Shame all round

I chanced upon Alastair Campbell’s Blog yesterday as a result of visiting the generally prolific Mark Nottingham’s site and following a link.

Now before I go further this bit is necessary background, 90% of the population do not follow politics in any depth myself included and its likely that most of the population get their political insights from life and popular media the Star, Sport, Sun, Emmerdale or Corrie.

Its a fact that most of us don’t write blogs, ask local bureaucrats to explain themselves or attend local meetings.

Most of us just have a blind faith, that those who make the big decisions or control our lives, actually know what their doing, give a damn and will act in a vaguely benign manner.

At this moment in time, we’ve come to one of those points in history when us the public, have, had a rude awakening, the economy is shot to pieces, were losing our jobs, the banks are as bankrupt as are our politicians.

The credit crunch has divided country between those who are trying to hold on to what they’ve got and those who haven’t got a clue.

Much of our economy is made up of the public sector, I understand in Scotland half the workforce are paid courtesy of taxpayer, so far no one in the public sector has been effected by the economic downturn least of all Gordon Brown.

Gordon Brown lost his grip on the economy, reality, and public opinion sometime ago, unfortunately his grip on to office is stronger, in what is to me, a spiteful and belligerent attempt to prove that he is capable Prime Minister which clearly he isn’t.

Alistair Campbell probably typifies Labour thinking in a posting on his blog referring to the Euro elections “those who say it was a day of shame for Britain, and for Labour, that the BNP one these seats, are right” his solution is to engage with those “stayaway voters” you wonder why they wouldn’t do this anyway.

I just wonder whether senior Labour figures are just so aloof that they haven’t thought of the blooming obvious, coming back to the fact most people don’t do politics, Labour might consider that the majority do not take kindly to losing their jobs to recent migrants and their schools and medical facilities being stretched which could explain why so many voted BNP.

Labour have drawn some comfort in the fact that in real terms BNP didn’t get more votes carefully ignoring the fact that UKIP have also made gains.

Its certainly a shame that anyone should consider voting for BNP, its a bigger shame that Labour are so aloof that they would no longer understand why ordinary people voted for a fascist party, even more a shame since as the party of government for the last eleven years, they actually engineered the situation where ordinary people felt more comfortable voting for nazi apologists than Labour.

Last nights pitiful display of loyalty by craven Labour MP’s to Gordon Brown who is trying to prove the point he’s not as bad as he clearly is, serves to confirm that Labour are finished.

Brown’s happy to take his colleagues into the wilderness and we’re going to pay the price, us the electorate delivered gift wrapped to a bunch of lightweight Tories lead by David Cameron and the BNP picking up more disillusioned voters.

Labour have yet to explain the benefits of mass migration, to British workers, until they do so they’ll lose support, I consider myself to be reasonably informed and I don’t know why a Labour Government cannot protect their own people.

Its easy for Labour MP’s to criticise those who voted BNP, as I mentioned earlier most of the population don’t get too deep in to political subtleties, they see jobs going and wages being cut and BNP fascists are offering what they want British jobs for British workers.

Made In Britain and Teabags

How often do you suddenly see a rash of stories in newspapers and magazines about some obscure TV programme, celebrity or product and think about the mechanics of it all.

Right now forget about that bit, on to the Made in Britain thing, anyone my age 50 plus will be only too familiar with the gradual decline of manufacturing, the short lived perception that products manufactured anywhere but the British Isles were cheap and cheerful.

Sometime around the mid seventies, the masses started to realise that things like cars and consumer electronics were a damn site more reliable if coming from anywhere but good old Blighty.

As I type away on my Chinese manufactured computer with blimin “intel inside” on my desk which came from anywhere but the UK, and my backside sat comfortably in my “Managers chair” again from China, I think just what the hell we do make in Britain.

My family owes its existence, in this country to manufacturing as my great grandfather came to Britain from Germany at the end of 19th century, sought out for his technical skills in glass manufacture.

With manufacturing being at an all time low, I was prompted to think about the subject and this is conclusion, although we no longer make much, in the way of manufactured products, we are still creative and we make things like, TV programmes, Music, art and Britain still influences the worlds thinking through the Media.

Right what prompted me to get all nostalgic well I see that a new TV programme “Made in Britain” starring Dom Joly, comedian and journalist who in the show, has his family home stripped of everything not made in the UK. Each episode a room in the house has to be refurbished with British goods and cameras follow his quest to buy British from the inevitable quirky, eccentric and ingenious manufacturers who wont give up.

This show is to be aired next week on Blighty (the digital channel that celebrates unique Britain Sky 534 VTV 206) it starts at 8.00pm Monday 8th June through every night till Friday.

Oh the teabags yes, well, the arts, media and PR are strong parts of the British economy and well it would be a bit dishonest for me to not mention, what really prompted me to waffle on this subject, I received an email from some public relations wallahs, seems if I give this a mention they might send me a box of Tea Bags, how cheap do they think I am. I just hope they haven’t found some eccentric growing and picking tea leafs on the Welsh hills with someone hand knitting them into bags.