Ally Fogg Profile picture
Feb 4, 2018 6 tweets 2 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
By some distance, the most catastrophically anti-democratic thing that British political media has done over *decades* is to frame political activism of tens of thousands of people as insignificant & non-newsworthy, while obsessing over the remarks of individual politicians.
James Ball there is just regurgitating received wisdom of the political establishment, they've convinced each other that marches, demos & rallies are insignificant & not newsworthy. It's one of the major reasons why they misread the Corbyn's 17 election campaign so profoundly
The Guardian's readers editor admitted a few years ago that it is the paper's policy not to cover demonstrations unless they turn violent. And that's the Guardian.
Tony Benn often pointed out that major marches (eg Aldermaston) would not only dominate front pages, papers would also run extensive quotes from speeches at the rally, in EXACTLY the same way that political media now extensively quote what a politician said on #Marr or #Peston >
The effect of that, of course, is that the political gatekeepers then retain total control of who is making the news, what points they address, what statements are considered significant. We can't have the great unwashed masses meddling in such stuff, can we?
Final point: "They happen frequently."

As if PMQs, Today programme interviews, party press releases & all the rest of the razzmatazz of politics weren't a lifelong eternal fucking Groundhog Day.

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More from @AllyFogg

Aug 14, 2018
Suppose I should add a comment on wreath thing. Usual disclaimer, not a Labour Party member, not Jewish, treat my opinions with the insignificance they deserve (thread alert):
1/ If you're a senior politician & you've been actively involved in the politics of Israel/Palestine on any side, then you've stood shoulder to shoulder with war criminals, with terrorists, with human rights abusers, with people whose politics are several miles short of ideal. >
Even the most respected liberal NGOs (Amnesty, HRW, Red Cross etc etc) have found themselves embarrassed by this stuff on multiple occasions. This is complicated further for supporters of Palestinian rights & justice as (even when being sympathetic) >
Read 16 tweets
Jun 12, 2018
Another Brexit related thread prompted by @ProfDaveAndress's Cultural Dementia... in understanding Brexit, I don't think we (and especially the FBPE side) have given nearly enough thought to what the word "control" means in relation to 'taking back control.' >
In psychology, stress can be defined as the sensation we experience when we lose the perception of control of our environment & circumstances. In political terms, one impact of the organisation of the working class was to provide people with at least the illusion of control. >
For the best part of a century (we) could control our circumstances at work through trades unions, control our living environments through council housing & the welfare state, control our own physical bodies through the NHS. More control = less stress. >
Read 13 tweets
Jun 12, 2018
Not picking an argument with DL here because we're pals, but a good opportunity to point out why this tweet profoundly misrepresents MY position on Brexit and (I would imagine) Corbyn and most other Corbyn supporters too. [thread] >
Brexit will be disastrous for the British economy, and the harder the Brexit the more damaging it will be. At the same time, any attempt to halt or reverse Brexit would plunge this country into a political & constitutional crisis that would paralyse the country for decades >
with instability, uncertainty, massive internal strife and consequently a whole different set of economic calamities. There is simply no going back to the pre-2016 consensus, it is impossible, it's not there any more. >
Read 9 tweets
May 26, 2018
Didn't tweet about this last night because I didn't want to spoil my evening, but I am so fucking done with #HIGNFY being such a reactionary pile of trash. Honestly, just wrap that show in a sack, smack it over the head with a shovel & dump it in the canal. The last straw? >
#HIGNFY had a question about that David Lewis bellend in Basingstoke, giving his idiotic stunt a good few minutes airing so all could have a good chuckle about the idea of someone being a woman "on Wednesdays" with a full "woman-ness of his beard" etc etc. >
Five people in the studio & not one of them thought to point out that what the guy is actually protesting about is that transgender women are (rightly) accepted as women by the rules of the Labour party, not one of them even used the word "trans" far less "transphobic" >
Read 8 tweets
May 8, 2018
Have tried 3 times to watch #bbctbq special on 'masculinity in crisis' & gave up every time it was so painful. Got off to the worst start with an exchange on toxic masculinity which inevitably involved people shouting across each other while using entirely different definitions>
It's a phrase I try incredibly hard not to use because it is ALWAYS misunderstood and always generates heat & no light. So here's a thread on what it should mean which may in turn explain why I don't use it. >
Your wiki may vary, but I first encountered 'toxic masculinity' as a phrase in prisons-based research circa 2005. It explained why there were so many men in US prisons who continued to display profoundly self-destructive behaviours even when it was ruining their own lives. >
Read 14 tweets
Apr 18, 2018
Don't think it's been mentioned nearly enough that when the Tory/LibDem Coalition brought in the 2014 Immigration Act which caused the Windrush Scandal, only 18 MPs had the courage to vote against. They included David Lammy, Diane Abbott, John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn.
The Parliamentary Labour Party, led by Ed Miliband and with Yvette Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary, ordered Labour MPs to vote the bill through. Didn't want to be seen as soft on immigrants, see.
For those asking... bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…
Read 4 tweets

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