Talk:Peter Hitchens/Archive 2

message: I have been reading the article on Peter Hitchens and the discussions on this page with some interest. I have also just, rather belatedly, read 'The Abolition of Britain', which I think is excellent; even though I don't agree with absolutely everything Mr. Hitchens says, I think its fundamental analysis of the appalling 'cultural revolution' which has disfigured this country was both accurate and timely.
One thing that puzzles me, reading Mr. Hitchen's idea about the current state of party politics in Britain, is his hostility to UKIP. I agree totally with his assessment of the utter uselessness of Cameron's 'New Labour Tories', and for some time now I too have been contemplating the imminent collapse of the Conservative Party as really the only hope for the future. But surely it's obvious that the only party that really stands to gain massively from this is UKIP? Not only in their central aim, of Britain's withdrawal from the EU, but in all their other, genuinely conservative, policies, they seem to me to chime in with everything that Mr. Hitchens has been arguing for years. They are the only respectable, non-racist, non-'far-right' party in existence in the UK who have a real chance of benefiting from the disillusionment and sense of disenfranhisment of millions who would naturally have voted Tory in the past. Why not support them? Calling them a 'Dad's Army' party is surely inadequate - and after all, though the real 'Dad's Army' may have not have been the most convincing opposition to the European storm-troopers, they were an awful lot better than nothing? And in this case there is the time, and opportunity, to build UKIP into an efficient, convincing mass movement; what it needs is mass membership, finance and the arrival of more, dynamic, charismatic and committed organisers. *Which is exactly what could, and should, happen when the Tory party splits'.* We should be preparing the way for this by supporting and building up the credibility of UKIP - which has actually done amazingly well for a small and underfunded party - rather than by running it down. Mr. Hitchen's proposal of mass abstention by voters is far more unrealistic, in my opinion; after all, UKIP is there, it's an existing party with some credibility, and it has the potential to become something great. The Labour Party, whatever it may have been perverted into today, arose from similar small(ish) beginnings, and for decades it decided the fate of this country (to our great loss, in the end). 
Recently, after much thought, having never belonged to any political organisation, I myself joined UKIP. It's not that I'm overwhelmingly optimistic about the future, but surely it's better to join those who are actually trying to DO something to save our country than sit on the sidelines theorising or carping?
Laurence Hughes. Lahgbr 20:47, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Laurence - I believe UKIP applauds anyone who is critical of the three old parties and their desire to turn the UK into a vassal of the wholly undemocratic EU. However many of those that advocate an alternative, and especially those who work in the media, have to maintain an appearance of impartiality otherwise they might find themselves out of work. Miamomimi 14:56, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Supporting UKIP? 

message: It seems that Peter Hitchens is concerned about being confused with another of the same name, commenting on politics on someone's blog . Apparently "There are 45 Peter Hitchens listed in the UK, 20 on the current electoral roll and 6 on the Directors Report" There is an analyst at Teather & Greenwood by the name of Peter Hitchens. Personally I think the article here is fine but in the interest of the subject I'm just asking whether Wiki should allow some sort of name addition to confirm that this is the 'real' Peter Hitchens and wondering what you would suggest? Miamomimi 12:39, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Also, just wanted to mention that I didn't add the reference to said blog above in the misc section of the main article. Any contribution from me is signed as here and if I had done it I would have named the blog/link. Miamomimi 17:04, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  The 'real' Peter Hitchens 

message: I've looked for a link, hopefully to download the prog, or ref to a review at least or transcript of this prog. The one's I've found are either old prog listings on the day it was broadcast or have an unfortunate political bias I want to avoid. It's a good prog and I'm interested in it's factual content. I've even applied to 'Clockback' himself but it seems "communication and reason" go out the window where I'm concerned. I think there should be something in the reference section to this work but am getting nowhere. Can anyone else provide info? Miamomimi 13:33, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  This Sceptic Isle 

message: I regret the fact that this frenzied thought-crusher, issued by Dianne Abbot, seems to have been passed over with relatively little discussion. As others have stated, it's all very well for people like Peter Hitchens, confident (semi-)public figures, to brush aside this kind of assault.
But many others, in the course of their daily lives, are intimidated and cowered into frightened silence by exactly this kind of brutal, bullying tactic that Miss. Abbot and the rest of the intolerant Politically-Correct mob so enjoy deploying. Anyone who so much as dares breathe in a direction other than hard-left is set upon, mercilessly, by these verbal thugs.
I was vaguely disappointed not to see a public and unequivocal condemnation of Dianne Abbot on Peter's blog this morning. Hopefully we'll still get one.
If anyone is interested, the edition of BBC2's 'This Week' programme on which this incident occurred may be reviewed online at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_week
Thanks, Valentine Hayes signed in as New Canadian 21:23, 10 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Or read Peter Hitchens' submission here. Philip Cross 21:51, 10 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: "Tough on Blacks"???

message: Despite trying to remove this tag on a number of occasions, it appears to have resurfaced again. I do not think it should be there. In September, I went through the entire article and removed and reworked a considerable amount of tendentious material. I am therefore personally satisfied that the article is now reasonably neutral. There does however appear to be an opposing viewpoint which says that the tag deserves to be there purely on account of the subject's involvement in writing the article. I don't think this is right. To my mind, all tags should be viewed as a temporary measure while an issue gets discussed and resolved. To display a tag semi-permanently is in my view a bit lazy, akin to web sites which seem to be permanently "under construction." In the light of the efforts I made on the article, I would appreciate it if points of dispute were raised here on a case by case basis. The tag says to see talk for a discussion, but there is no discussion taking place. That will not do. Laurence Boyce 16:58, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Laurence there is a discussion taking place but it's half term. Please bear with me - I'm a Mum! Miamomimi 21:34, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Well I think the issue has been resolved so I'll take the tag off now if everyone's ok with that? Y'all ok with that? I'll leave it a couple of days for others to comment if they want then if the tag hasn't already gone I'll delete that too then Miamomimi 15:41, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Removed tag Laurence. To be honest, if it's put back/article changed or whatever then it's down to you guys. I can't explain. I'm far too upset. Miamomimi 20:17, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: NPOV tag