by Rab Bruce’s Spider

Mastodon: @RabBrucesSpider1@Mastodon.Scot

Twitter: @RabBrucesSpider

Actor Steve Coogan recently upset many on the Right Wing by claiming that people who support the Royal family are flag-waving idiots. What he actually said on the Off Menu Podcast was:

"Most people who are into [the royal family] are flag-waving people who, I think, are kind of idiots because they support a power structure that keeps a foot on the throat of working-class people."

I think it is very fair to say that I agree with his comment, and I believe that this unthinking behaviour on the part of flag-waving monarchists is a testament to the power and influence of the UK media and the class structure which is still inherent in UK society and which manages to persuade people to support a system which is designed to keep the power structure in place.


But the monarchy is not the topic I wish to talk about in this piece. That’s because some of the outraged responses from Tories were interesting in their own right. The main thrust of their complaints, once you set aside their defence of the Royal family, was to question Steve Coogan’s working class credentials, and to demand to know why he felt he could speak for the working class.

That in itself is quite laughable coming from Tories. For one thing, nobody needs to be born into a working class family to be able to speak for the poorer people in society. Anyone with a modicum of compassion can do that.

Secondly, how often have you heard a Tory MP, Minister or Prime Minister tell an interviewer what it is that people want the Government to concentrate on? They are always at it; constantly telling us what our priorities are even though very few of them ever seem to have bothered to check with ordinary people. It never seems to strike them as unusual that what they claim the people want happens to tally precisely with the things they themselves have decided are their priorities.

Politicians of all Parties are very fond of telling us what we think and want, yet it seems that Steve Coogan cannot even make a comment on behalf of working class people without being derided by those same politicians.

As usual, those who benefit from the class structure are have been quick to jump on any criticism of that structure. It is yet another sign of how dysfunctional the UK is at its core.

As further evidence for the bizarrely skewed thinking of those in power, we only need to look at Home Secretary Suella Braverman who has announced that she wants Councils to clamp down on homeless people who live in tents on the streets. She has no thought of actually doing anything to reduce homelessness, she just wants to further punish the poor souls who have nowhere else to go. And, to add insult to injury, she subsequently claimed that living in tents was a lifestyle choice. Quite frankly, I find that sort of mentality absolutely sickening.

I feel so sorry for the people of England who, I’m afraid, have only themselves to blame for electing extremist politicians. George Orwell was right when he said that fascism would not come to Britain by marching down the High Street in jackboots. He saw clearly enough that the UK operates using a gradual approach to things, insinuating new ideas and ways of thinking so that nothing appears too extreme when taken in isolation. However, most of the pronouncements coming out of the UK Government are exactly what you would expect from a fascist Government, it’s just that most people don’t seem to have realised it yet.

As ever, Scotland needs to escape this madness before it is too late.