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The culture war against wokism has been Boris Johnson’s creation and he is being caught out for it.

(91 Posts)
hugshelp Wed 14-Jul-21 17:16:28

Whitewavemark2

It is the Tories who use the phrase - as a tool to create division.

Much filched from Trump and his mad philosophy.

Ah, thank you.
Blethering on and saying nothing meaningful and hiding behind soundbites seems to be one of their skills.

Whitewavemark2 Wed 14-Jul-21 17:01:02

It is the Tories who use the phrase - as a tool to create division.

Much filched from Trump and his mad philosophy.

hugshelp Wed 14-Jul-21 16:49:30

What do you mean by 'culture war against wokism'?

Are you in fact talking about racism? Putting everything under one umbrella seems really unhelpful to me since wokism seems to cover many different beliefs, some of which people may embrace, others not.

GillT57 Wed 14-Jul-21 16:09:29

This reminds me of the Tory backbencher who was puce with anger about someone having leaked to the press information which eventually became the expenses scandal. He was bothered about the leak, the 'treachery' rather than the actual fiscal criminality involved. Strange moral code.

Whitewavemark2 Wed 14-Jul-21 16:08:54

Populism is becoming unpopular.

Although it was never really that popular to begin with.
Now YouGov - the Tory poll - has found that 71% want masks to remain compulsory on public transport. 59% supported England taking the knee.

The government now seems to have been rejected by the English players and suddenly the government is on the wrong side of most opinion polls - alarming for Johnson who is obsessed with being popular.

The same has become true almost overnight it seems of the governments false cultural wars.

PippaZ Wed 14-Jul-21 15:40:33

eazybee

A Constituent writes to his MP. The MP replies, and the recipient then posts the letter on Twitter.
I wonder if the MP was consulted?
In view of the recent Meghan Markle case, I assume the copyright of the letter belongs to the MP.
And you think this is one of the good things about Twitter.

Ah, the old straw man argument. So the question is about an MP, writing at some length to a constiuent about why this was a bad bill ... and then voting for it.

What is your opinion about that eazybee?

lemongrove Wed 14-Jul-21 14:56:18

Since Johnson is popular within his Party, with Party members and within the country at large, I think he will be around for a while.
Those who don’t like it will be able to vote for a different Party at the next GE several years off.
He may not be popular with all Conservative MP’s ( what PM is?) but they realise there’s nobody else for the job for the near future.

MaizieD Wed 14-Jul-21 13:47:23

eazybee

A Constituent writes to his MP. The MP replies, and the recipient then posts the letter on Twitter.
I wonder if the MP was consulted?
In view of the recent Meghan Markle case, I assume the copyright of the letter belongs to the MP.
And you think this is one of the good things about Twitter.

I think that our desperately underfunded justice system with an enormous backlog of cases isn't going to be in the least bit interested in the breaching of an MPs copyright (though I have my doubts that there is any case to answer).

So how about commenting on the content?

Lucca Wed 14-Jul-21 13:44:17

eazybee

A Constituent writes to his MP. The MP replies, and the recipient then posts the letter on Twitter.
I wonder if the MP was consulted?
In view of the recent Meghan Markle case, I assume the copyright of the letter belongs to the MP.
And you think this is one of the good things about Twitter.

BUt is that all that bothers you about this story ?

eazybee Wed 14-Jul-21 13:40:43

A Constituent writes to his MP. The MP replies, and the recipient then posts the letter on Twitter.
I wonder if the MP was consulted?
In view of the recent Meghan Markle case, I assume the copyright of the letter belongs to the MP.
And you think this is one of the good things about Twitter.

GillT57 Wed 14-Jul-21 11:55:35

Your post MaizieD illustrates one of the many good things about the much reviled twitter. Without it, nobody, other than the recipient of the letter would be aware of the two faced MP. I was driving along yesterday shouting at the radio (again), as Andrea Leadsom justified her reason for voting for the cuts to the Foreign Aid budget, despite being a member of the party elected to deliver the promise. It was nauseating. But, back to the OP, the little group of defenders around Johnson are looking increasingly pathetic ( I am looking at your Grant Shapps), and I found myself in the uncomfortable position of feeling sorry for Nadim Zahawi when he was squirming, trying to somehow convince Marr and the rest of us that when Johnson meant all anticovid19 measures were to be scrapped, but not scrapped, but no masks, but yes masks. It was impressive.

PippaZ Wed 14-Jul-21 11:43:56

No problem Maizie. I don't see it as a deviation. It is an example of the backup team not being given specific instructions or the instructions changing at short notice - a common fault with Johnson. These poor people are trying so hard to be "yes" people NotSpaghetti but they do need clear direction. Boris doesn't do that.

How can they have changed so far - indeed, have they - that the last PM votes against the government? If it hasn't changed but a majority are staying silent until pushed to the limit, what will they do as this continues? Has Boris stolen the Conservative Party? He was never a Conservative. Johnson is the leader and one of few members of the Libertarian Party. So, does the Conservative Party get rid of him or do they have to leave and reform?

MaizieD Wed 14-Jul-21 11:08:39

Extraordinary twitter thread on the foreign Aid issue . The poster put up an image (clear and readable) of the letter he had received from his (tory) MP detailing why foreign aid should not be cut and their opposition to it. Yet, when it came to the crunch, this MP voted in favour of cutting it.

twitter.com/andrew_goudie/status/1415010351469498371

(sorry to deviate from your theme, Pippa)

MoorlandMooner Wed 14-Jul-21 11:05:34

Sickening and against the nature of so many voters who are so very generous with their time and money when it comes to helping others.

It's another broken promise to add to the list. Perhaps the triple lock pension will be the next broken promise. Or the promise to 'protect the NHS'. If the pattern continues there are so many promises waiting to be broken.

I think the Tories will keep offering us more of the same until either the chip, chip, chip away at honesty, integrity and decency turns off all but the most hardened supporter and/or someone, or some alliance of people (PLEASE!!!), stand up as an opposition people will vote for.

NotSpaghetti Wed 14-Jul-21 10:31:28

The vote on foreign aid was sickening.

He is supported by too many "yes" people.

PippaZ Wed 14-Jul-21 10:08:33

Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things.
I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

The problem is that while some will still believe Johnson's lies, his backup team are not so good at it. Johnson is a performance artist, probably one of the few earning good money at this in these times. One of the necessities of performance art is that your audience suspends disbelief. John had a ready-made (oven-ready?) cohort to assist him; all he had to do was appeal to his voters' natural prejudices.

The issue with the backup team is that they are unconvincing. These politicians either come over as believing the prejudice they pronounce on; against immigrants, against people of colour or against being alert to injustice in society. Alternatively, these MPs come over as people whose agreement with Johnson is crumbling, as we saw with the vote on foreign aid.

So, where does Johnson go next? Brexit will not turn out to be the all-round well of happiness that the levers promised. Some will blanch as they recognise the selling off of the NHS. Racism is causing more people to be shocked than agree. Voters liked the solidarity that the England football team showed - and the results it brought. Passivity to thuggish tropes is waining; it is waining just when people will begin to feel the real economic effects of Covid (not Johnson's fault, but it is obvious he made many bad calls).

How long will Johnson last? And if his party - many of whom already cannot stand him and are beginning to be willing to vote against his extremes - throw him out, what do you think the Tories will offer us next?