There is currently a spate of complaints and allegations against conservatives and supporters for a wide range of nasty opinions. All this is against a backdrop (discussed in the last Media Alert) of a government that has, far worse than sharing dodgy social media posts, knowingly overseen the racist application of policy against Commonwealth migrants and their descendants. But the question of their demonstrable institutional racism has hardly been raised.PR wonks will probably be right in hopes that the Windrush scandal has mostly been out to bed now, with only those uppity blacks and their leftie (terror loving) allies continuing to make a fuss.
Perhaps a backlash can be whipped up when compensation starts to get paid out. In the meantime, the political damage appears limited if the local election results are anything to go by. It seems the UKIP vote returned heavily to the Conservatives (unlike at last year’s General Election when it was more evenly split between Tory and Labour).
The “Go Home” vote has gone home to the Tories, and as if to mark the occasion they have un-suspended Pendle Councillor Rosemary Carroll, who had shared a “joke” on Facebook that would have been below par even in a 1970s Bernard Manning routine.
Ms. Carroll was unsuspended in order that the party could retain control of the council after potentially losing that control in May 3rd’s Local Elections. The posture of political principle is all well and good until it obstructs political power.
While the episode has had some attention from establishment media, it is independent media – notably Skwawkbox – who have worked hard to keep it in the public eye. There’s a distinct lack in the front pages of The Times, Mail et al. or the repeated 20 minute Newsnight segments reserved for when the Labour Party is said to have failed to address bigotry.
And to top it off, Melanie Phillips of The Daily Mail churned out a piece this week claiming that Islamaphobia was a “fiction” used to “close down debate” (fear of “closing down debate” being a paranoid catch-phrase indulged by people whose ability to debate faces no risk of being shut down).
Imagine if a left-wing journalist had said the same things about antisemitism. It would probably dominate the news agenda, with Ms. Phillis at the front of the queue to place it there.
These are not attempts to define what Islamophobia, racism or antisemitism are or their prevalence on various parts of the political spectrum. It is only a demonstration of the obvious: that elite owned media deems some forms of bigotry to be less problematic, while others are more politically useful to rail against. The genuine interests of victims don’t seem top of the agenda in either case.
Stephen Durrant
