A Priti Little Points-Based System

I went to bed very late last night having spent an hour or so posting about my mildly controversial online history. Especially with regard to Twitter. Anyway, I woke up this morning (more like midday, dinner time if I'm honest). Immediately went on Twitter, then fired off a few Tweets about immigration. I never learn 😅

The tweets weren't too bad in all fairness and were simply in relation to the new "points-based immigration" policy statement that the government has just put out. In particular with relation to an Independent article (in turn based on an LBC interview) where Home Secretary Priti Patel kind of admits that her own parents may not have been allowed into the country had this current policy been in place when they arrived.

(Sonic, in all good cinemas)

Independent: Home Secretary Priti Patel admits own parents may not have been allowed into UK under her new immigration laws

It's a bit of a gotcha moment and obviously people against these new policies have ran with it on Twitter. Going with the "ha, look how horrible and hypocritical she is" type vibe.

Personally I think this is just unfair and lazy. Obviously the circumstances are very different now to how things were back then. We've had a lot of immigration into the country over the last two decades, and many people are genuinely worried about our capacity to deal with it in the coming decades if it continues at this level. In fact, the current government were explicitly voted into power to implement this very legislation by the British public.

I also take issue with this type of argument because it is in itself quite a racist way of looking at things. It's basically saying "..but you're of Indian heritage yourself, how can YOU have these opinions". Essentially implying that because she has brown skin she must therefore have a certain viewpoint, and base all her own decisions and values upon that very fact.

Of course, I'm saying "racist" but that's not really accurate. The people making this argument aren't the slightest bit racist in any real sense, and it's unfair to so loosely apply that label. However, it is a thinking based upon race, or at the very least cultural heritage, and it does betray a bias in thinking on the part of the people making this point.

The vast majority of Tory or Brexit voters simply see Priti Patel as a Tory politician, but people on the other side of the fence don't see her like that. They don't see her as just another nasty Tory, but as a brown person who's saying things that black and brown people normally don't say in their stereotyped worldview. So we get this condescending "..but your own poor little ancestors wouldn't even be in this country!". As if her parents themselves were needy and helpless. As all non-white people are in their "progressive" system of placing people according to "type".

Again, I'm being unfair in accusing people of actual racism, as all these people are absolutely well-meaning and believe whole-heartedly that they are doing what is good. Likewise they do have genuine fears that there are actual racists on the other side of the argument, and it's only fair of course to remind ourselves that there are some real genuine racists out there.

Generally speaking though Britain is most definitely not a racist a country. We wouldn't have a child of immigrants running the Home Office if it was.

No "Group Privacy" In The Online World

I really overran with that last post about the Labour leadership election. I was intending to mesh this little piece in with it, but it was getting far too long. Anyway, we've recently had the whole thing where Andrew Sabisky, the adviser hired by Dominic Cummings, was pressured into resigning over online comments about eugenics he'd previously made (amongst other mildly controversial takes).

I won't go into what he said. That's been done to death over the last few days. It does seem something worthy of note though. It's probably the biggest setback for Cummings so far since the election. In a way it's his first defeat. So it could be important. Hopefully it won't be too damaging though.

Obviously I come down firmly on the side of Cummings on the issue. Regardless of what the guy has posted online it's clearly a case of the media cherry-picking soundbites to get a scalp. How can we function as a civilisation if adults can't have open conversations without fearing for their job - or their future careers as is the case here.

..my own online history

Things like this always make me reassess my own online output. I don't think they'd let me into No. 10 to clean the toilets given some of the things I've posted online over the years. I don't post anything that's too offensive (I don't think), but I have posted a hell of a lot of "conspiracy" stuff. Which would probably be viewed in an even more negative light.

Over the last year or so I have tried to clean up my act a little, to be a bit more diplomatic so to speak, but it's so hard. Often you feel it's a moral necessity that you speak out about something. Other times you may just want to joke around or tease wider society a little by saying something a little edgy. Then again it might just be a momentary outburst inspired by something seen on TV or elsewhere. Or some weird combination of all of the above.

Twitter is the worst for me at the moment. It's so instant, perhaps the closest thing to real life conversation given its immediacy. It might take me 30 or 40 minutes to do a blog post like this. I'll read it back a few times. Check the spelling. It gives me time to think, to change my mind perhaps (plus it allows me room to explain any "controversial" opinions I may be choosing to express). With Twitter it's literally seconds between thought and tweet.

Personally I enjoy it. It's fun. It's a different medium. You can be light-hearted and post throwaway memes and whatnot. The problem is though that such throwaway things can now be stripped of their context and presented in a completely different light.

There's also the problem that often people don't understand the context to begin with. They may not have the same sense of humour, or be on the same wavelength. You may post something for your friends or followers who share your values and reference points, but someone from outside that may see it quite differently.

Normally in real life people behave differently depending on who they're with too. Most people for example don't speak to their parents the way they speak to their mates. The context is different. Consequently if the two worlds do collide it can be awkward or embarrassing. You don't necessarily want your parents seeing what you're like when you're on a night out with friends. Or for that matter your friends or work colleagues seeing what you're like at home.

It's similar online. You may be speaking (or rather typing) with one audience in mind. Not thinking that it's potentially going to be viewed by a different audience at some point, perhaps in a different context. You may make a "sexist" joke online when talking to your friends, who aren't in the least bit offended by it, but when your girlfriend or work colleagues see it they may take a different view. It wasn't typed with those people in mind, but they don't see that. Now you're just a horrible sexist in their eyes. The context is completely abandoned. You may as well have screamed it in the public square for all they care. They've now found out what you "really think".

This is the problem with online content. Everyone sees everything. There is no "group privacy". Every room you're in has glass walls. It's not like popping down the pub where only the people in the pub with you can hear your chit-chat and opinions. There's nowhere safe for you to let your hair down and just shoot the breeze. In fact, now because of camera phones you're not even safe in the pub anymore. Someone may film your antics there and share that performance with the whole wide world online. Forever to be used as evidence against you.

And if you do try to do things with a degree of privacy. By having a separate Twitter account with a pseudonym perhaps. Or by having a private group chat just for your particular group of friends. Then if that gets discovered it's judged even more harshly - "as now you're deliberately trying to hide your disgusting little jokes and opinions".

There's now a common joke on Twitter surrounding the fact that men fear their partners finding out about their secret Twitter accounts 😄. Your loved ones finding out you've been posting memes and political opinions online behind a silly avatar is now the equivalent of someone finding out you're a cross-dresser. Of course, ironically you can now cross-dress quite openly. Your friends and family have to tolerate that on pain of their own excommunication from wider society.

(Will I get the Andrew Sabisky treatment if some future colleague comes across this blog and discovers I've made a joke about cross-dressers? 😨 ).

So it really is a minefield. You either live your life in fear of putting your foot wrong and never express a word or honest emotion. Or you say your piece, but with the acceptance that it may have a great social and economic cost for you personally.

We can't all live like this. Sooner or later it'll reach a point where no one of any substance is employable because of things they've said online at some point in their life.

Labour Leadership Contest - I'm Finally Catching Up

Over the last two days I've watched both the Labour leadership debates. I watched the BBC one yesterday. Then the Channel 4 one just a few hours ago.

(The Channel 4 debate)

I was very impressed with Rebecca Long-Bailey. I think she sounds every bit a leader. What I'd seen of her previously made me instinctively like her. I think I said on here after Christmas that I thought she had the "likeability" factor. However, I didn't really know too much about her. Plus I've seen people describe her as "dim". (There's also the famous nickname "Rebecca Wrong-Daily", which is snappy, but something which I always assumed was more just a clever pun than any real true appraisal of her.)

Given this I was curious to see her under the spotlight. I was also interested to see the other two candidates Lisa Nandy and Keir Starmer (Emily Thornberry was also in the first debate before she was knocked out - but she's fairly familiar to most people anyway).

I already had a fair idea of what Starmer was about. From watching the debates I get the impression that he's trying very hard to match RLB in appealing to the predominantly leftist Labour members - which is of course what he needs to do to become leader. However, he'd obviously want to take the Labour Party in quite a different direction if he wins. So his appeals don't feel heartfelt. Whereas for Long-Bailey she's naturally in her element.

I'm also fairly familiar with Lisa Nandy from watching politics over the last few years. Though slightly less so than with Starmer. I tried very hard to listen to what both her and Starmer were saying. To give them a fair hearing so to speak, but they're so clearly from the "establishment" side of the Labour Party, and I just can't get past that. It's just something I don't think is good for the country.

The general narrative is that Corbynites are out of touch and that the anti-Corbyn side of Labour are more centrist and have a broader appeal. However, I really don't see it like that. I think the other side are even more out of touch. Economically they're more centrist yes, but on almost every other issue they're on a very different wavelength to the general public. Europe especially so. Plus they just don't connect emotionally on issues like "austerity" the way the Corbyn side do - which is something that most of the general public feel (they just don't agree that Labour are the way to fix it at the moment).

So at least with Corbynism there is an element of real zeitgeist. Though it's clearly quite barmy in many ways it does at least feel like something "of our time". Whereas the Blairite centrism talked of by the political and media class is something that's now twenty years out of date. No one is really feeling it. If people were then Change UK wouldn't have disappeared without a trace.

Anyway, given my own views, it was only really Long-Bailey I was interested in seeing. Had she disappointed I would've been able to completely strip myself of any care for the Labour Party whatsoever. The fact that she didn't though means there's still a glimmer of light. Some of her views (and the Labour Party's views in general) are way too off for my liking. Radical commitment to open borders - with zero regard for, or even acknowledgement of, any downside is something I could never support in practice. Likewise the endless identity politics and much of the excessive statism. She is very young though (only 40) and with four years of a hopefully successful Cummings-led government and Brexit she might have the opportunity to grow into a viable alternative if and when the steam runs out of that.

Cabinet Reshuffle Today

I've been watching it all unfold. Quite a change around. Classic Dom as they say. It really seems like they want to get motoring. My one reservation is Andrea Leadsom going. Anyone that was reading this blog last year during the Tory leadership race will know how much I like her. She always seems to me like a very safe and sensible pair of hands. Never puts a foot wrong in interviews. So that's a minor concern.

Of course, I don't know any of these people aside from what I see in the media really. So it's hard to have an opinion. Ultimately you can only judge things by results, and it's way too early to judge the Boris/Cummings era yet. It's hard not to be excited by the Cummings energy, zeal and methodology though.

It's like having an impish Machiavelli running the country.

Over The Learning Curve

I think the Irish polls are finally counted. Fianna Fáil have 38 seats, Sinn Féin 37 and Fine Gael 35. The earlier predictions I saw stated that Fianna Fáil would get 45 seats. So things must have turned out even worse than expected. There are a bevy of other parties and individual candidates too so it's all a bit complicated and difficult to follow. I have no idea what will happen next.

I did watch some more Irish election coverage last night though, and it seems like there are similar issues driving the changes in Ireland to the ones that have been driving what's happened in the UK recently. Though coloured a little differently. Housing crisis, homelessness. A general feeling that things are getting progressively worse not better. Whatever we have now is not working, so let's try something different. That kind of thing.

Self-published books..

On a different topic I've also been looking at tax today. I have a few books on Amazon. The one that can be viewed in the sidebar (or here if your reading on a mobile) never ever sells. So that's kinda moot. My other book, a book about red hair, does shift a few copies each month though. So I always wonder at what point I become "self-employed" in any real sense. From what I can tell it turns out that here in the UK you don't have to file a tax return until you've earned £1000 - and I'm miles away from that sadly 😅. So I think so far I'm still in hobby territory.

I will have to get another normal job though sooner or later. So that might change things. It's such a confusing topic. I may post about it more going forward, as again, just like with learning about Irish politics, posting forces me through the learning curve. Or should that be over the learning curve.

Caught Some Coverage

I actually caught some of the election coverage last night. I found a live stream from RTÉ News on YouTube. It was interesting to watch. The way they tally the votes by counting the second and third preferences (and so on) meant it was a bit like watching the scoring come in from Eurovision. I also finally now know how the names of the parties are pronounced.

The counting is still going on now - they break for the night then re-start in the morning. If it isn't all over by later today (surely it can't take that much longer) then I may catch some more coverage later tonight.

Doing My Irish Homework

I've quickly settled into posting daily again. It really is quite an easy habit having done it for so long last year.

The Irish election count is still going on. Sinn Féin have had a very nice day though so far. With the first preferences counted (Ireland use a PR system with single transferable vote) Sinn Féin have 24.5%, Fianna Fáil 22.2.% and Fine Gael 20.9%.

Sinn Féin have only stood 42 candidates. Far fewer than the other two major parties. At present the seat predictions are that Sinn Féin will have 37 seats, Fine Gael just 36, and Fianna Fáil 45.

I'm typing this as if I know what's actually going on lol, but I'm just lifting it straight from the mainstream media really. I was hoping that there would be more extensive coverage on the UK TV news networks, but it's just getting mentioned in passing as part of the general flow of news. It's all Coronavirus and terrible weather - Storm Ciara. Pronounced Key-reh as I have to keep reminding myself. Oh, and it's the Oscars as well!! Perhaps the most terrifying news of all.

So I haven't learnt as much from the Irish election coverage as I was hoping.

Simply repeating the results on here seems a little silly, but it actually has the benefit of forcing me to pay attention and make note of this stuff. Had I not been blogging I would've certainly paid less attention. So it helps with the learning curve. Kind of like doing your homework. Writing it down makes you take ownership of the information. Even though it may bore your teacher who's read it all before (or you right now - sorry!).

I'm trying to pay more attention as I suspect that both Ireland and Scotland will become the new battlegrounds now that Brexit has been settled in regard Westminster politics (assuming it has been settled in that regard of course). So I need to sharpen up a little bit.

It's easy to get good information where you live. You just have to keep your eyes open and pay attention. Getting good information from further afield takes more effort though. So I'm going to have to find ways of getting more varied information. Watching Irish TV coverage might be useful, and finding some normal Irish people to follow on Twitter could be handy.

In fact, I probably should've followed the RTÉ News Twitter account which I quoted from yesterday. Might go and do that now.

Irish Exit Polls.

Apparently the votes don't start getting counted in the Irish election until 9 am tomorrow. Very disappointing. I was hoping for an exciting all-nighter. There are supposed to be exit polls at 10 pm tonight (in just 10 minutes time). So I'll pay attention to those, as much as I hate to trust them, and then maybe give a little commentary here.

.........................

Okay, so this is the exit poll o_O

Just looka those top three percentages. That's quite a tie break. Like I said, I hate to trust these things lol

I'll leave it there for today. I think the numbers say enough.

Excitement. Irish Election.

Irish election tomorrow. It's given me a chance to give myself a little crash course in Irish politics. It's quite amazing how ignorant I am really. Given it's literally our closest neighbour.

Apparently Sinn Féin are leading in the polls.

As per above I have no real idea what this means, but judging by the ashen faced looks on the people reporting this in the media I'm guessing it's once more a manifestation of that dreaded 'populism'.

Sinn Féin are nationalist, but left wing (I think). So it'll be interesting to see what happens and how it's all reported. Leo Varadkar has had gushing media coverage over the last few years thanks to his role in the Brexit process. So if his party do have a bad day it'll no doubt lead to some questions.

For anyone as ignorant as I am his party is Fine Gael. The other major party being Fianna Fáil.

I might actually learn how to pronounce some of these names as I follow it all along tomorrow :)

Clothes Maketh The Moan

Posting again. On fire here. I did a bit more of my fiction earlier too. About four paragraphs of what will become Chapter 5. Not much, but it's something. I actually feel like taking my time with that is quite a good idea. It allows me to get the pacing right and also flesh out the imagined world it exists within. I'll try not to mention it too much on here, but may link to the chapters as they get finished.

I'm posting now to talk about clothing. Yes, clothing. On Question Time (which I've just sat and watched) there was a debate concerning the dress MP Tracy Brabin wore in parliament. A little off the shoulder number. Literally. A fashion choice that has drew some criticism. With the accusation being that it's not quite suitable for the situation.

(Britain: we've left the EU now, we'll wear

what we want)

Personally I think it's fine. I really believe people should just wear whatever they feel comfortable in. However, the debate has tended to be a gendered one. The argument going that a man wouldn't get judged in that way. Which led me to tweet whilst watching. Stating that men have it worse.

Generally women can wear whatever they want at work (within reason). Whereas men always have to wear the same thing. A suit, shirt and tie. Going for interviews or out to other big occasions women have a fair deal of wardrobe freedom, but for men there is literally just the one option. To be fair women tend to be more objectified sexually than men. So there are arguments on both sides. Still though, when it comes to the constraints of clothing choice men are much more hemmed in (ahem) than women in my opinion.

Just look at the criticism Dominic Cummings has received for his rather informal dress sense. Or the stick Jeremy Corbyn received for simply not wearing a tie.

Of course, in truth we're all massive hypocrites, and when it comes down to it people tend to just criticise the dress sense of people they disagree with politically. It's often just a convenient stick to beat someone with. We're all guilty to some degree, so it can be hard to separate out our own biases and give a genuinely fair appraisal.

I think I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder too as I just don't look that great in suits. They just never seem to look right on me. Yet, I've been forced to dress that way at various points in my life. With no doubt more to come.

I remember at school hating the uniform precisely for this reason. My legs are disproportionately too long for my body, so the fact that we had to have our shirts "tucked in" at all times particularly irked me. I just looked clownish. I remember other kids sometimes asking me "why do you have your trousers that high??" 😄 and having to reply with annoyance "that's just how my legs are!". I had a kind of Simon Cowell type thing going on. Thank God before he had become famous. As soon as the school bell went I immediately untucked the shirt. It was always the first thing I did.

Obviously having long legs and looking a bit lanky isn't the worst problem in the world to have, but still. It would have been nice if I could've just wore what I wanted to wear - or at least been allowed to un-tuck the shirt and look a bit scruffy (or cooler as I saw it).

Personally I now long for the day when people can just turn up to parliament in jeans and a t-shirt. In fact, I must admit seeing Dominic Cummings walk into No. 10 dressed like he's in a grunge band does feel quite revolutionary to me. It actually gives me hope. I think if I'd have seen that at the age of 16 I'd have felt quite inspired. Likewise with his job advertisement asking for weirdos and original thinkers. I'd have probably stuck at my A-Levels in Physics, Chemistry and Maths and not dropped out to become a (failed) musician, then in turn an equally failed blogger :)

Scotland From The Outside

Okay, so having posted yesterday I'm going to post today too. Let's try to start posting daily again. Get this thing rolling (so much for me focusing on my work of fiction).

I'm just going to briefly mention the SNP. Today they've been hit by a scandal where the finance minister has had to resign ..because he's been sending messages to a "16 year old boy". Not great for them.

I'm only really posting as this seems to be the latest in a long line of problems for them over the last few weeks. It was just a few days ago that I was watching a commentator on YouTube note how the SNP are now getting criticism from within the Scottish nationalist movement. With the main criticism seeming to be that the SNP have hitched their wagon to EU membership.

Last year I kept predicting (badly) that the SNP would start losing a bit of favour in Scotland. Perhaps that is now coming to pass, just twelve months or so later than I expected. I don't like second guessing Scotland too much. After all, being in England, albeit the north of England, I am quite far removed from it all.

I watched the whole "Leave A Light On For Scotland" thing unfold as we left the EU last week. Don't get me wrong, I do have sympathy for people on the other side of the Brexit argument. However, lighting candles in the street - something you normally only do to mourn people that have died - seemed very melodramatic and over the top. My nan was Scottish, so I'm 25% Scottish at heart, and I felt a bit of cringe on the country's behalf. I was always raised to see Scottish independence as something fiery, but what's the point if it's just going to be all tears and self-pity.

I would imagine many actual proper Scottish people feel the same. Though again, I can only really speculate from the outside.

Already February.

I've been reading back a few of the posts on here over the last few days. It's made me think that perhaps I should begin posting more frequently again. It's nice, and also quite handy having a little back-catalogue to refer to when trying to put the whole world and its issues into context.

Following on from my last post I've finally received my passport too. It actually arrived today. So I have at least achieved something so far in 2020 :)

With it being my first passport I had to go for an interview in Durham to confirm my identity. The prospect was a little daunting, but it turned out to be quite a simple process, and the people working there were very friendly and easy to speak to. So it wasn't quite the interrogation I was fearing. It also gave me a chance to have a little wander round Durham and take a few pictures. Beautiful place. Only soured by the fact that I spent the first half an hour or so busting for a pee and wandering around half-lost looking for a toilet.

For anyone else with a George Costanza-type need to know where all the public bathrooms are, there was a quite handy little one up near the Cathedral. I walked up there three times. The first when I originally, with relief, found it. Then again, before the interview (just in case I needed it - the joys of living with a nervous disposition). Then finally before the long bus ride back to Middlesbrough.

..not the classiest review of a day trip to Durham you'll ever read, but hopefully the pictures below at least raise the tone a little.