UKIP’s Coup In Rotherham

Remember when Baroness Warsi was on Question Time a few months ago attacking UKIP?  Now I won’t pretend to have seen the showing, but from my recollection she created a brief outcry over comparing UKIP (a libertarian-leaning party) to the BNP (a neo-fascist organization).  A ‘Twitter-storm’ then ensued.

Seems that Rotherham Council have expressed similar concerns to Warsi, but rather than opting to smear them on the BBC, they have decided to get social services involved.  I won’t bother going into the details of this issue.  It’s clear that there is something deeply concerning here.  However, as Andy Hooper over at MSN notes, this entire debacle has provided UKIP with a glorious opportunity to enter the political mainstream without tempering their political positions.

Imagine we won’t see too many Conservatives — or Labour MPs — seeking to tarnish UKIP as “extremists” anytime soon.  

 

Minnesota and Childcare

Few things have stuck in my craw for the past 18 months as the debate over the unionization of childcare workers in Minnesota.

After Governor Mark Dayton’s failed attempt to call an election to unionize the state’s childcare workers, the issue is back on the agenda after Democrats overturned the Republicans’ majorities in the legislature earlier this month.  Governor Dayton claims to be undecided about what to do next.  

If Dayton moves forward, this could lead to the forced unionization of in-home childcare workers, many of whom are simply looking after their severely disabled children.  For those of us on the right, it’s not too difficult to point out examples of basic government overreach and the pernicious intervention of the state.  This is certainly more of the latter, a vulgar attempt by government to bolster the coffers of unions and, by default, the Democratic Party.  

Let’s hope common sense prevails here.

Spielberg’s Lincoln and Other Stuff

Yes, yes… I’ve not been blogging a lot for… five months or so.

This should, depending on the amount of free time, change.  It’s been a hectic year, starting off with my weekly column at City A.M. (thank you, Marc Sidwell and co) and culminating in what was my first TV appearance on STV’s ‘Scotland Tonight‘.

As the murmurs already start about 2016 I hope to do a little bit more blogging on this site, as well as the occasional piece for The Commentator and MSN.

And speaking of the former, I did a review of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln earlier this week which I rather enjoyed.  Most importantly I felt Spielberg resisted the temptation to do another lame flick about Abe, portraying him as some kind of Christ-like figure.

But whereas other directors might have been tempted to avoid addressing such contentious aspects of the Lincoln presidency through fear of being accused of smearing his legacy, Spielberg refuses to do so and as such has done a great service to history.

I hope you go and see it and let me know what you thought.

Romney and the Polish vote

Looks like the New York Times has picked up on the key role the Polish vote could play in the election because of their presence in some key swing states. 

As I noted in my op-ed last week:

“After growing much closer to the US under the Bush administration, the Poles feel largely abandoned by Obama over the cancellation of a US missile defence shield in Eastern Europe. The President dubbing Auschwitz “a Polish death camp” did little to close the diplomatic fissure. The US-Polish alliance endears itself to the American sense of fair play – a support for the underdog, perennially harassed by the Russian bear. One Republican political operative noted how “ever since Nixon lost to Kennedy, we have been looking to find a way to mobilise the millions of Polish-Americans as an electoral asset. The fact that a lot of them are faith voters and based in battleground states makes this an important visit for Romney.” A domestic Polish play? It looks likely.”

Doubt this is the last we’ll see of this Polish voter pursuit.

Romney’s London visit

Earlier this week I did my City A.M. op-ed on Romney’s visit to the UK, Poland and Israel.

Ends up Romney’s trip to London was a lot more, how shall we put it, ‘interesting’ than anticipated.

In truth, all Romney said was what everyone in Britain’s been whining about for the past few months: concerns about whether London will be ready for the Olympics.

Also pretty obvious that some sections of the press had already decided they were going to do their utmost to undermine the Republican nominee’s visit.  As this piece clearly demonstrates, if people in the UK feel “insulted” by some candid remarks regarding what’s been reported in public, I think in an almost absurd way this could help Romney.

The British press came across as deeply sensitive, it was only really the Huffington Post-types who think that foreigners bashing an American politician will swing the votes of people in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. As we all know, the British press has a great history of influencing the outcomes of U.S. presidential elections.

I think the main takeaway – if there is one – will be a sense from the American public that their British cousins need to toughen up a bit and grow another layer of skin.  In addition, given the amount of grief the Obama administration has handed across the pond to London, it’s a little perplexing that the British press would suddenly be up in arms.

Romney’s Business Career

Sorry for not updating the blog this week.  

My article in Thursday’s City A.M. was concerning Mitt Romney’s failure to properly confront a lot of the smears emanating from the Obama campaign pertaining to his business career.

Perhaps I’m missing something (yes, I understand a career in financial services is not a win-win), but there’s a good story to tell here.  It’s difficult to understand how Romney can keep touting his business credentials but be so reticent to actually go into details regarding these accomplishments.

He’ll have to.

Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Meursault

I rarely take time on this blog to write, let alone recommend music.  But anyway…

I’d like to recommend Meursault, a Scottish folk band from back home.  They’ve got a new record out shortly and from what I’ve heard on the YouTubes it sounds excellent.

Have a listen, but their stuff.  Perhaps they’ll pay us a visit across the pond?

Braw.