super majority Tory Government, with more than 20 Welsh MP's its game over, every other opinion will be trashed and anyone who disagrees with the extreme right wing ideology will be blamed for the UK's massive social and economic failure from Brexit and hard core right British imperialism.
At least Labour's historic Welsh failures are on show, Plaid Cymru's failures will come back to haunt them as they see Wales fully assimilated into England, not even medieval kings managed what the welsh electorate did.
I too noted May's line about the other 27 EU members lining up in opposition. That the mainstream media let it pass without comment speaks volumes.
And in the context in which she used the phrase (that the opposition parties were undermining her in dealing with the 27) I saw a (probably deliberate) allusion back to the Thatcherite concept of "the enemy within"; an attempt to portray any opposition as being not just political against her and her party, but as being treacherous. Her overall attitude to dissenting voices is becoming increasingly anti-democratic.
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