London election is not just about race
The recent issue of Red Pepper contains an editorial, written by Oscar Reyes, about the upcoming mayoral elections in London. Reyes notes that Boris Johnson, the Tory challenger for the position against Labour's Ken Livingstone, has hired the Australian strategist Lynton Crosby, who is known for running divisive "dog whistle" campaigns for the "Liberals" in his home country, winning them several elections, and trying the same for the Tories in the UK in 2005, when they lost handily. Johnson has also been much assisted by the London Evening Standard, which has run one front-page after another about what they presume readers will think his nasty friends, which last week were the Muslim Brotherhood and today the Sikh Federation UK.
In recent weeks we have seen Boris Johnson try to wriggle out of answering for his flirtations with racism and bigotry. He easily disposed of the complaints about his references to "piccaninnies" (black children) by saying he was taken out of context, but his record as editor of the Spectator is much less easy to bat aside, since his displays of prejudice appeared at least twice and was displayed in his own writing and in his choice of material, in response to the July 2005 bombings and the autumn 2005 riots in Europe. His recent attempts to curry favour with our community by putting on a robe and visiting a mosque, by boasting about his Turkish ancestry and by telling the world that Islam is a religion of peace (like George W Bush before him) should fool nobody. When he was tested, he proved to be a bigot. Now that he is tested again, he proves to be a dishonest bigot at that.
The message has gone out wide and clear that even if you don't vote for Livingstone as a first place, you should put him second. Oscar Reyes suggests voting Green first, and for Livingstone second; a number of Muslim sites just say "vote for Ken to keep out Boris" (see Ummah Pulse ([1], [2]) for example). MPACUK put a video up on their website of some of their activists being hassled by Bareilawis while handing out pro-Livingstone flyers during a Mawlid march. They claimed the march was non-political, but in fact George Galloway was among the speakers at the end of the march. While I support their right to hand out flyers during a march (it is not like they were doing it in the middle of the Friday prayer and the march was only as non-political as the speakers), I disagree with their "vote Ken because of Boris" stance. Livingstone is not the only candidate who can keep Boris Johnson out of the mayoral office.
There are good reasons why people are dissatisfied with Livingstone, and there is another candidate - Brian Paddick - who opposes his most offensive policies, such as the western extension to the Congestion Charge, the proposal to levy huge tolls on people driving big cars into the central zone, and the Low Emission Zone. There is someone to vote for who opposes Livingstone's confiscatory tax raising schemes and is not a bigot. Paddick also opposed the official stance of the police killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, in which Livingstone supported the police (who got away with yet another killing of an innocent person, which they have a history of doing and getting away with it), and left his job because of this.
As Muslims we may not like Paddick's lifestyle or his drugs policy (which established a tolerance zone for drugs in Brixton, of all places), but the fact remains that a discourse has gone out that we should put aside whatever reservations we have about Livingstone just to keep out Boris Johnson - and nobody takes account of what those reservations are, and how justified they might be. This election is not just about race, or about what's good for the Muslims or any other group. Remember when the Muslims in the USA supported Bush in 2000, because they thought he would deliver Palestine for them (and considered the Democrats to be the Jews' and Blacks' party)? This election is about what's good for everybody, and for people to go out of business because they cannot afford to replace their old vehicles to accommodate the Low Emission Zone cannot be good for anyone. As I have said before, transport seems to make up a huge chunk of the mayor's responsibilities, and we cannot discuss who to vote for based on personalities without mentioning this critical factor and without entertaining the very real complaints about the incumbent's record on that issue.
Comments
HOW A BNP CANVASSER MIGHT APPROACH A MUSLIM HOUSEHOLDER
Scenario:
BNP canvasser knocks on Muslim householder. Door opens.
BNP: Good day, Madam/Sir. I am sorry to interrupt your prayers but I wonder if I could canvass your opinion on a number of issues.
Muslim: What do you want?
BNP: We were wondering what you feel about paying for the London Olympics. Are you pleased to pay for as a Londoner to host it or would you prefer that the Olympics is held in Athens where we feel it really belongs, permanently?
[Everyone I have spoken to so far about having the Olympics permanently in Athens loves this proposal, so BNP canvasser likely to get a yes.]
BNP: We know that you know we don't like you and you don't like us, but we are only canvassing for your second vote. How would you feel about voting for a party that would NOT have invaded Iraq if it had been in power or propped up Israel unconditionally, if it had been in power? You know that quite a few of us at the BNP cannot decide whether we dislike Jews or Muslims more and would have left the Middle East well alone.
While you dislike us and think we want you out, may we remind you that we this is unlikely to happen even if you use your second vote on us on 1 May.
Remember, the Labour Party which you are supposed to trust was the one who invaded Iraq and are even now plotting to enact more police state "anti-terrorist" legislation. We at the BNP have not messed up anyone's country and just want to be left alone.
I suppose you know that what would most upset our ruling classes is for us to do unexpectedly well?
How would you feel about upsetting the ruling classes by using your second vote to vote BNP? You would be safe in doing that, you know. A BNP mayor cannot repatriate anyone and did you know we are offering to pay £50,000 per ethnic to go home? We are not just proposing to chuck you out like Idi Amin did, you know.
Another issue is this, what do you feel about immigration? Do you share our concerns or are you just happy to have more people coming in?
Can you really not understand why white working class people might feel threatened and want to join the BNP?
Can you honestly say that if you were born white working class you yourself would not join the BNP?
I hope you will not find this question impertinent, but is it true that you vote as your mosque elders tell you to?
[There will probably be hot denials that Muslims are so sheeplike.]
If you can bring yourself to use your second vote as we hope you will, it would be great if you would let us know that you have done so and indeed tell others that you are proposing to do this. It is, haha, a bit like suicide voting without actually committing suicide, you know! If you do, we will give you free membership for a year and put your name down as a Martyr in the cause of upsetting and alarming our warmongering ruling classes.
You have nothing to lose anyway. You can vote for Ken who wants you to have your supermosque in Newham AND you can also vote for us to annoy the ruling classes! Talk about having your cake and eating it!
Please do give this option your serious Islamic consideration. Perhaps you will even consult your mosque elders on this.
Well, thank you for your listening, Mr/Ms Muslim Voter. I am sorry to have interrupted your prayers and hope you will consider using your second vote on the BNP, if you do indeed wish to upset our ruling classes, who are after all the ones who have invaded Muslim lands, who now limit the free speech of your imams, and occasionally raid your houses and shoot non-terrorist Muslims for no good reason, like those brothers in Forest Gate who grew a beard.
http://www.1party4all.co.uk/Home/Account/TopicForm.aspx?topicsId=105
Vote: Should Londoners vote BNP on 1 May 2008 to upset and alarm our ruling classes?
http://thevoiceofreason-ann.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Andromeda | April 22, 2008 9:54 AM
"Livingstone is not the only candidate who can keep Boris Johnson out of the mayoral office."
Yes he is, Yusuf. Get real.
The way the supplementary vote system works is that the first preference votes are counted up. All but the top two candidates are then eliminated and the second preferences cast for the top two candidates by those voters who cast their first preference for one of the eliminated candidates are then counted.
The candidate who has the most first and second preferences is elected.
Brian Paddick will be one of the eliminated candidates. He doesn't have the slightest chance of making the top two, who will be Livingstone and Johnson. So, as a means of stopping Johnson, a vote for Paddick is completely futile.
You can cast a first preference for Paddick if you like. But unless you cast a second preference for Livingstone you will only be assisting Johnson's victory.
Is that really what you want?
Posted by: Martin | April 22, 2008 10:37 PM
Sorry Yusuf, you are way off. However important transport and other policies are, they pale to insignificance for Muslims when it comes to how the candidates approach Islam and Muslims.
Ken is not like Bush. Ken has a track record of fair dealings with Muslims. Your arguments otherwise aren't very convincing.
Salaam.
Posted by: Yunus | April 23, 2008 11:57 PM
Western civilisation is losing its confidence, but many would blame Islam more than its Nanny State who has now infantilised its people for 5 decades.
The reason why the Muslims (and other immigrants) are here is because of the West's secret addiction to cheap labour, because most of their working classes no longer work but claim welfare instead.
However, instead of addressing this issue, successive Western governments have swept the problem under the carpet by allowing in cheaper and more willing immigrant labour, Muslim and non-Muslim, while ignoring the complaints of the indigenous proletariat because they are "racist".
Because of the nature of the Western party system, politicians have long since adopted the practice of staying in power by means of not offending anyone or doing anything radical.
Only Direct Democracy will properly reflect the people's will.
Suggest that the welfare state could be radically pruned and you will know what it feels like to be called a racist, fascist, holocaust denier, anti-semite, child molester, Nazi etc, for you have touched upon a TABOO and proposed the slaying of the Sacred Cow worshipped by the British.
The Enemy Within is Greater Than The Enemy Without!
Ken the maverick - his own man because he was against the Iraq invasion from the beginning, and dared to say so, unlike Gordon and Boris - is now treated with respect by the Labour establishment because associating themselves with his success is the only option open to them.
They tried using their own mayoral candidate Frank Dobson and only received 12% of the vote.
Ken's support of the Muslims is based not on anti-semitism (for he has admitted that he may have some Jewish blood) but by the fact that he is anti-Zionist. There was once a time when not virtually all Jews were Zionists and many considered the State of Israel to be a poisoned chalice, as it has no doubt proven to be.
His support of immigrant groups is understandable for someone who wants to stay in power, for the whites will take flight the moment they are able to leave for the suburbs.
Ken is not after all responsible for our immigration policy - our government is. If we don't like it then we should have the option of changing it, but we don't, do we? We only have Ken and the BNP in reality! That is what we are now reduced to.
Fortunately, Londoners have a third way - they can vote for both, the known quantity and the unknown. Let us make the most of this "wealth" of choice!
Rewarding warmongers and warmongering parties such as the Party of David will do Londoners no good.
I am not even voting as Londoner but as someone outraged that such an insane foreign policy is being pursued in my name. I will therefore take every opportunity to dissociate myself with the Iraq invasion and that can only mean NOT voting for anyone who voted for the war.
Let us hear no more about how wicked "our" Ken is, for he at least is not a warmonger like Boris, nor a homosexual ex-policeman like Paddick who will have no understanding of how it is to bring up children and put them through what passes for a state education system in this country!
Posted by: Andromeda | April 26, 2008 6:27 AM