Views from a car.

[eponymousarchon]

You know, local elections always bring out the worst in some people, and parties.

Returning home from Farnborough yesterday, myself and Kit noticed that we were passed a sign for one of the 'issue' political parties (the UKIP, I believe), poking over a fence insisting "Say NO to unlimited immigration".

Being wishy-washy Guardian readers, we were both annoyed by this but Kit was the one who broke and commented on it first:

Kit: "You know, no-one's actually advocating unlimited immigration. At all."
Me: (picking up the theme) Say NO to misrepresented issues!"
Kit: (immediate) "Say NO to straw men!"
Me: (thinks) "Actually, that's what both they and us are saying - but we mean very different things by it."

And by then the car was well past the sign and the conversation changed.

Comments

[phil99.livejournal.com]

The local leaflets for UKIP, the BNP and other silly parties round our way are hilarious. Full of typos and things that were just plain wrong. Never mind that all the supposed happy BNP supporters pictured in their leaflet are Italian (if I remember rightly) models.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_kent/]

Italians, Americans, and in one genius moment, a Spitfire flown by a Polish airman during the war.

[eponymousarchon.livejournal.com]

You know, I was *just* reading that one. It would make me laugh if it didn't appeal to their target audience anyway.

I'm a big fan of freedom of speech and the idea of the democratic process (not that that's what we've got at the moment) - but I really want to see those bastards' attempt to look respectable shot apart and see their whole slimy business shut down. And you have to believe the amount of dissonance the conflict in those two positions causes me.

Bastards.

[clarisinda.livejournal.com]

What I don't quite understand, is that apparently it's bad and nasty and awful for certain parties to be advocating a tightening of rules on immigration, but actually EVERYONE is pro having some sort of immigration laws - noone is suggesting we let anyone and everyone in. But having some laws is ok, but having other laws where the line is drawn slightly differently is bad and evil. I just don't quite get it.

[kyte.livejournal.com]

I tend to worry about any party who is using the tightening of immigration laws *as a campaign tactic*. That's dangerous ground.