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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Marf on Farage’s comments about race relations legislation

The big news this morning that Nigel Farage would axe many of the race laws is leading the bulletins and takes UKIP into an interesting political area.
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Labour might be wary, lest Khan's quotas for ethnic minorities get raised as a counterpoint [that might help Labour in London and other areas such as Bradford, but in most of the country it will not go down well].
@David_Cameron: Nigel Farage is attention seeking. The laws protect people from racial discrimination. It's deeply concerning he doesn't understand that.
As long as people refuse to vote for a clearly racist UKIP party then the tories can get a majority. But the tories getting a majority is increasingly becoming the least important issue. The clear issue is how readily British voters will reward racist sentiment.
Is the EU and the Test & County Cricket Board racist?
In 1968 the rules were changed to allow two overseas players at each county; one had to serve a qualification period, but the other could be registered without such a period necessary. This drew an influx of leading Test cricketers into the English game, and served to improve the quality of cricket and boost crowds. The laws were later tightened once again to allow each county only one overseas player, thought that player did not have to serve a qualification period. Foreign-born players could still gain qualification via residency, but thereafter were not considered overseas players. The Kolpak ruling of 2003 dictated that players from those countries with European Union Association Agreements had equal rights to work as European Union (EU) citizens. As a consequence, players from the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States could not be considered overseas players. This resulted in a large number of South African players joining county sides. The EU re-ruled on the agreement in 2008, and stated that the agreement did not allow free movement of labour. Those players who had held a valid work permit for four years were allowed the same rights as EU citizens, but others would have to be registered as overseas players to continue to participate in county cricket.
Currently, each county is only allowed one overseas player registered at any one time to compete in the County Championship and the Clydesdale Bank 40 competitions, and two at a time in the Friends Life t20.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Harrias/Overseas_players_in_English_county_cricket
Is Gordon Brown and the British Government racist?
Brown stands by British jobs for British workers remark
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jan/30/brown-british-jobs-workers
Is Greg Dyke and the FA racist?
FA May Limit Foreign Players in English Premier League
FA chairman Greg Dyke has proposed that each team should only be allowed to have a maximum of two non-European Union players so that home talent can be bolstered.
http://sports.ndtv.com/football/news/223959-fa-may-limit-foreign-players-in-english-premier-league
The programme the interview is taken from is on ch 4 next week. 'The things we won't say about race that are true' by Trevor Phillips
'Phillips said he had got on well with Farage during the interview and they had a good conversation, but he declined to elaborate at this point on what he thought of the Ukip leader’s position. A Ukip aide also said the two men had got on very well.
In publicity material released before the screening, Channel 4’s head of specialist factual, David Glover, said: “This film contains some very uncomfortable facts about race. Trevor Phillips now strongly believes that it’s important to get them out there, so ultimately we can understand and tackle them.
“Trevor is arguably the best-qualified person in the country to examine these issues. What’s fascinating is that, having thought so deeply about them, he now has a very different approach to the subject than he used to.” '
Phillips Seems to me to be someone who was a proponent of multiculturalism and right on laws but has seen the light and now considers them a hindrance. We shall have to watch the programme to see I guess
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/12/nigel-farage-british-muslim-fifth-column-fuels-immigration-fear-ukip?CMP=share_btn_tw
He was speaking in a Channel 4 documentary to be shown next week.
Downing Street said his comments were "deeply concerning", while Labour branded them "shocking".
Mr Farage told the BBC his remarks, recorded last autumn, had been "wilfully misinterpreted", saying he was talking about nationality not race."
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/nov/19/mark-reckless-immigration-row-rochester-byelection
If Farage were to say that today was Thursday, this group would scream 'racist bigot' at him.
One of Ukip's selling points is that they are unfairly derided. I well remember when Ken Livingstone was just beginning in national politics. His enemies made him out to be the devil incarnate. Yet when interviewed, he came across as a charming man with well-argued belief's. OK, he kept his real views well hidden but it meant that the Tories lost all credibility.
I'm not suggesting Nigel is hiding anything; the point is he can point to the demented utterances of his enemies and that will do the job for him. It's almost as if they have an allergic reaction to anything Ukip says or does. No wonder many of the real criticisms can be ignored.
Mr Dancer, I regularly get Amazon suggestions for e-books to read. Last week, among the three recommendations was "An ever rolling stream" - the book wot I wrote. Very odd. Does this happen to you?
Because "lets protect the rights of British workers of all creeds" sounds like a positive. But I imagine he didn't make it that clear....
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B_4-0bUW8AAWPHC.png
It gladdens me as a Conservative that our party seems to now get how this dynamic works. David Cameron has struck exactly the right tone: Farage's naivety causes concern, but it is nothing to get into a flap over. As another poster said further below, Labour are playing a dangerous game given they back race quotas themselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA14Hfy7sNQ
Nige can see the writing on the wall - 3 MPs is not a good result - this is not waving...
Must be feeling like a lobster in a pot.
Farage has confused the issue though. He says "I didn't mention race at all. There was no part of that interview which I ever said it at all." Even the 1965 Act dealt with them together, because many people of different nationalities would simply argue that their racial background was to blame. If you have a bar that says you cannot be Indian, for example, it will disproportionately affect people who are not white.
In any case, "when asked if he would retain a ban on discrimination on the grounds of race or colour, he said: "No... because we take the view, we are colour-blind. We as a party are colour-blind." Those are comments clearly directed at race.
What he should have done though instead of writing "unsurprising that U don't care" he should have wrote "unsurprising you don't care"
You have to know which words are important and which aren't on Twitter. In this sentence "that" was expandable but "you" was vital.
It's a deeply lame way to conduct political debate and it's one of the reasons why I'll be quite pleased to see UKIP do well in May, even though I disagree with most of what they stand for.
I would not necessarily advocate changes in equality laws without knowing exactly what they were. There are still pockets of legacy racism and also new forms of racism springing up as a result of the open immigration policies that the Government has indulged in over recent decades and until such matters are addressed it could be risky changing certain equality laws. However, that said Farage is right that it is no longer the 1950's things have moved on and there may be a requirement to revise the rules.
However I believe we should aspire towards a colour blind society and at some point the 'equality zealots' are going to have to stop clinging to race as some sort of comfort blanket. By persisting to discriminate between British citizens on the basis of their race as many equality zealots do they are being just as divisive and damaging in their persistence in their discriminations as those who harbour ill feeling towards any race.
As to whether Farage will benefit or suffer as a result of this I think it much depends on the response. If it continues along the lines of the weak and insubstantial Downing Street response or the hysterical Sadiq Khan response then he will benefit.
If Farage did say 'British born', then it's fairly indefensible.
Which of the following do you think should be the biggest priorities for the government at the present time?
Choose three.Options 18 to 24-years-olds Great British Public
Managing the NHS 42% 50%
Keeping down the cost of everyday items, such as food, energy and travel 33% 23%
Controlling immigration 28% 49%
Improving the education system 24% 9%
Improving housing affordability 23% 11%
Promoting UK economic growth 20% 20%
Making the welfare system fairer 18% 17%
Making sure that the benefits of economic growth are felt by all 15% 22%
Reducing crime and anti-social behaviour 15% 10%
Reducing the Government's budget deficit 11% 21%
Redefining Britain's relationship with the EU 8% 18%
Providing adequate care for the elderly 8% 14%
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/31822531
Clarkson suspension just had nearly 10 minutes on CNN international and is also on the CNN breaking news ticker
On CNN live !!!! FFS
BBc fecked
Haha
#edsnothuman
Sorry I replied to your earlier comment and discovered that we have now moved forward not one but two threads!
I would not vote Labour because of Ed Balls but I respect his intellect and knowledge. I want leadership smarter and better informed than me. Not a high bar by any means but many politicians seem to struggle (at least in my subjective judgement). Balls is certainly not one of them. A Labour party led by him would at least not have had any of this blank sheet of paper nonsense and just might have produced something like a coherent alternative.
On thread I thought Farage was ok about this on Today this morning. His jibe about Gordon Brown saying "British jobs for British workers" but him actually meaning it was well placed. I don't see this doing him any harm in his target market.
Good cartoon though. One of Marf's best.
Look back to the conference and all the bad news stories - Kippers were adamant that this would not impact their polling. Well a drift down since Sept suggests otherwise.
The Kipper brand may have reached a level of toxicity above which it doesn't matter as vote identifiers don't care how rancid the brand is.
So if there is an accelerated drift it wont be rapid - check back in 4-6 weeks.
Imports decreased by £2.5bn from December 2014, the largest monthly decrease since July 2006.
The large decrease in imports was mainly due to a £1.3bn fall in the imports of fuels, specifically oil.
Imports of oil were £2.2bn in January, their lowest level since May 2009.
Excluding the impact of falling oil prices on the trade deficit, which also led to a decline of UK fuel exports, the balance of trade in goods excluding oil also narrowed to a deficit of £7.8bn.
That was the lowest monthly deficit in goods since June 2013.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31849614
@MarkSenior - no, neither of your examples are comparable. The owner-occupier of two houses has legitimate interests in two constituencies and can select in which one to vote and be represented. The second example is clearly unethical - I don't know whether it is legal - but absolutely against the spirit of the rules.
Or are they prepared to accept that St Nige might have made a mistake here?
These are the sort of examples the media will use to support/attack the policy.
Besides, the group 'PB Tories' is now so broad as to be fairly meaningless. I mean, even the excellent Polruan is now one of us. ;-)
Daily Mail crowd love it, twitter crowd hate it.
They noted that 'this day X years ago' Andy Cooke scored a century against Bangladesh on the opening day of the test...
I think they were just being mean...
A reduction in the trade deficit (which is still not good of course) will have a positive effect on the GDP figure.
We have yet to see the UKIP tide turn.
An excellent effort.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/22/go-home-billboards-pulled
As for you 'analysis' as I have repeatedly pointed out UKIP has over the past three years had peak support during election times when they have high levels of press coverage. The last of these was during the period of the two by election victories in August to October (which also coincided with its first televised conference). After each peak support fall ways to a certain level and then stabilises at a higher level than previously. After the county council elections inn 2013 it settled in the range of 9-11 points, last July/ August after the Euros it settled at 11-13 points. Now it has settled in the range of 13-15 points.
You can kid yourself that the UKIP threat is over but there nothing yet that suggests their support is not continuing the same trend that it has followed for the last two years.
http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/voting-intention-2
PS It is hysterical responses like yours that make UKIPs future look assured.
"@Nigel_Farage tweets: .@Ed_Miliband The laws don't represent these values, Ed. The British people do. We believe in Britain. You believe in bureaucracy."
So the race discrimination laws have to go because they're bureaucratic? hm...
@Nigel_Farage: .@Ed_Miliband The laws don't represent these values, Ed. The British people do. We believe in Britain. You believe in bureaucracy.
Whichever way I think Farage might have been rather clumsy with his language.
Just a guess, but I don't think this'll harm Farage.
Quite aside from any Conservative worries.
Plus what about Labour and Blair when they kept Prescott on after he punched a voter.
That must have made Labour unattractive to you as the love child of Quasimodo and Iain Dowie.
You can kid yourself that the UKIP threat is over but there is nothing yet that suggests their support is not continuing the same trend that it has followed for the last two years.
It only matters if it effects the topline figures.
PS And until UKIP and Farage's positive ratings start slipping below his vote share there is always going to be potential for the party to advance. UKIP is not going to takeover the country tomorrow but it just might take another couple of steps forward.
Lab 267
LD 24
UKIP 1
Grn. 1
SNP. 42
Someone they don't like does something that reinforces their dislike and they wrongly assume the whole country agrees with them
It helps to view it in the same way as phone hacking - industrial levels by The Mirror, barely gets a murmur versus smaller scale by the NOTW, screams of 'Shut the entire company down!'
I'm given to understand that some people don't actually read classical history, baffling and bizarre as that is.
http://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/category/leader-approval-ratings/
Had Jeremy smacked someone who threw an egg at him for no reason then I too would offer him my support
All in all, a significant mis-step by Farage in a very sensitive area, I'd say.
Edit: Great cartoon, BTW!
Note this Lib Dem score on their model assumes they will get 13.4% of the vote.
Their current scores for Bath are Con 33 Lib Dem 35....
No incumbency, split Lib Dem vote there.....
If you believe in their model then 7-2 Conservative is worth a punt, however I won't add to my £5 at 6-1, but I won't arb it at 1-5 either
Those who support him will either think 'maybe he expressed it a bit clumsily, but his heart is in the right place', at the very worst, or more likely, 'whats the fuss about?'
Comments that reinforce existing beliefs or prejudices rarely move polls.
It's worth remembering that Phil's strategy was electorally successful and he was rewarded for it with a promotion by EdM.
After breastfeeding and Kerry Smith Farage saw a substantial drop in his leader ratings which fed into the UKIP polling in subsequent months.