By Daviemoo
This week, it was revealed that one of the Tory’s key donors- a man who has donated what is now revealed to be fifteen million pounds to the party- has spouted vitriolic racism and sexism against a black woman who sits on the opposing benches.
The Tories, true to their nature, have refused to return money steeped in racism. One has to wonder how much good you need to do with a racist man’s money to cancel it out, to wash off those stains- or indeed if it is indelible, if every single pound carries that defect; especially as the man himself has already had the payoff for his pay in to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds of government contracts. If it was not yet clear enough how transparently undemocratic it is that a man can throw money at the government and be rewarded with lucrative business along with putting a price on his disgusting racism, perhaps this incident will serve as a reminder many of us scarcely need.
I think we all know the Tories don’t care about racism. A party full of ne-er-do-wells, the Tories aren’t a horrific government because they’re racially diverse. If anything i think we’re all uncomfortable with saying it plainly- some in the Tories have climbed high by throwing people in their own groups under the bus: from Badenoch scorning women by disregarding well founded research on the positive impact on women when granted the possibility for leave during periods or menopause, to the Tories’ only transgender MP who has said nothing about their disgusting anti trans and anti queer stances- to the endless queue of Tories of colour queuing up to divert or equivocate over the blatant racism- and yes, it is racism in my considered opinion- of Lee Anderson.
Accusing a Muslim mayor of giving control of London to “jihadis” is not just a slip of the tongue, it is inflammatory language which paints a target on Sadiq Khan’s back: and yet, notice that the Tories engage in the double standards they so love to wave accusations of at other people- Braverman said much the same in print, but hasn’t been questioned on it- I hardly wonder why.
The Tories are a racist party and they’re enabled to be so by the cowardice and opportunism from within. One of their gay MP’s, Scott Benton is finally gone after being caught lobbying on camera- at least he wasn’t caught up in a sex scandal like the senate Twink in the US last year or one of his tractor masturbation fellows- the more radical in the party would no doubt use to further push the anti queer sentiment they have openly admitted is a game plan to court votes.
Taking money from a racist sullies your hands and this week we’ve seen MP’s and pundits across every spectrum of humanity alike say “what he said was/was not racist/ was racially insensitive and was/was not sexist/anti woman/ steeped in misogynoir- but he’s apologised and we should all move on”. Why do they want us to move on? Because they don’t want us to scrutinise. They don’t want us to ask the question: is there a price for racism? What price is there on racism? How much can you say whilst associated with the tories before they have to return that fifteen million?
No doubt that’s what the already racist in the party and out are thinking. The hypocrisy of kicking out Anderson whilst counting wads of cash from a donor who did the same thing and ignoring Braverman’s caustic ranting is precisely why the Tories can’t govern: they can’t even get their own adherence to social norms or understanding of them right. As a queer person, I can’t imagine working in a party funded by a virulent homophobe who said a gay person makes you “want to hate all gay people” and “should be shot”. Can you? Think of your own marginalisation if you are of that group- and ask yourself what your terms of engagement are. It took me a long time but i left a job because a fellow manager hurled homophobic abuse at me in front of others. I couldn’t forgive the MD for ignoring it because he made her money.
Everyone has their own limits: exactly what are the limits for a Tory MP to say that they can’t stay in a party this fractious, fractured, hypocritical…
Usually, I stay out of this type of talk- people of colour should lead on talk about issues pertaining to racism. But the ongoing blatancy of the hypocrisies of that party hurts my head. How many times now have we watched them point out the lack of diversity on the labour benches, crowing uselessly about how different their benches look- how often have we heard them talk about how diverse they are- as they make everything worse? If anything, the multitude of gender, sex, sexuality, age, skin colours on the Tory benches make the worst case for multiculturalism there is. Fourteen years of unabated chaotic government under an increasingly diverse bench- diverse because opportunists hijacked the party under the brexit banner, and here we are. It wasn’t talent which swelled out the ranks of the party- it was naked, singular xenophobia and an opportunity to absorb wealth.
And that’s why I hate that party so much- they’re unfairly casting aspersions on one of the UK’s truest strengths.
Diversity is amazing. Creations with diversity borne in mind touch more people, educate more people. Diverse organisations serve their audiences better and are better equipped to grow into new markets.
Diverse mindsets make you smarter, more open to growth.
Diversity should be celebrated. The Tories are diverse because some people are willing to forsake basic decency and take money from the grubby hands of racists because they lack morals- and that doesn’t relate to their skin colour, sexuality, gender, religion, age.. it relates to an intrinsic lack of goodness, and every person who remains on those benches is similarly tarnished, their pockets bulging with pounds straight from the sweaty hands of a man who was caught being unashamedly racist, and can’t even bring himself to call what he said racist- just rude: because Hester believes what he says.
Because the Tories don’t care what he said. Their mission isn’t to make the country better, so why would they care if they’re payrolled by the worst amongst us? They don’t plan to use that money to try and cancel any of that out, make a dent in it, change things. They don’t care about the weighty attachments, the implications, the damage. They care about their own welfare. So what if they take stained money? Their hands are already dripping.
Additionally, Michael Gove this week revealed his plans to ensure that “extremism” is made a useless term in the UK, declaring that harmless ideologies are cause to report individuals to the UK’s already antiquated anti-terror scheme. Apparently anyone who stands against a government who has, for fourteen years, brought the country into international disrepute, a government who has wasted unfathomable sums of our tax money, a government filled to bursting with opportunists, taking lucrative second jobs whilst ignoring their first and most important one- the job of serving our interests, a government who has frayed at the delicate ropes of the public’s freedom, a party rocked by scandals of drug use, paedophilia, sexism, islamophobia, a party whose last leader blames a nonexistent queer lobby for her actions crashing the economy beyond short term repair, and now a party who we find out, utterly unsurprised, is funded by racism- apparently, standing against that is extremism: how ironic! Being sensible is extreme- who thought we’d see the day. Mind you this is the same Michael Gove who said the UK is “tired of experts”. He seems to be right, but we’re tired of amateur politicians too, and there’s not one person in the shell of their party who doesn’t aptly fit that description, merely by association with their rotten, vapid collective.
I am transparent in my dissatisfaction with the current iteration of Labour but when I’m told they’ll make things worse I have to wonder how wilfully blind those speakers are. What will be made worse? The state of governance as reported by the media? Really?! Worse than this? Worse than the corruption, scandal, the embarrassment, the paralysis, the public rows, the disorganisation? Labour’s plans for the country are not up to par in my view- their plans seem unambitious and that lassitude will not bridge the ever widening gaps through which citizens fall to extremism- the real extremism, not Michael Gove’s Colombian dandruff driven fantasies of it.
But even I suspect they won’t be as unrelentingly embarrassing, frustrating, scandal and corruption-ridden as this: and if the argument is that they sincerely believe labour will be worse- worse than all of that- perhaps we should simply close down- shut- abandon ship- strip out the assets and hold a fire sale of the entire UK and leave for greener shores. The only thing holding this country together is a collective fervour to see the back of these charlatans. If what comes after is indeed worse, I suspect sting rays will be riding the sunken ruins of the London eye before 2030.
When it comes to it, how the Tories can sit on benches opposite Diane Abbott and look her in the eye is beyond me, but I long ago stopped trying to work out what it must be like to be so amoral as to be associated with a party with their record.
Not one of them will flinch when they meet the eyes of the woman their millionaire donor abused- because the damage they cause, however glaringly in their face or in shadowy corners around the periphery of the country- is not even usually intentional, is not often even a direct objective- it is simply a side effect of a party bloated with individuals interested purely and singularly on absorbing wealth, resource and prestige from everyone else; if others suffer so they can make good- so be it.
When it comes to those who still support the party, I fear the conserv in conservative is starting to creak. Those who want to avoid tarnish with the label of racism at worst and racism enablement at least will no doubt flee further from the party. Those who do not are a marvel- a chasm with no base, a barrel whose bottom was scraped away long ago. I said once long ago that I don’t necessarily hate Tory voters, just their party’s trashing of the country and the ignorance of their politics- this is no longer true. I hate the people who continue to abide by the Tories rude legacy, at cost to all of us.
Those people exist in a social stratum where confirming their unbreaking diffidence to the party will not damage them. One wonders what else will be revealed about the party before another election, and whether we have finally reached the deepest, murkiest depths of conservative embarrassment. Sunak has ruled out an upcoming election in May- perhaps there is another racist to placate or to forgive as you accept their fools’ gold- another scandal to weather at the cost of your party’s name- another mistake to minimise as innocent people country-wide deal with the repercussions.
The conservatives have long ago abandoned any stage show they used to perform to demonstrate they care about running the country. They are collectively more concerned about lecturing us on how we should behave as their standards slip further and further into obsolescence.
And sadly, we are a country addicted to the drama of a government who humiliates us publicly, a nation of people who have decided the price we pay under this rogue group who have ruined our collective rights, health, wealth, security, future. We won’t fight back, because we haven’t already. The tories know it, and until the last day of office they will abuse us as they have, embarrass us as they do and diminish us as they will. So as I sit here and write this piece, I can say I relish the day we say goodbye to them, knowing that until that day comes we will see more Frank Hesters, more scandal, leaks, corruption, more abuse, more dereliction of duty, defection, more country-ruining paralysis as the Tories melt down and take us with them into the mire they themselves have created.
May we have a future after this, where our government doesn’t keep the lights on by accepting capital from racists.
Politically Enraged 