Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

[Arran]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

The problem with Labour today is that they have to simultaneously appease a diverse and disparate group of people with conflicting interests. Old Labour died in the late 1980s following the decline in heavy industry. NuLab was based on personality and populism which died when Blair disappeared from our TV screens.

Labour are also badly split on the EU and this will bedevil the party until at least 2030.

[Richard1978]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

We’ve got right-wing political correctness with the Mail accusing people of being ‘traitors’ etc., and left-wing political correctness where even modest criticism of extreme feminism is ‘sexist’ and we are lumped into artificial groupings like LGBT (even though none of these ‘letters’ have anything in common with each other) and BME (as if all ethnic minorities were the same). Genuine liberal reforms are very positive: thanks to New Labour I could have a civil partnership and thanks to David Cameron I’ve been able to marry my long-term partner). But political correctness is illiberal and an attempt to shut down discussion.

I think the attempts to group together minorities is to try & create a united front against the far right.

[George 1978]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

Keith Vaz: don’t you mean Jim the washing machine salesman!

Pardon? Not sure I get that one.

[Arran]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

BME (as if all ethnic minorities were the same).

Have a read of this one:

https://forums.doyouremember.co.uk/t...lack-community

I think the attempts to group together minorities is to try & create a united front against the far right.

Whilst failing to realise that different minorities have conflicts of interest and don't always get on well with each other.

[Silver Bear]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

I came across this recently because some of the images were used in a BBC4 documentary about Skinheads: the programme itself focussed on the original roots of Skinhead culture in black music, in particular the connections with Ska and Two-Tone. The National Party (not the BNP) programme below from 1976 might be of interest to Arran - and to any Lancashire members of this Forum.

watch-the-national-party-1976-online

[George 1978]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

I saw on YouTube some old programme about the number of minorities in Ealing, and they interviewed someone who would probably get locked up for his views nowadays. Back then it probably wouldn't have caused so much alarm, but these days one would risk prosecution for using such words. In the previous constituency I live in, there was a National Front candidate that stood in 1979, but since then, it had been void of anyone from the far-right.

Another thing that I don't like, regarding things like that: with regards to the far-right, one thing that bothers me is the phrase "British National" when used to refer to British citizens, and I am rather surprised that BBC News refers to British people overseas like that because I have always associated the phrase "British National" with the BNP, simply because I would associate the word "Conservative" with the Conservative Party, "Green" with the Green Party, and so on - that is the equivalent of those words, apart from the obvious alternatives that is.