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→ Not In My Name campaign tells Britons not to vote on 4 July
Do you loathe all parties on offer in this election? Do you feel disillusioned with our political system? Well, you’re not alone.
A campaign has been launched encouraging the British electorate not to vote in the upcoming election. Not In My Name “sends out the clear message that it is sick of the established, self-serving, anti-democratic party-political system, which results in a two-horse race (an either-or choice, being no choice, if both choices are rotten…)”.
Instead, the campaign urges people to “either vote for an independent candidate who you have faith in, or do not vote, and thereby ensure that, if nothing else, you have no hand in the gross misgovernment of our country – that though our country is run badly, it is not done so in your name.”
The goal is to reduce the proportion of the vote for established parties such as the Conservatives, Labour and the Lib Dems to 30%. It is hoped that 70% of the electorate staying out of the democratic process will trigger a radical change of the system. Good luck with that one…
→ Russia pays big bucks for German spies
Ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there has been a mass exodus of Russian agents from European countries. Who’d have thunk it? As many as 600 Russian diplomats and officials have been expelled across Europe and governments are keeping a closer eye on Russian embassies than ever before.
Today, Germany’s domestic security service (BfV) chief Thomas Haldenwang said Russian intelligence is proving a major problem. “Russia is working hard to compensate for the German government’s reduction in the number of Russian agents in Germany,” he claimed.
Last August, two German nationals were charged with high treason for spying for the Kremlin. It is thought they were paid around €400,000 each. No respite for Germany’s intelligence services…
→ Galloway party candidate in Titan sub near miss
A year ago today, the Titan submersible went missing during an expedition to view the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean. After a frantic days-long search, not to mention a media frenzy, debris was found showing that the sub had imploded hours after beginning its journey, killing all five passengers onboard. There have since been various stories of people who were set to join the crew in undertaking the doomed mission — but who luckily decided against it.
Not for the first time, and not least given the extraordinary plot twist at the bottom, I find myself staring at the BBC site and asking ‘why have you published this’ https://t.co/VKfh77bx76
— Alan White (@aljwhite) June 18, 2024
The latest is Liverpudlian sailor Graham Padden, who has spoken to the BBC about how he only avoided being on Titan because he failed to raise the requisite $250,000 fee in time. The 62-year-old details his horror at the outcome of the deep-sea dive, though he maintains that he is “still spiritually drawn to the Titanic, the wreck, to all the Liverpool sailors down there”. Only at the end of the piece does the BBC include an intriguing detail: that Padden is standing as a general election candidate for George Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain. Why would he only speak about it now? A cynic can only wonder…
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SubscribeHow does someone standing for Galloway’s party come even close to being rich enough to perish in a vanity expedition worthy of The Darwin Awards? Crowdfunding? Clearly an absolute loon, wherever he’s standing.
I’ve often likened voting in national elections to being offered a choice as to which color hat my mugger will wear when he robs me blind. It’s hardly surprising others would adopt a similar level of cynicism. It’s naive to think refusal to participate in the process will produce change. It’s equally naive to think participating in the process as it currently exists will produce change. It’s the corollaries that accompany a disengaged, disloyal, apathetic, and cynical society that will eventually catch up to the political powers that be. Lost productivity, non-compliance, and eventually outright hostility toward government officials will eventually create the same sorts of problems for our governments that they create for Putin and Xi. Every disengaged, disgruntled non-voter with no national pride or loyalty who will do nothing more than he or she absolutely must to stay out of trouble does indeed kick the can a little further down the road to the kinds of dysfunction that eventually will force some sort of change. There are no easy solutions. There’s just the long slog of how things really work. It takes a lot of disinterest over a long period of time before the elites we hate will really feel the cost, but no matter how long and laborious the task may be, the sooner it is begun, the sooner it is finished.