Thus with that in mind I now look with so much despair at the above piece - comments by a senior MEP. It leads me to conclude why bother? UKIP candidates, particularly in General Elections, often spend £1000's of their own money they can ill-afford. Now it seems that their hard work is to be undone by a drunken, racist fuckwit who is on the MEP payroll who as a consequence has no such monetary concerns. Months of hard graft by activists undone by an arse in seconds. Now every hustings meeting, every doorstep conversation will inevitably mean having to wearily quantify or try to justify Blooms' comments. The real message of leaving the EU will be lost in the noise.
I don't care about justifications of whether Bloom's comments have been taken out of context nor whether it's just a crap joke - they are simply unacceptable and unfit for a party wishing to take itself seriously for MP's elected to Parliament. This is also conference season, the idea is supposed to be about positive messages, but no, some imbecile has ruined UKIP's conference message and over-shadowed Farage's speech. This is amateur's-ville writ large.
I guess some will try to justify it by suggesting the media is bias, lies and is useless. Well so it is, that's nothing new. And don't we know it. This is a BBC piece at the 2010 election on Polyclinics. Yours truly is quoted at the end. The problem is I wasn't. The first I knew about it was when my dad rung me up to tell that I was on the BBC website, information which was much to my surprise. The BBC never rang me, the quote was made up.
But that's how it is. Essentially we have to deal with media bias - we have to play the cards we're dealt not the ones we wish them to be. The pro EU media love nothing better than an excuse, provided on a plate, to knock the anti-EU message. To bumble about complaining will not get us anywhere.
Yet again UKIP demonstrate that when facing an open goal, instead of trying to score they are determined to move the goalposts themselves, insist on the ball being made of concrete and using clown shoes to try to score, all with the intention of doing precisely the opposite of scoring.
More seriously, I'm not prepared to associate myself with a party that condones Bloom's comments - by either refusing to condemn them or removing him as an MEP. If he remains in his position then it will be with a heavy heart and much regret that I will no longer be able to be an active member. I will resign from my local committee and allow my membership elapse (again).
TBF,
ReplyDeleteThere is not one party that does not contain idiots.
You might want to knock up a crib sheet of their misdemeanors to use on the doorstep. Fight fire with fire. The others have done much, much worse, I promise you.
UKIP are pristine by comparison.
CR.
All parties have idiots I agree - that's inevitable with any organisation made up of 1000's members.
DeleteThe point is Bloom is not just any idiot he is Farage's chosen buddy, 2nd in command, and is there despite previous. That doesn't make him just an idiot but makes him - by Farage's lack of action - a reflection of party policy.
That is entirely different...and thus I cannot associate myself with it.
I just saw Nigel on the telly. He is extremely upset and UKIP have withdrawn the whip.
ReplyDeleteThe problem may now resolve itself.
I fully understand what you are saying though.
CR.
I can well imagine Farage is upset that his speech has been overshadowed, but regarding Bloom, I'll wait and see what happens in a couple of months.
DeleteUKIP's ballot paper regarding MEP selection voting ends today (20/09/2013) - Bloom is on it. will he now therefore be removed and votes discounted? One waits and sees.
BLOOM BLOOM BLOOM.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, here we go again.
Lets get real eh, not so much poking the bear as finding out what the response is.
Trap set, caught, wrapped, retired pension paid.
europe can fuk off.no-one represents me no one speaks for me and no one has the right to tax me.
Europe is not me.
Bloom gets paid....Eh.
Politicians can fuck off..
I would say crack on regardless of Bloom. Stand and tell a better story than the debacle going on at the top of the tree and tell your story locally. If you have a compelling message for the locals, stand and tell it and let your local work overtake whatever cock up might be running at national level.
ReplyDeleteI know it's on a smaller scale but we have a local councillor here who's a tory and he gets voted in. He even gets voted for by people like my friend who's a died in the wool lefty because of the way he puts himself about locally. He simply tells a better story and transcends what's going on nationally. He shakes his head when there's stupiduty at a national level.
So I say push on. Run a much more polished machine than whatever is going on nationally. Run your campaign so that you are immune to their issues. If someone mentions Bloom - "that clown doesn't speak for me" is the kind of response is the sort I think I would use if I were running.
Go on. Get in there. Plant your flag.
Good Luck TBF !
ReplyDeleteThanks
DeleteDon't be such a faint heart.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Crick will make a full recovery and will soon be up and about and chasing people up the street again.
John Prescott as deputy PM chinned a farmer on camera, after having an egg lobbed at him.
Would you rather be a Tory trying to explain why Nigel Evans is up before the Beak? or a LimpDim excusing Lord Rennard, Mike Hancock, Cyril Smith, Paddy Pantsdown or Jeremy Thorpe?
Quite honestly, I found Bloom's antics mildly amusing, but as you say, it is grist for the mill of the media, so someone should ask him to tone it down.
The slut quip didn't upset anyone that it was addressed to, but again the media have seized on it knowing that the younger generation would misunderstand it, taking it as a reference to loose morality rather than slovenly (i.e. not cleaning behind the fridge).
"Would you rather be a Tory trying to explain why Nigel Evans is up before the Beak? or a LimpDim excusing Lord Rennard, Mike Hancock, Cyril Smith, Paddy Pantsdown or Jeremy Thorpe?"
DeleteYes, because they have greater capacity to accommodate these things. Even though they are of much greater significance judged in isolation, they are much smaller in relation to the effect on the party and its traditional support and the support it hopes to attract. They are much better placed to ignore them or dismiss them with blandishments, draw a line under the affair and move on and the rest.
The difference Twig, is that the other parties have credibility in the sense of history, the ability to win elections, MPs and form governments. They have a proven track record.
DeleteUKIP has none of this and is struggling to portray a credible image; the antics of Bloom merely confirms that much of it is still amateurish. That will not win elections and crucially will get us no further forward in leaving the EU.
Another important factor is that the other parties are part of the establishment, conversely UKIP is against much of what the establishment stands for. Therefore it will inevitably come under far more criticism and scrutiny. Unfair it is, but that's the way it is. Thus it has to be better at trying to be whiter than white. Remember UKIP's USP is being different to the others who - to use Farage's time worn phrase - you can't put a cigarette paper between them. Bloom's antics merely confirm UKIP is just like the others...
As for your justification for the use of the word "slut" - don't be silly. It is a derogatory word understood as such by people across the generations. It's worth remembering that half the electorate are women, who in the main are not going to be impressed by the use of the word, particularly given Bloom's track record of other misogynistic misdemeanours.
Much damage has been done to UKIP's conference, and to the party itself, which is the reason for the underlying anger in my post - it undermines the hard work by volunteers up and down the country. And one person is responsible for that - Bloom.
Despite his penchant for putting his foot in his mouth, I have always rather liked Bloom and his approach... i.e. being as disagreeable as the toe rags in the media.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there is a time and a place and I do not think that yesterday was a good time or a good place... I was at the conference and I was looking forward to Godfrey's speech along with all of the others, except perhaps for the mad professor... who didn't disappoint.
Anyway Godfrey's speech was absolutely awful, he rambled and wittered and just walked on to the stage delivered his rubbish and wandered off. I was unaware at that point of what had been happening elsewhere.
Assuming that he isn't in the early stages of some sort of serious illness, I reckon that his continuing behaviour is unforgivable and that he should not go forward to the EP elections... I reckon that UKIP is bigger than Bloom, but as Nigel said in his speech, he had a blazing row with him and this was his way of ending the argument, I guess and that should be it... He should be dumped forthwith, it's happened once too often now.
Maybe you could have a word with Richard TBF, since he has just been well and truly vindicated...
:)
Thanks for that, agree that Bloom should go. I note he's been suspended but I'll wait and see how permanent that is.
DeleteInteresting about Bloom's speech. Sad that it's all overshadowed the conference especially for those such as yourself who take the time, and money, to attend.
Richard's already seen your comment (no prompting from me) :-)
The mainstream media were always going to run with "Usual Suspect helps Establishment sledging." As was decerable from this being the main headline on the 6 o'clock news. He is an idiot, who made it easy for them to get the angle they wanted, and it doesn't reflect that well that Mr Farage's drinking buddy has remained in so prominent position for so long, but if it hadn't been him it would have the actions of someone else blown out of all proportion. The daft bit was the UKIPers dancing to the media's tune lining up to either defend him or call it indefensible. Either way they are trying to pull your chain and distract from your agenda - Play along and you've lost.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the events of the last couple of days will have an impact one way or another on the next REAL test of public opinion the EUro's. And if not then its actually been a good thing: Those within UKIP have a better understanding of how desperate and shitty the establishment can be and become slightly better disciplined, while an establishment will have shot their bolt early in attempting to take them down before a natural peak in momentum- those EUros.
In other words KBO
Now it seems that their hard work is to be undone by a drunken, racist fuckwit who is on the MEP payroll who as a consequence has no such monetary concerns. Months of hard graft by activists undone by an arse in seconds.
ReplyDeleteNot impressive.