To think there is some kind of weird push towards the far right?

[Checkcheckout]

I’m the first to admit that I am not the best informed - I prefer to keep my life stress free and simple as much as possible, and don’t have a TV, don’t read papers, and only listen to the radio when I’m driving (which is quite often). For my own mental health I prefer to live in my own little bubble.

But even with my limited exposure to media, I’ve noticed on Radio 2, both on the news and Jeremy Vine’s show, Reform are being given so much air time considering their paltry amount of MPs, the polls are being discussed regularly even though we’re years from an election. More than once listening to the radio I’ve thought the way they’re talking makes it sound like Reform winning the next election is a done deal, and thought to myself that this is how self fulfilling prophecies happen.

My algorithms on FB are seriously messed up. Despite having never been remotely interested in anything in the least bit right wing, all of a sudden I’m getting endless posts from knuckle dragging ‘patriot’ groups that I don’t even follow, with really horrendous and openly racist comments, thousands of them, which somehow FB are allowing to remain even though any kind of hate speech has always been censored on there. Why are these posts suddenly being allowed and pushed in my face?

Alongside this there seems to be a new story pretty much every day about the latest scandal involving Labour (again reported by the BBC), ok these things aren’t great although compared to the Tories’ rap list from their last spell in government, are fairly small fry really. It seems like there’s an active push for people to rebel away from the left just as the far right are gaining momentum.

Has anyone else noticed this or am I talking shite?

Well that's a load of rubbish - if you have the books either never read them or understood them.

If you had you would know that even in the pre-1066 days there were all sorts of invasions and movement of people that well and truly brought diversity to these isles from Celts, Picts (and the different tribes within them), Anglo-Saxons, Norse, Danes with the biggest cultural shift being the Romans until the Norman's came over at least.

Can we stop talking about what Britain looked like over 1000 years ago for goodness sake. Unless you are of aristocracy and can potentially trace your linage back to the Doomsday book, no-one can prove or disprove how 'British they are beyond perhaps the 16th century.

A cousin on my mom's side of the family has traced my maternal family tree back to the 1500's but hit a brick wall after that due to the destruction of records during the reformation and my mom's ancestry dna test thing she did came back 95% English Midlands.

I am as English as it gets - so all the posters going on about how people who don't want to shout at immigrants hate their country can do one and get lost with their bile spewing, divisive rhetoric.

Especially when they have spectacularly failed to say what it is about this country they do love and are doing every thing they can to sow division and hatred!

Seeing a shift in Algorithms last year I decided to leave tictok, X and instagram.

I noticed my feeds had become polluted with political misinformation, weigh loss jabs influencers and cosmetic procedures companies!

Coincidently this happened around the time that Trump was elected, and it seemed like most social media suddenly took a shift to the right and encouraged self loathing!

I am in my mid 40s so felt like I was being profiled as a white woman… and that the feeds were designed to make me feel insecure and scared.

I instead joined Bluesky, I have kept my Facebook account but spend time blocking content I have no interest in.

Whatever issues we have in society, supporting the right / far right will only make things worse!

We have seen through history how they always need a person to blame… immigrants, Muslims, anyone who isn’t white, LGBTQ+ communities and finally women!

The pandering to far right thugs who urinated and vomited their cocaine filled noses in public in London at the weekend, attacked police officers, shouted racist abuse, and there are videos of a large group of them harassing women shouting ‘get your tits out for the lads’ is disgraceful and in my option there should be arrests and punishments that exceed the ones given to climate rebellion and Palestine action!

I don't see multiculturalism as something to be proud or ashamed of, it is neither inherently good nor bad. I don't understand how we have gone from beginning to welcome an influx of non-western immigrants, to in a few scant decades widely accepting that as the defining characteristic and stand out achievement of our land and people. That would be offensive to any country or culture, not just my own. What is your opinion on the disproportionate representation of race demographics in British adverts and television. It is vastly disproportionate to the actual demographics of people living here. Now that is not something I am particularly bothered about, but it is quite odd and I wonder what the reasoning behind it is.

You are unlikely to get an answer. It's all vague, bogeyman in the dark stuff. Ask them to drill down and they can't.
Ask them specific questions off script and they tell you they don't understand.

Are you aware of the studies that have evidenced how multiculturalism results in low-trust societies?

To be disillusioned with the Labour party is like being disillusioned with a firefighter for not saving every single belonging in a house that's been engulfed in flames for hours. Honestly, just look at the stats. They're doing as much as they can with all the shite they've inherited

There was a Silent Witness that included a massacre in Mayanmar (fictional) that was driven by social media algorithms that fed hatred which resulted in the massacre. Dies make you wonder…

I’m like you @Checkcheckout - no news and I’ve stopped with Facebook too because of the content! Think MN is about my only guilty pleasure now!

The irony is that perhaps the most British thing in the UK is so not English after all, as the monarch's lineage is predominantly German.

I won’t when it’s at the cost of all else. It matters to me a lot but not enough to vote for Farage, or Trump if I was American. I don’t trust them anyway. Vote for them and you might get single spaces for five minutes but they take your abortion rights away with the other hand. It’s a mirage.

Are you aware of the studies that have evidenced how multiculturalism results in high-trust societies?

We do not need to be a low trust society. Why would anyone want that for society?

Yes, OP, this is a trend I’ve noticed and it makes me quite sad. In just a few years we have gone from being kind and welcoming to being quite nasty. It’s a trend that has also been seen across Europe. America has become very right wing with their nutcase of a president. The loud voices preach that all society’s ills are caused by ‘forinners’ and we’re losing our culture. It really has become quite unpleasant.

Does the size of a crowd ever truly matter? When over 17 million people voted for Brexit, it showed public will heavily influenced by lies but it did not make the decision inherently right.

I’m scared tbh. My husband has GBnews on all the time. I hate it. It’s like brain washing. I despise Trump and all he stands for. It does not mean I’m left. I just want to be normal and let people live their lives the way they want as long as it’s not hurting anyone. . It seems that’s not allowed. You’re either left or right🙈

I too want to live in a country where the vulnerable are taken care of and we contribute together for the betterment of society.

Unfortunately, the NHS, education, justice system etc. are all systemically letting the majority of people down. I could give multiple examples of friends and relatives who have been badly let down by the NHS, including my own child. If our contributions aren’t actually making public services useable, what is the point exactly?

Then you also have the issue with your statement ‘where we contribute together’. There are far too many people not working, claiming PIP, DLA, and other benefits, using the system to support their life style choices. I know many women who are single mothers and are open about the fact that they have no wish to work more than part time and are happy to allow the tax-payer to prop them up until their youngest is 12. I know many people who have exaggerated their PIP / DLA forms in order to maximise benefit payouts. I even know one person who claims they are depressed in order to claim PIP, recieves their medication monthly from the GP and flushes it down the toilet. They are quite brazen in their attitude of ‘why should I work when I can get my rent / bills / healthcare for free or subsidised.’ There are far more people with this attitude than we care to acknowledge, benefits are meant to be a safety net, not a lifestyle choice.

That's a hella of a jump from the left ? I dont think being "disallusioned" with Labour gets you anywhere close to suddenly voting for Farage and his idiot, sad sack bunch of disgraceful MP's. Yes Starmer is totally shit. But what, you think Farage is the shining knight?
Brexit didn't work out so people need another bunch of issues to blame for their poor life standards. They keep getting fooled by the governing elite to look the wrong way and point their fingers at innocent immigrants who have nothing to do with jack.

You haven't answered though have you.

Britain has been invaded continuously since before it's inception. The invaders have always assimilated, and we have adapted to them. Christianity is a foreign concept. They gave us Christmas, straight roads, and fish and chips.
Why do think this is new? In the last few decades you said. This is demonstrably false.

If everyone was so proud of this up until last year, why? Why do you think it's suddenly changed? Why has it suddenly become something to be angry about?

The question is now not about legal or illegal immigration is it? You just don't want them here.
Why though?

Who has told you about quotas for representation? I've never seen statistics on this at all. I've seen statistics on female representation in media, but never cultural. Where did you see it? Who showed you? Do you think that farage has been given proportionate representation historically? If he had been given no media time noone would have heard of him. So why do you think he has been given so much screen time, since before Brexit? He had no political reality until recently, and still only 4 MPs, so why has the narrative been dominated by what he thinks? Even back when noone voted for him. do you think this has influenced how you view migrants?

Ah, I was wondering when the benefit bashing would start. How tediously predictable.

And how tediously predictable it is that you would so easily dismiss concerns about benefit exploitation (of which there is a lot). This is exactly why people end up adopting so called extreme views and are pushed towards fringe parties.

Its really weird isn't it?

It's like they see everyone as a threat except themselves and their close family, and if everyone that they don't like was made to suffer or leave, then they could have everything they wanted.
All they have to do is vote far right and these nasty people that threaten them will disappear and Britain will be a utopia.

Is it really that simple in their minds?

Oh ok, so it everyone else's fault.

It’s easier to punch down, and blame marginalised groups for everything.

It makes me so sad.

😂

I blame corrupt millionaires, tax dodgers, criminals, benefit cheats… I’m pretty universal in my disdain for those that exploit loopholes.

When Reform gains the majority in 2029, people will bleat about their shock and horror, at how small minded and idiotic everyone is… the same as what happened after the Brexit result… and wonder how we got here. The result of not engaging in meaningful debate and listening to individuals - quite reasonable - concerns, you’re called racist / ignorant / ‘punching down’.

It is you who is being evasive, not me. You haven't addressed anything that I have said.

To answer your question about why was everyone proud of our multicultural nation up until last year, what changed. It sounds to me like that is something you've built up in your own mind. I don't think multiculturalism has ever been a significant source of national pride to the indigenous people of the British Isles. I would say its something people have tolerated happily enough and most feel fairly neutral about it. It's strange that you have this expectation that people would be so proud and happy about that over our own ancestry, history and culture?
I do feel a lot comes down to media manipulation as others have said, there has patronising of non-white citizens and a lot of hyperbole on the signifance of multiculturalism, possibly as a defense against our colonial past. To my mind, that was never really a true reflection of public sentiment. However I don't believe all the fuss on here about how the country has suddenly turned into a pack of seething racists either. I don't know a single person who resents the presence of decent people of any race of nationality in this country. But I standby my original comment on Khan's statement about our 'strength' having come from multiculturalism. I actually find it amusing the self importance that comes with him making such a statement, not exactly humble.

But your weak attempts to diminish the cultural identity of Britain down to precisely nothing is quite sad really. I live a 5 minute walk from Celtic Christian architectural remains that date back to the year 600. To call Christianity 'foreign' is laughable. How far back do we need to go for something to qualify as our own indigenous culture? Neanderthal presumably, judging by the partiality for the term 'knuckle-dragger.'

Absolutely. When people come to the quite simple realisation that other peoples quite legitimate concerns should be listened to instead of mocked and ignored then the UK might be able to move forward more collectively. Until then, you’ll be seeing more of Reform. Ignore people at your peril.