The Westminster Bubble - aka 'Them'

Gawain Towler, England Expects, posts on a meeting which is not open to the public, access being invitation only, hosted by YouGov and the University of Cambridge who have created a new think-tank called YouGov-Cambridge, which combines academic expertise and professional polling in one place. GT remarks that Goldman Sachs is well represented and that this is being organised by Cathy Ashton's husband, the boss of YouGov Peter Kellner, with a media partner in DGFT. On the subject of Peter Kellner, both Richard North EU Referendum and I have posted here, here and here - you get the picture, no doubt!

Leaving to one side my present differences of opinion with Ukip, I can but echo GT's disbelief that not one representative of the only party campaigning for this country's withdrawal from membership of the EU is not represented - nor invited. When considering the speakers listed the first question is just what the hell is Polly Toynbee doing there? If the Symposium is discussing ‘Public Opinion, Economic Governance and the Future of Europe’ and will examine how both experts and the public view the same key questions, just where is 'a member of the public'? When considering the session titles, just where is the subject of sovereignty? What we have here, as with so many discussions about matters EU, is 'the club' - aka the 'Westminster Bubble' - talking among themselves and 'at' the public, not that the latter will be present to hear them.

With the number of candidates to be strung up growing by the day, I begin to wonder whether we will have sufficient lamp posts or piano wire - but I am sure we will 'improvise' when the time comes.

And in the UK............

.........were we to be granted a referendum? From England Expects:

"Fully aware that the Croatian People do not want to give up their hard earned independence, the ruling elites changed the Croatian Constitution prior to the EU referendum to eliminate the rule which invalidated any referendum unless 50 percent participation was achieved.

Prior to the EU referendum, the Croatian people were subjected to a massive North Korea-style pro–EU propaganda campaign, which relentlessly extolled the benefits and virtues of membership, and denigrated any attempts to say otherwise.

The Government spent huge amounts of public funds to pay for a massive YES campaign, whilst denying any funding to the NO case. In addition, the European Commision ran its own very expensive YES campaign. State enterprises and corporations were also enlisted. State Television aired pro-EU adverts for free or at discounted rates, Croatia Post home delivered more than 2 million government leaflets for free, and the City of Zagreb provided free EU advertising on its trams.

The official referendum campaign was restricted to a four week period at the height of winter and favoured the official YES case which had almost exclusive access to the electronic media. It also exploited seasonal distractions provided by Christmas and New Year celebrations as well as winter school holidays.

The real referendum campaign had actually started much much earlier and involved, not thousands, but tens of thousands, pro-EU advertisements on radio and Television.

The 'Vecernji List' daily reported on 10.8.2011 that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and EU Integrations had in the two preceeding months (June and July 2011) paid the broadcasting of more than 13 thousand radio adverts and more than 2300 TV adverts on 80 radio stations, 6 national and 15 local TV stations. This massive propaganda campaign continued and even increased in scope and intensity over the next six months leading up to the referendum.

The Austrian, German and Government-owned electronic and print media ( ie all the media in Croatia) blatantly supported the YES case and made sure that the YES campaign was the only campaign. Hundreds of sponsored 'information programs' were aired over many months and even more 'informative' newspaper articles were printed.

The Catholic Church hierarchy, lavishly funded by the State, also openly supported the YES case and seemed unconcerned that there was no democratic public debate and no visible NO case.

In the last few weeks, the population was carpet-bombed by advertisements and appeals on TV, radio and the print media from the President, Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, Ministers, Actors, Singers and Sportsmen to choose EU prosperity and happiness over isolation and poverty.

Just days before the referendum, Foreign minister Vesna Pusić shamelessly threatened Croatia's 1.2 million pensioners that they would lose their pensions if they voted against EU membership. The Zvijezda voting station in Zagreb, which covers several retirement homes with about 1100 pensioners, reported an 80 percent vote in favour of EU membership."

That the same situation would occur here is virtually a 'given' - even to the extent that the % required for the result the EU and their sycophants in the UK would want, would be 'arranged'.


To Ukip, Hannan, Carswell and the other campaigns calling for a referendum - be careful that for what you wish without first having secured that most important of all things, a level playing field! 


Just saying............

A 'fog' of news?

Richard North, EU Referendum, posts on one example wherein is shown that our 'news services' are totally incompetent and thereby worthless. But this is but the latest example of the lack of real journalism from which we in this country, suffer.

Gawain Towler, England Expects, posts on some 'research' carried out by the BBC in which it is intimated that Hannan (and, by intimation, Farage) may not be a household name in British politics.

Neil O'Brien, writing in the Daily Telegraph, asks the question why has the proportion of households where no-one has ever worked, doubled; yet nowhere does he bother to go further and ask for the root causes of this fact. Perhaps it is beyond the intellectual capability of this man to look at the emasculation of the education system that has taken place; the 'social-engineering' that has taken place? This man is head of a 'think-tank'? Methinks the first word is totally misplaced!

How often have we been bombarded about Cameron's 'phantom veto on a phantom treaty'? "There was no draft treaty before the European Council, just a set of conclusions..." So who, exactly, is the "Straw Man" here.........?

That Orwell's 'Big Brother' has arrived is beyond doubt - it has arrived through a combination of political 'verbal dexterity' and a compliant MSM (in the politician's pocket, or in the case of the BBC - the EU) who are not in the 'news/comment' business - rather the 'parrot' business.

Just saying...................