Peter Oborne: Blair. A new low in politics
By PETER OBORNE Last
updated at 00:25am on 21st October 2006
Great sea changes of thought or opinion are rare in
British public life, taking place perhaps only once or twice in a
generation.
But there is abundant evidence that we are undergoing one
now.
Until only a few months ago, mainstream British
politicians were extremely cautious about articulating the fears and
resentments felt by many ordinary people on the subject of mass immigration.
Those who spoke out publicly (Enoch Powell's 'rivers of
blood' speech is the notorious example) were ostracised. Political parties
which raised the issue were thrust beyond the outer margins of debate - the
fate of the National Front and the BNP.
This self-restraint has now vanished. Practically every
day for the past two weeks, another minister has insulted the customs,
habits or religious beliefs of Britain's Muslim minority.
The most recent assault, which came just hours after the
subject was discussed at a Cabinet meeting in Downing Street, was launched
by Hilary Armstrong on Question Time and came with the full authority of the
Prime Minister.
Harriet Harman, Tessa Jowell, Peter Hain, Gordon Brown,
Tony Blair, Ruth Kelly and a number of other frontline Labour politicians
have also entered the fray.
It is now clear that Jack Straw's comments on women who
wear the veil were not, as seemed likely at the time, the result of some
random rumination. He surely set out with the intention of putting in motion
a national campaign.
In other words, Labour has made the extraordinary decision
to place the politics of religious identity at the centre of public
discourse, in the same sort of way that Jorg Haider's Freedom Party does in
Austria and Pim Fortuyn's List Party did in the Netherlands
Criticisms of this tactic in the Press - which was so
derogatory about Michael Howard's timid excursion into similar terrain 18
months ago - have been few and far between.
On the contrary, Jack Straw's comments have liberated the
media to follow suit. It seems every day now brings forth news of an outrage
allegedly perpetrated somewhere by a Muslim.
Many of the stories - such as the front page claims two
weeks ago that a Muslim man had shouted abuse in a hospital at a British
soldier wounded in Iraq, or the allegation that a terrorist suspect used the
veil to evade detection - are impossible to substantiate and may well turn
out to be fabrications.
Some people will feel glad that the subject of Islam is
being widely aired at last. And it is perfectly true that many of the
comments made by ministers, whether Jack Straw on the veil or Ruth Kelly on
the need to keep an eye on 'extremism', contain grains of good sense.
But cumulatively this litany of condemnation has turned
into an anti-Islamic crusade. I am a practising member of the Church of
England and if we had come under the same wave of condemnation for our
practices and traditions I would by now be affronted beyond belief.
If I were Jewish, with the experience of the 20th century
to look back on, and came under the same weight of hostility I would be
terrified.
There is a whiff of the lynch mob about the wave of
attacks over the past fortnight, and it is no surprise to learn that the new
national mood sparked by Jack Straw and sanctioned by Tony Blair has indeed
led to a number of assaults on British mosques, including one firebombing.
There have also been reports of a sharp rise of physical
assaults on Muslims.
It is nothing short of appalling that the Blair government
has been ready to countenance this change in public culture, but I think
three main factors lie behind Labour's campaign against Islam.
The first is a genuine belief that it is extremely
difficult to reconcile Muslim fundamentalism with full membership of British
society. I know from many personal conversations -that Phil Woolas, the
minister for race relations - who last week intervened in the row over the
classroom assistant Aisha Azmi by calling for her to be sacked - has long
held this view.
At last year's General Election Woolas - who unlike his
colleagues has the merit of being consistent - put the Union Flag on his
campaign literature and highlighted 'anti-white racism' as a vital issue in
his Oldham constituency.
Many experts expected that Woolas would lose this marginal
seat, but his tactics ensured that his vote surged, an outcome that was
carefully noted by the Millbank electoral machine.
My guess is that Labour strategists have now calculated
that the Muslim coalition of voters, which was so stalwartly behind the
party in 1997 and 2001, is now lost for ever as a result of the Iraq War.
Rather than try to win them back, Labour has cut its
losses, and decided instead to stir up racial tension as a means of
appealing directly to the white working-class vote. Labour activists tell me
Jack Straw's remarks have proved 'incredibly resonant' on the doorstep.
This callous strategy has one extra attraction: it
confuses the Tories. In the 1997 and 2001 elections, William Hague and
Michael Howard rather hesitantly raised the abuse of the asylum system only
to be denounced by Labour for running 'racist' campaigns.
As a consequence of this experience, the Conservatives
plumped for David Cameron and swore a self-denying ordinance on the subject
of immigration.
With awesome cynicism, Labour has now moved directly into
the ground vacated by the Conservatives, only with far greater assurance. It
is now engaging with issues that Michael Howard would never have dared even
to mention.
So far the Conservative response has been impressive. To
his credit, David Cameron has braved internal criticism by refusing to join
in some kind of bidding war with Labour.
Instead, the Tory leader has gently rebuked Labour for
victimising Muslims. I hope he will speak out much more strongly on the
subject in due course.
That said, it must be admitted that this is very clever
stuff from Tony Blair. There is every sign the strategy is working and I am
sure that Labour will continue to deploy what used to be called the race
card right up to next year's May elections and beyond. But playing politics
with Islam is reckless beyond belief.
In the wake of last year's London atrocity, the Prime
Minister promised to engage with the mainstream Muslim community. He never
really tried to do so - the 'working parties' set up in the wake of the July
bombings met just two or three times, they were not listened to, and their
recommendations were ignored.
Now Tony Blair has allowed a campaign that is bound to
undermine moderate Muslims and encourage extremism, whether from white
supremacist parties like the BNP or within Islam itself.
It is quite the nastiest and most irresponsible politics I
have seen from a mainstream political party in my life, and we will all pay
a horrible price for such cynical opportunism .
The British National party
In the past few weeks an astonishing reversal
of opinion has come from the lips of Labour MPs queuing up to attack
the Muslim faith.
Those who for years have courted the Muslim vote are now outdoing
the BNP in raising awareness of the growing threat of Muslim to
national security. The Labour establishment aided and abetted by a
compliant media with its still powerful Zionist lobby is in part
stirring up war propaganda as a prelude to an inevitable attack on
Iran.
You don’t fool us
But there is a bigger picture emerging – Labour is playing with fire
to win back the white working class vote. This brash political
opportunism coming from the very people who continue to hold open
the door to hundreds of Muslim migrants every single day smacks of
desperation and utter hypocrisy. If the government’s own statistics
are to be believed there are 1.8 million Muslims in the UK (2001
census) which would mean just over 1 million Muslim voters. Clearly
the Labour establishment has awoken to the fact that numerically 15
million white working class is much more worthy of chasing that a
mere 1 million.
The media have always taken a swipe at statements from the BNP about
our concerns for the future of the country, dismissed as
“extremists”, “racists” and “bigots” but media pundits are reveling
in their new found liberty to take a daily dig at Muslims.
Attacks
It’s a dangerous game the Labour establishment has chosen to play,
one which could lead to serious disorder and bloodshed. Do Blair and
Straw really want to see a civil war on the streets of West
Yorkshire, Birmingham and Oldham?
Richard Oborne writes in today’s
Daily Mail that:
“There is a whiff of the lynch mob about the wave of attacks over
the past fortnight, and it is no surprise to learn that the new
national mood sparked by Jack Straw and sanctioned by Tony Blair has
indeed led to a number of assaults on British mosques, including one
firebombing.”
Hypocrites
The list of hypocrites making cheap snipes at superficial displays
such as banning of the veil includes Jack Straw who missed no
opportunity to fly off to the Indian sub-continent for a photo
opportunity, Peter Hain former anti-apartheid thug and Phil Woolas –
a man who
called on electors to vote for anyone except the BNP.
Just a few days before Richard Oborne wrote his piece Nick Griffin
and Simon Darby spoke earlier this week to
Altermedia
about Labour’s dangerous game. The 29 min clip can be downloaded
here .
In the past few weeks an astonishing reversal of
opinion has come from the lips of Labour MPs queuing up to attack the Muslim
faith.
Those who for years have courted the Muslim vote are
now outdoing the BNP in raising awareness of the growing threat of Muslim to
national security. The Labour establishment aided and abetted by a compliant
media with its still powerful Zionist lobby is in part stirring up war
propaganda as a prelude to an inevitable attack on Iran.
You don’t fool us
But there is a bigger picture emerging – Labour is
playing with fire to win back the white working class vote. This brash political
opportunism coming from the very people who continue to hold open the door to
hundreds of Muslim migrants every single day smacks of desperation and utter
hypocrisy. If the government’s own statistics are to be believed there are 1.8
million Muslims in the UK (2001 census) which would mean just over 1 million
Muslim voters. Clearly the Labour establishment has awoken to the fact that
numerically 15 million white working class is much more worthy of chasing that a
mere 1 million.
The media have always taken a swipe at statements
from the BNP about our concerns for the future of the country, dismissed as
“extremists”, “racists” and “bigots” but media pundits are reveling in their new
found liberty to take a daily dig at Muslims.
Attacks
It’s a dangerous game the Labour establishment has
chosen to play, one which could lead to serious disorder and bloodshed. Do Blair
and Straw really want to see a civil war on the streets of West Yorkshire,
Birmingham and Oldham?
Richard Oborne writes in today’s Daily Mail that:
“There is a whiff of the lynch mob about the wave of
attacks over the past fortnight, and it is no surprise to learn that the new
national mood sparked by Jack Straw and sanctioned by Tony Blair has indeed led
to a number of assaults on British mosques, including one firebombing.”
Hypocrites
The list of hypocrites making cheap snipes at
superficial displays such as banning of the veil includes Jack Straw who missed
no opportunity to fly off to the Indian sub-continent for a photo opportunity,
Peter Hain former anti-apartheid thug and Phil Woolas – a man who called on
electors to vote for anyone except the BNP.
Just a few days before Richard Oborne wrote his
piece Nick Griffin and Simon Darby spoke earlier this week to Altermedia about
Labour’s dangerous game. The 29 min clip can be downloaded
here.