The information I gain from Social Media is biased, about 80% of the people I follow on Twitter are members / supporters of Plaid Cymru , the SNP or Mebyon Kernow. I have a bias towards family and "real" friends on Facebook but many of those are political too.
When the Daily Mail made it's disgusting slur about Ed Miliband, his father and his wider family in 2013, most of my nationalist friends / followers supported Miliband and expressed their revulsion at the way he had been unfairly treated by the extreme right wing press.
On Wednesday, when a very dodgy report about a Plaid Cymru Candidate, who is an English born and bred incomer to Wales was stigmatised for opposing BNP white flight incomers to Wales as "calling all English in Wales Nazis" Labour members and supporters jumped on the bandwagon to vilify him.
Today's very odd slur against Mr Miliband in the Daily Mail which seems to amount to an accusation that "a young man had many girlfriends – shock horror" has been almost universally condemned on my social media timelines by nationalist friends.
That is an important difference between Plaid Cymru and Labour - Plaid is opposed to mudslinging in any direction
Labour just opposes mud thrown in it's direction but is always happy to throw it back!
Hypocrits!
I am an activist in the Labour party, the only mass political movement in Wales, and I agree with you about the need to avoid condemning and insulting people. However, you should be wary of reaching conclusions about the large Welsh Labour Party on the basis of comments by one or two people. It is a lot easier to be disciplined and self-disciplined in a relatively small organisation like Plaid Cymru.
ReplyDeleteLike Mike Hedges, I am a Welsh-speaking Englishman. I didn’t come to Conwy because of ‘white flight’ but because I married a Welsh girl. It’s a joy to be here, and I am committed to the well-being of my adopted homeland.
I try not to indulge in negative campaigning, although it seems to me that the Labour Party is the only organisation in Aberconwy opposing UKIP, conversation by conversation, in this General Election.
Like you, I spend time on websites of supporters of Plaid Cymru, the SNP and Mebyon Kernow. I don’t find them as free from mud-slinging as you clearly do. Please don’t ask me for examples now. I’m about to go out campaigning!
Oh dear Bill, your timing is impeccable. Please see Blog Menai. The Labour hypocrisy is astonishing.
DeleteMass bowel movement more like.
DeleteOn Blog Menai. Labour hypocrisy in action.
ReplyDeleteHuw Thomas, one of those bandwagon jumpers, advocating that people throw Tippex over cars sporting the English flag.
This needs to be publicized immediately.
http://oclmenai.blogspot.com/
Mike Parker was well and truly stitched up this week and if the Liberal Democrats do keep the seat, it will rank in notoriety with the 1983 Bermondsey by election when Lib Dems MP Simon Hughes sank in to the gutter against Peter Tatchell to ‘win’ his seat. The Liberal Democrats truly are the pits.
ReplyDeleteBut the two other pillars of welsh life tarnished their reputations this week, BBC Wales have shown their true colours with shameful bias reported, their political Editor Nick Servini even lying today about opinion polls today when there haven’t been any Welsh once since the leaders debate. Plenty of folk I know political and non political have been unimpressed with the bias and willingness to smear and denigrate a decent candidate and his party.
Then we come to the Labour Party or the hollow shell of party that used to believe in solidarity, social justice and community, when you have serving Welsh Labour Government Minister’s (Leighton Andrews) and former Welsh & NI Secretary’s (Peter Hain) happily jumping on smears about the SNP and Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon saying things she didn’t say at meeting with te French Ambassador last week and smearing Plaid Cymru’s Mike Parker this week and asking spin maestro Alistair Campbell to help it it’s not difficult to see why Labour is held in contempt or why it’s grassroots campaigners stoop so low at election time.
And Bill I’ve know lots of people who’ve had to move their families from Wales because of the Labour Taffia and another who took his own life because of Labour’s false accusation, they truly are despicable people who I have no time for.
Sadly Labour will win the most seats and as usual Wales will lose as we have done for last 40 years, perhaps the best result for Wales is a minority Labour Government relying on the SNP who’ll get concession after concession for Scotland for their support while Wales gets nothing to finally wake the welsh electorate up to Labour’s greed and selfishness.
Keep blogging Alwyn, we need every anti establishment voice raised we can get.
He also suggests that council tax be raised for English people who do not pass a Welsh test and encourages them with "Revise you f*****rs". To quote this paradigm of consistency, this is "utterly unacceptable".
ReplyDeleteWell Bill, what do you think?