Politics

Good Evening, Brexiteers

Posted on by davidarmitage2014

Good Evening, Brexiteers,

Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of everyday routine, the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of leaving, where we have allowed vehement hatred combined with racism to take centre stage in our country’s politics, I think it’s time you and I had a little chinwag.

There are, of course, those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. The truth is, though this: There’s something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty, injustice, intolerance and oppression were once rare, but now commonplace. And where once you had the freedom to protest, to speak and think the way you wanted to, we now have more cameras than anywhere else in the world, censors considered prudish by even the standards of the USA, and laws passing through the disgrace of a parliament that can access anything in the prevention of “domestic terrorism”.

How did this become so? Who has culpability? Well, like all conspiracies and attempts to subdue the vox populi (general population), there are definitely those more to blame and to be held responsible than others, and through my blog, will hold those miscreants to account. But, with a heavy heart, I’m telling you that if you are looking for the guilty, you need only to cast your gaze into a mirror.

I understand your reasoning perfectly. In harsh financial times like these, £350 million a week seemed absurd. You were petrified, and who could blame you? The right-wing bias of the media, the rise of the far-right through UKIP and Britain First, the repeated exaggerated reports of mass immigration putting a strain on our schools and hospitals. There were hundreds of reasons to rob you all of your wits and corrupt your common sense. Fear took over, and in that fear, you turned to Nigel Farage. You also turned to an immgrant himself and future Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson. They promise you order, better quality financial decisions made by the government under them. They promise you economic stabilty and strength of the pound. They promise you peace. All they want in return is to scrap your pensions, rob you of your human rights whilst they kill off those who will not fit into their model of society. Do you think I’m lying to you? The Conservative Party have killed more than 10,000 people already through their inhuman cuts to welfare services, and whereas we once had the European Union to hold these corrupt vagabonds to account, you have voted to relinquish your control, your safety net from these scoundrels.

A little over four hundred years ago, a great citizen and Yorkshire man wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our collective consciousness and memories. His hope was to remind the world that freedom, justice, love, peace and tolerance were more than words: they’re both ideas and perspectives.

So if you’ve seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you, then I would suggest that you allow the next fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me and millions more, one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot.

The Death penalty in the United Kingdom- A review

Posted on by davidarmitage2014

Now I am fully aware that this will cause controversy, and perhaps a few people will dislike me for writing this, but both in the United Kingdom and on the internet, we enjoy a certain freedom of speech, free from a lot of censorship. Thus I am going to attempt to exercise this, and hopefully, I’ll see some good debate either here, or on my facebook profile.

The death penalty has been a rather controversial thing here in the UK, and every few years, the debate rears its head in Parliament. Recently, as I have been researching into the writing of my first crime novel, I have been truly horrified by some of the crimes and their perpetrators from my country’s past that have emerged since the death penalty. In a way, the debate has now entered my head. So, I’m going to enter an argument against the death penalty and then for it, and hopefully make up my mind.

Against- Good morning to all. I type here on this blog to argue against the reinstitution of capital punishment. No man, woman or child should be deprived of life. All life is indeed sacred and should be treated as such. The fact that we are sentient beings who can but choose not to kill each other separates us from the animals. Wars aside, as I am a pacifist, the 21st century is where everything begins to change, and killing those who have done us harm moves us to the primitive beings. If we have the ability to make poverty history, send a man to Mars and eradicate most ailments, then why should we kill those who have done our society great ill? Why can’t we rehabilitate them?

Moreover, DNA evidence has cleared scores of murderers that were tried and executed. Most of these people were tried through kangaroo courts, where the cases against the defendants have been ropey at best, at worst, miscarriages of justice. The fact that Dr Crippen was pardoned and exonerated just over a hundred years later thanks to groundbreaking DNA tests, proves that executing prisoners already paying their prices to society is barbaric.

For- Good morning people on my pokey little blog. Today, you have been emotionally manipulated into thinking that capital punishment is morally wrong. Today, I am going to separate the emotion from the cold hard facts and argue for capital punishment from both approaches.

Firstly the facts. Since the death penalty was abolished in the 1960s, the homicide rate (this is classed as Murder, Manslaughter and Infanticide) has gone up over 200%, even when you account for the UK’s population boom. I won’t confuse correlation with causation, but it’s fair to say from most people’s perspective that this has taken away some of the deterrent.

We also have to look at economics- it costs much less to kill a condemned category A prisoner than it does to keep them. According to the Ministry of Justice, it costs roughly £33,000 per year to keep them alive and well looked after in a prison cell, not to mention it costs nearly double that to incarcerate high-profile murderers in the first place. When we, as a country cannot afford to house our homeless, why should we house mass murderers? There is also no evidence to suggest that 25 years of being locked in a cage and brainwashed prevents re-offending, anyway. Up to 44% of criminals reoffend, including rapists, wife-beaters and murderers. Why should we protect them?

Now, it’s time to make up my mind, and decide. I can’t really, but I suppose I’ll have to make up my mind after prayer. Ultimately, what do you think? Let me know via commentinng, both on here and on Facebook.

Til then and yours,

Davey

Can I have a rant? (This is the result of too much coffee)

Posted on by davidarmitage2014

Can I have a rant? Please? I’ve had less than two hours of sleep and over 15 cups of coffee today, and I’d just like a little natter on the subject of Brits abroad.

I did some work three years ago, shadowing travel reps in Sa Coma, Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands. Now I should explain that Sa Coma is on the east side of the Island, normally populated by Catalans and German tourists, until the summer season, where things get very, very British.

Now, as a rule, the Brits abroad don’t do my country any favours, per se, but in Sa Coma, I saw the very worst of us abroad. These are the people who spend the majority of their lives living off government handouts, displaying generally poor hygiene, drinking too much beer and refusing to try local culture. Some of Europe’s finest beer, lager, fish, and Tapas comes from Mallorca, but I challenge anyone to get it in Sa Coma. The Beer and Lagers are easy to come by, but Tapas and decent Hake, for which the island is famed, is nonexistent in the town. I’m not exaggerating for effect, literally no sign of Catalan culture can be spotted until Sundays, where the local Catholic church is packed and nothing outside of the hotels are open.

Instead, the strip is covered in mock- British pubs which had previously been local cafes and restaurants, selling tacky, low-quality food that’s guaran-fucking-teed to give you food poisoning. These cafes sell booze at rock-bottom prices, and if you drink liquor, the bartenders have no idea about standard drinking measures. There’s also no real ID checks by the bartenders, so under-age drinking is very, very easy. It’s ridiculous. The lights in the evening are strong enough to cause epileptic seizures, the dry ice is suffocating, and all you can see as decor is St. George’s Flags.

I fucking hate the Brits abroad.

Yours,

Davey

 

The (less than) Great Escape

Posted on by davidarmitage2014

So then, after the biggest turn out since 1992, the people of the UK have voted to leave the European Union (referred to hereafter as the EU) by a margin of 4%. I’m honestly not sure what to say.

There are some good things in relation to this: noted pig-fucker David Cameron has resigned his post as Prime Minister and will be out of 10 Downing Street by October. Thank fuck for that. However, this does give Cameron one ignoble honour: He’s the shortest Prime Minister to have ruled with a majority government in history. How’s that for a slap in the face?

There are, however, things much worse happening. The strength of the pound has fell dramatically, undoing 4 years of economic growth. Nando’s have closed nationwide due to the result, so if you’re reading this on the 24th of June, you have only today to lose your Nando’s virginity. Scotland are calling for a second independence referendum, which now means that they are inevitably leaving. The majority of Scotland voted to remain. So, I’m probably going to move up to Scotland.

That so far is what we know for certain is going to happen, so in my usual format, here is my opinion. Well done, Britain, this time you have nobody to blame but yourself. Not the European Parliament, not the party of upper-class, corrupt, pig-fucking toffs, but yourself. In your ignorance and fear, you turned to a city banker and his party of casual racists to guide your decision and now we are well and truly fucked. Our economy is going to sink into recession at least, which means more unpopular austerity cuts, more fucking idiotic financial measures, and guess what? More inflation. To give people in the UK an example: You know how Freddo bars used to cost 10p? They will cost a fuckton more now. Honestly, you know what? I’m done. I’m fucking done.

On Jack Buckby and the history of the English Far-Right

Posted on by davidarmitage2014

I must admit, as someone who keeps an eye on politics both at home (the UK) and abroad, I have let my eye wander off the ball. Until last week, I had never heard of Jack Buckby, but after seeing his reasoning for contesting the parliamentary seat for the constituency of Batley and Spen, I have become aware of the far-right party of Liberty GB. More on this later on. To truly give credence and context to this madness, I have to explain some of the history of English Fascism and the parties of the far-right that have come to precedence due to the EU Referendum.

I guess, to keep this post short and readable, we have to start with the formation of the National Front by A. K. Chesterton (you probably have heard of his cousin, G. K. Chesterton), who argued in 1967, that a right-wing party should have won that year’s General Election. Unhappy with the way that the Conservative Party behaved and handled the elections, he formed his own party (as rogue politicians often do, like George Galloway). He called them the “national front” and took defectors from a then-already-identified-as-racist party called the British National Party, or the BNP for short.

It opposed multiculturalism in the UK, and also massive international agreements, such as NATO, which sounds nuts to me, as a twentysomething blogger in the twenty-first century. The most notable idea springing from them, however, was the idea that the UK was completely white. Just to tackle this idea for you all, before I carry on, people of all ethnicities have been in the UK for over a thousand years. Even Shakespeare, a name synonymous with English Literature and English Pride, wrote sonnets to his “Dark Lady”. Whilst this idea thankfully never reached the Conservative Party

This wasn’t the end of the far-right in the UK, as a resurgent BNP would then become the facist’s voice for years, headed up by a fat numpty called Nick Griffin, until an episode of BBC’s Question Time went horrifically wrong. After that, splinter groups took over, with the biggest one calling themselves the English Defence League (the dipsticks who hi-jack protests) and another one called Britain First.

This brings us nicely along to Liberty GB, who masquerade themselves as a center-right libertarian party, but in reality, are the most insidious bunch of racists to darken the doors of Westminster for a while. Their voice, a Jack Buckby, cannot be much older than I am, and having watched and studied his tirades on YouTube, it’s fair to say that this man is the new voice of fascism in the UK. He seems to respect UKIP, but wants to go a lot further, trying to define a British cultural identity. The point here is, what exactly is that? Take my hometown, for example. It’s bang smack in the middle of Yorkshire, and very identifiably english. Yet, most people have either Polish or Irish surnames. To clarify, I think that what makes Britain “great” is the fact that we are a country of immigrants, if you trace the ancestry far enough.

Lastly, I would like to point out the irony that far-right groups idolise wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, whilst being the exact thing that Churchill fought against.

Yours,

Davey