The edge of a black hole is known as the “event horizon”. It
marks the point of no return. There is a strong possibility that point has been
reached, judging by the mayhem in the mainstream parties, which an astounding
opinion poll is bound to reinforce.
A dramatic Guardian/ICM poll reveals a previously
unrecorded decline in 30 years of surveys in support for the Tories, Labour and
LibDems at the same time. Support has literally drained away at
a rapid rate of knots, washing up at the door of the right-wing populist Ukip
under Nigel Farage.
Ukip has soared to 18%, while the Tories have plummeted to
28%, Labour to 34% and the LibDems to a miserable 11%. The patent
disintegration of mainstream politics has led to a rapid Titanic-like
rearranging of deckchairs as the SS Westminster heads for the iceberg.
In a desperate bid to thwart Ukip’s anti-Europe stance and a
backbench rebellion, David Cameron is rushing out a draft bill to introduce an
in-out EU referendum, even though it has no chance of getting through
parliament and could break the Coalition.
Vince Cable is allegedly involved in a dastardly plot to
oust Nick Clegg as leader of the LibDems to prevent a wipe-out of MPs at the
next election.
Labour is under pressure to sack the under-performing shadow
chancellor Ed Balls, who is closely associated with the failed policies of the
last Labour government. Ed Miliband is also being told to go down the “Blue
Labour” path of being tough on immigration, benefits and spending or face the
chop as leader.
The decision of Lord Sainsbury, formerly one of the party’s
biggest donors, to stop giving to Labour can only strengthen the Blairite/Blue
Labour factions.
The pressure on Miliband will also grow as a result of a
report that shows traditional Labour supporters are more and more unsympathetic
towards welfare recipients. A big group is saying that individuals are
responsible for their own predicament. After more than 15 years of New Labour/ConDem
propaganda along these lines, it’s no surprise that social attitudes have
shifted.
Ukip have rounded up voters who – rightly – feel powerless
and dominated by forces beyond their control. These include the massive,
impenetrable European Union bureaucracy, the major corporations and banks and
an unresponsive political system at Westminster .
Add into the mix a spurious fear of Rumanians and Bulgarians
heading for Britain
in their millions, and it’s a heady, dangerous brew that Farage is stirring. Ukip’s
trajectory is unpredictable but the emergence of right-wing nationalist
politics is succeeding where the fascists of the BNP and other have
failed.
Clearly, the response to Ukip cannot be to urge support for
the mainstream parties. Labour, for example, is opposed to self-determination
for Scotland on the grounds
that it would create a permanent Tory majority in England ! Hardly the stuff of
principle.
Political and economic institutions, including the European
Union, are indeed broken and oppressive. Events since the collapse of the
financial system in a number of countries demonstrate that a virulent,
dangerous, anti-democratic nationalism is making headway against the old order.
There is a real opportunity to pose a revolutionary,
democratic alternative to the present state, both here and in the EU. We need
to campaign for that right now, not wait until the political system becomes so
unstable that dark forces within the state emerge to enforce order. They were
ready to do that in the 1970s. Don’t think they are not waiting in the wings
now.
Paul Feldman
Communications editor
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