The normalisation of the far-right continues

[Granny Danger]

50 minutes ago, Brother Blades said:

I’d take issue that we (Scots), have a strong culture of dissent,  we just simply don’t & certainly not in great numbers. 
Maybe historically we did, with strong Trade Unions etc, but now? No chance, we are completely subservient to our overlords from down south, if this wasn’t the case we’d be Independent by now. 
Also the final part of that paragraph…. Did you miss the entire Arab spring a few years back? 

 

19 minutes ago, BFTD said:

This is why we have freezers.

I'd argue we might have reached the zenith of that progress, and are about to see some of those advances reversed. Our politicians seem very keen to play to the "ain't no black in the Union Jack, Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve" element. Hopefully I'm wrong, but there's a reason why some of the most sinister figures in UK politics are champing at the bit to get out of the ECHR (in the news again this week, I see).

I'm inclined to agree with Brother Blades about a culture of dissent; over the past forty years protesting has been successfully framed as a nuisance that needs to be stamped out, and it's something that Labour, the Tories, and REFUK are quite happy to pursue. Most people seem quite comfortable with that.

Progress is rarely a straight line.  There will be setbacks but generally we’re moving forward.

As for Scottish Independence we came within a few percentage points of winning that vote and numbers are not diminishing.

With regards to the Arab Spring(s), how much has changed in reality.  More liberal, progressive societies?
 

[btb]

Dire times, the mood seems to be an growing number of people voting for keeping the outsiders outside.

Where are the politicians willing to speak for the weak these days, certainly not amongst the Labour party leadership who seem to have been bought off pretty cheaply with shiny baubles.

Looking back to the riots in early August it was the Thursday (?) night when the anti-racist majority took to the streets that ended them.

The electorate is pretty volatile these days, my recollection of the post 2019 GE is that the immediate feeling was Labour couldn't win in 2024 so anything could happen with 5 years of sniping by the MSM unless Labour manage to significantly improve the life prospects of the ordinary voter. My fear is that enough of them will be scared into voting for a Tory party espousing a Reform manifesto.

As I said dire times.

[BFTD]

1 hour ago, Granny Danger said:

Progress is rarely a straight line.  There will be setbacks but generally we’re moving forward.

As for Scottish Independence we came within a few percentage points of winning that vote and numbers are not diminishing.

With regards to the Arab Spring(s), how much has changed in reality.  More liberal, progressive societies?

The Arab nations suffered under authoritarian crackdowns; they didn't just realise they were happy with their societies as they were.

Western governments appear to have been paying attention to how that turned out.

[ClydeTon]

3 hours ago, Fullerene said:

How big a door are we talking about here?

Bigger than one on the Glasgow Subway, at least.

[ClydeTon]

4 hours ago, Brother Blades said:

Did you miss the entire Arab spring a few years back? 

The Arab Spring didn't do all that much in the end.

Yemen, Libya and Syria ended up in civil wars (directly or indirectly), Egypt had to deal with an ISIS insurgency in Sinai (Egypt also shutdown protests in the second Arab Spring) Algeria's politics are dominated by the military, Sudan split into two states, Gaza is under Islamist/paramilitary rule, Iran is still under the tight rule of the Islamic Republic, and Israel is bombing Lebanon, Syria and Gaza.

The only parts of MENA which have got noticeably better are the KSA, Bahrain and Qatar - all petro-states which are liberalising (at varying degrees) in an attempt to liberalise and diversify the economy for when Oil is finished.

We all know that Qatar are far from innocent - the imported workers who were treated appallingly for the World Cup, and their history of being a source/location of funding for terror groups.

The Arab Spring got some political wins, sure, but the Islamic world hasn't got much better in the long term.