Is There an Election On?

In amongst the storm surrounding the expenses row, an election campaign started as several of the parties launched their campaign’s for the elections for the European Parlament. And to top of the election feel, I received my first two bits of election propaganda.

The first leaflet I noticed was pink and had a picture of Winston Churchill, was it an ultra new image for the Tories. Er… no as I then noticed the slogan “Say No to European Union… Vote UKIP”. Not really sure why Churchill is on the leaflet, do they not know that Churchill was among the first people to propose a European trading bloc, in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. He did argue for Britain to stay out of the European Coal & Steel Community, a pre-curser to the EEC, which is I suppose why his image is there, but Churchills arguments revolved around the shared ideals of the Empire the USA and the so called Anglosphere. UKIP are campaigning on an anti-European platform, but don’t really mention how. There’s no mention of how much expenses UKIP claimed or didn’t claim in the last parliament.

They mention that 2.7 million people voted for UKIP in the 2004 Euro elections, but don’t list any achievements. The European Parlament can still show our elected representitives how to milk the expenses system, UKIP haven’t done anything there.

The second leaflet comes from the bogeymen of British politics, the BNP. I normally find that their leaflets are among the best pieces of spin that you are ever going to come across, and this one is no different, look there’s a nice family picture on the front, sadly there’s no dog’s or white cats. Actually, this one has a bit where the mask slips a bit – “Because it’s not racist to oppose mass immigration and political correctness – it’s common sense”. Err no. Scotland need’s immigration, the tourist industry in this country thrives on it. That and the fact that our “British Workers” aren’t the most reliable workers. Oh and political correctness is there for a reason, to stop people from using offensive terms to describe people.

Again, there’s use of WW2 imagery, with a small spitfire in the corner. And again, like with the UKIP leaflet, there’s no mention of policies, and again I’m not impressed.