Owen Jones Review: The Establishment and how they get away with it

Owen Jones's teeth baring book, 'The Establishment And how they get away with it' is a comprehensive account of the seemingly omnipresent establishment, who it involves, and more importantly, how it operates.

Corrupt bank rolled politicians, their respective parties, the media, the police, lobbying teams and the wealthy elite can't escape Jones's scathing criticism of an exclusive selection of factions that insure positions of real power are coordinated from a closed shop.

The book is conducted through a mixture of historical research and interviews with ex and current members of the Establishment, punctuated with quotes and statistics that paint a damning picture of democracy in Britain. Jones no nonsense tone accompanies throughout, commenting and summarising the points raised in an eloquent and thought provoking way.

We are given insights into the thought processes of outriders such as Madsen Pirie, powerful individuals that have helped reshape politics, accused of manufacturing the use of 'neoliberal dogma as common sense' and championing right wing ideology.

Jones depicts a startling picture of the unapologetic 'Westminster Cartel' compromised of career and corporate politicians who've become unashamed lobbyist for private interests. He explains their justification for the expenses scandal and highlights examples of expenses bashing MP's who benefit directly from the state, claiming their hypocrisy is admitted and even deemed acceptable. To emphasises this point we are told of the Top 50 public trade firms in the UK have members of political elite as shareholder or director revealing the thin line between political and corporate world and the power that finance has on British democracy.

The book demonstrates how the political representatives are out of touch with what people want, illustrating how mainstream politics deals in nuances when it previously entertained grand clashing ideas from the left and right. Jones states 'Language is a crucial tool in marginalising political dissent' and those who go off the free market script are classed as 'odd balls' partly due to the legacy of Thatcherism which still dominates today.

He claims the ideas of the Establishment are virtually unchallengeable with capitalism reigning supreme, invoking free market globalisation scare tactics to ignore the electorate, basically the idea that we have to appease the 'wealth generators' or they will leave the country and invest elsewhere.

Any attempt to infiltrate this Establishment is difficult, states Jones. It's beyond the financial means for low income families to fund their children's interest in politics or journalism. Previous routes through Trade Unions have been weakened leaving only unpaid internships that only the wealthy can afford.

What Jones calls 'Mediaocracy' features heavily in the book, detailing instances of scapegoating on asylum seekers and immigrants, secret unsupervised meetings with media tycoons, and media lobbying used to win elections. Interviews from journalists who tried to make a stand detail the harassment promised and endured when they fought against the structure makes sober reading.  The rise of 'churnalism' and lack of diversity amongst the ownership and journalist in the media display that 'newspapers are 'toy things of their owners' employing dishonesty and myth making' to encourage wide spread prejudice and insecurities of the public, promoting ignorance, airbrushing reality to skew public perception therefore making it easier to enforce drastic cuts on welfare. It would seem the media protects those in power, deflecting scrutiny from themselves to us.

The Police are also given particular attention. Jones highlights how they seem to concentrate on small misdemeanours while ignoring tax avoidance to appease the elite, attributing this allegiance to the 45% wage increase in the 70's which bought their loyalty. He uses example of Orgreave, Hillsborough, Stephen Lawrence, Plebgate, and numerous deaths at police hands or at police custody to illustrate his point.

The scroungers narrative, tax dodgers and tycoons and the illusion of sovereignty is also ruthlessly examined.The ideas presented are overwhelming. Despite this it does include words of hope and an urge towards a democratic revolution.

The book is one that needed to be written and Owen Jones was the man for the job.
I highly recommend this blood boiling and enlightening read.

Natalie Denny 

Writing on the Wall Presents an Evening with Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

All crammed into one of Bold Streets founding members, News From Nowhere, an audience dries off and warms up in their seats awaiting the Uganda born British journalist and writer, Yasmin Bhai-Brown.

Sitting proudly on the desk in front of Yasmin was a beautiful designed book- 'Exotic England'; a richly historical book that explores England and describes Englishness as a two way street with other cultures around the world. She friendly welcomes any UKIP members that may be in the audience.

Looking outwards is an English quality and has been for many years. We have never isolated ourselves despite being an island. Yasmin makes an interesting point, one that has never crossed my mind: Shakespeare's theatre was called The Globe. He wanted theatre to be for everyone, everywhere and he too, looked outwards.

Exotic England acknowledges immigrants rights and gives the reader an expanded sense of what it may mean to be English. It was a big coincidence that the book came out around the so called rise of UKIP. It's seemed fitting that Yasmin was sat next to a clothing rail that displayed a T-shirt with the words 'I'm the one the Daily Mail warned you about" printed on top.

She reads a passage of her book that describes Liverpool in the '30s as the multicultural city it has been for many years. One of my favourite lines from the passage is "they were all shades. Asia and Africa came peeping out of their eyes.".

Yasmin also notes that one of the first mosques was in Liverpool. As she continues to be open about family we are told of a mosque that is situated where her parents are buried in Woking. Built in 1888 and designed by British born architect William Chamber. The builders were English, the backers were English.  Members of the House of Lords including Lord Stanley from Cheshire also backed the building of this particular mosque.

Churchill himself gave the land for a mosque in Regent's Park.'Exotic England' Book is written in an accessible way so that anyone can read and discuss it's. Yasmin Bhai-Brown makes it perfectly clear that it's not a thesis.

All in all a perfect evening with thanks to Writing on a the Wall and News From Nowhere. A big thanks to Yasmin for being extremely warm and open and opening our mind to what it means to be English. I'll end this post with a quote from Yasmin that struck me:

"The history England has with countries such as India, the Middle East, Africa is so long and so deep that England wouldn't be England without them."

Jemima Khalli

Launch of WoWFest 2015

WOW Fest 2015 kicked off in grand style at Liverpool's quirky independent, Leaf Cafe on Friday 1st May. With a whole host of local talent such as Curtis Watt and the WOW Young Writers Group, we were treated to a wonderful night of poetry and music.

My favourite performer, and the headline act, had to be hip hop violinist and spoken-word artist, Phearnone. Shayshahn Macpherson, had travelled us all the way from The Bronx, New York City, to launch WoW Fest 2015.

This authentic and original artist has mastered the viola, violin, djembe and Dun Duns (west African drums), pioneered a unique sound of classical 5-string violin with contemporary rap lyrics, and round out his performance skills through theatre and drama.

His adaptation of well known and current Hip Hop and R'n'B songs makes his music fresh, interesting and accessible. Appearing on stage with his violin and laptop we were treated to a plethora of music including artists such as Ashanti, Brownstone, Notorious BIG, Usher, Chris Brown and many more, all with Phearnone's trademark twist.

He finished his set with a spoken word and violin piece including audience participation to rapturous applause.

For this who missed Phearnone, fear not. He will be performing at Strictly Harlem this coming Saturday at the Black-e and on the 15th May at WOW's Light Night celebrations on the roof of a Central Library.

All details of forthcoming WOW events are available here
Alternatively contact below:

Tel: 0151 703 0020
info@writingonthewall.org.uk
Twitter: @wowfest
www.writingonthewall.org.uk

By Natalie Denny

Playing the Race Card by Richie Moran

Whenever a black person makes an accusation of racism, the keyboard warriors are out in force often accusing said person of "playing the race card". Like the term "political correctness" gives licence to the likes of Clarkson, Atkinson, Farage, the fella married to the Queen and innumerable others to pursue their bigoted agendas and the BBC is ludicrously described as being "left wing", the title of this prose needs to be examined in its true context.

As an atheist, I am prepared to accept that in history there was a bloke called Jesus wandering about. I have also had Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses (couldn't wait to get out of the door bless em) admit that as he was apparently Jesus of Nazareth and the Nazarenes were historically pretty much as dark as I am, the depiction of him as often blond, invariably blue eyed, but always Caucasian means that the whole concept of western civilisation is based on a racist falsehood. So surely the church, the KKK, NF and every institution that invokes God etc is playing the race card to the nth degree.

In January this year when journalists at Charlie Hebdo and citizens at a Jewish supermarket were massacred in cowardly attacks (as with the appalling murder of Lee Rigby), people all over the world marched, tweeted etc "Je suis Charlie", yet this week it has been one year since over 200 Nigerian girls were kidnapped from Chibok in Northern Nigeria by Boko Haram. Not only have they not been recovered, but the world seems to have largely forgotten about them. These were teenage girls and as such we have a collective responsibility to ensure their safety. As a man of Nigerian descent, I am disgusted and embarrassed by the impotence of the Nigerian government. As a father I am appalled that this has not been rectified. As a human being am I surprised that the same value is not placed on these girls lives as they are Black Africans and not white Europeans? What do you reckon?

Once again after the French atrocities, the whole religion of Islam was put on trial. There were numerous articles proclaiming that Muslims need to weed out the extremists in their own community and had to march in solidarity with victims etc, yet when Anders Breivik slaughtered 77 of his own countrymen in July 2011, or Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed an aeroplane into the French Alps with no regard for innocent passengers including schoolchildren and a 7 month old baby, were Christians asked to explain themselves?

In the next couple of weeks, the closest General Election for many years is set to be fought in this country. Never will the race card have been more evident. With the advent of the completely non racist UKIP, as ever with history repeating itself, in times of economic crisis, let's scapegoat immigrants and foreigners.

It was in 1964 in Smethwick when Tory Peter Griffiths (who went on to become an M.P. in Portsmouth where I live and was unrepentant until his death) used the slogan "if you want a nigger for your neighbour, vote Labour". I remember seeing the "No Blacks, No dogs, No Irish" signs as a kid in 1960's London. The Conservative party have no right to demonise UKIP.

Thatcher, Tebbitt, Bruinvels, Beaumont-Dark, Proctor, Carlisle, etc all staunch supporters of the apartheid system, always ready to play the race card, or even to start a pointless war to get re-elected. When Michael Howard (Hecht) was Home Secretary, his own father would not have been allowed to enter the country under his immigration policies!

Sadly Labour have also lurched to the right in order to become electable, even though their former P.M. (whose actions are certainly directly attributable to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism) swans the globe making millions when he (and so many others) should be facing the ICC in the Hague.

In these times of short termism, as I have stated many times the collective, ignorance amnesia and white washing of this islands history makes me sick.

Black people were actually here in the 2nd and 3rd century, before that geezer I don't believe in, so some of us were here before most of you. For over 300 years you did not have a monarch who had English as a first language. Without immigration you would not even have companies viewed as quintessentially English/British such as Marks and Spencer, Triumph motorcycles, Moss Bros and hundreds more. 

Farage and his acolytes often point to the Australian system as an example of good immigration. Could that be the same system that was called "White Australia" after the good old Europeans once again massacred the indigenous Aboriginal population (who until 1969 had the same status as flora and fauna) leaving them in the pitiful state many find themselves in today.

One of the arguments I constantly hear is how would Muslims/foreigners etc like it if we went to their countries and imposed our culture and religion on them.You morons really do need to get a history book out (assuming you can read). Have a little butchers at when most of the world was coloured pink on the map and talk to some Indian people. Read about the scramble for Africa (and incidentally Pope Francis the first genocide of the 20th century was in the Belgian Congo, though credit for calling the Armenian genocide when certain governments are too cowardly to do so, because it doesn't suit their political agenda) and the little matter of Elizabeth 1st financing John Hawkins slavery sojourns though in 1596, like the erstwhile UKIP leader the cheeky mare did decide that there were too many blacks in London and tried to deport them!

Churchill as vile a racist as ever lived (even out of the mouth of his own physician, ironically one Lord Moran), responsible for the deaths of millions in the Bengali famine, shooting down miners and their wives in Treorchy, advocating violent death for Gandhi for having the temerity to resist British occupation, the releasing of the murderous Black and Tans on the Catholic population of Ireland, torture of Kikuyu's and the Mau Mau (including Barack Obama's grandfather) for having the brazen effrontery (can you see a pattern) to resist British occupation, not to mention the slaughter of Anzac troops at Gallipoli and much more besides is your greatest hero. Likewise Thatcher,  who sent special forces troops to train the Khmer Rouge who committed genocide on 2 million of their own Cambodian people. Ain't that the same woman who called the worlds greatest human being, Nelson Mandela a terrorist?

Paedophiles from the Muslim community who have groomed girls in Rochdale, Oxford etc have been rightfully vilified, yet once again yesterday Greville Janner, Labour M.P. (and a Lord) escaped prosecution (which apparently could have been up to 22 charges including rape) as his dementia (diagnosed in 2009, although he allegedly still had an office and was being paid in the Lords until last year) rendered him unfit to stand trial. It is patently obvious that there are people serving in the Lords and Commons and even above that (and I'm fairly sure that more revelations will emerge in the next couple of years;sadly I am just as convinced that as ever rich powerful white men will continue to be protected by their own from being held to account for their reprehensible crimes) who have covered this up. As chairman of many boards representing Holocaust survivors I do not ever remember Janner advocating that Nazi war criminals should not be pursued because they were too old or sick (and where they are concerned, they are never too old or sick to face responsibility for their crimes as far as I'm concerned). As for the question of his dementia, all I will say is anyone remember Ernest Saunders (strangely enough an Austrian immigrant) released early from his jail sentence some 20 years ago in the Guinness fraud case as he was suffering from pre-senile dementia. Within months he made a miraculous recovery from his incurable symptoms and is still apparently with us! 

As with Saville, Smith and possibly Leon Brittan, the occasional dead person will be revealed as a serial offender, whilst the occasional white celebrity will be thrown to the wolves, but as ever like Harris, Clifford, Ched Evans etc there will be those who question it as a witch hunt. Funny that, I never once heard anyone cast doubt on the guilt of the Muslim perpetrators! Maybe that's just me playing the race card!!!

Now once again Greg Dyke (who as BBC chairman described the institution as "hideously white") has now decided that the English football team is crap because of those pesky Johnny Foreigners in the so called "best league in the world" (oh the irony)! Have I got news for you Greg? Having played abroad, it has nothing to do with the lack of technique, the so called "world class" players like Gerrard, Lampard, Beckham and Rooney simply not being that (check the definition), or even that having failed miserably at a world cup, the manager (who took the apartheid rand) keeps his job, or Raheem Sterling after being too tired to play (after a game against San Marino) now thinks that at 20 (and without a great deal of end product) 100k a week is not quite enough dosh for him. Makes you wanna reach for the laughing gas!!!

So Dyke wants a cap on non EU players? Meanwhile this country is still happy to trumpet that disgusting piece of neo colonialist bullshit that is the Commonwealth games, the wealth not being exactly common.

Has anyone profited more from the race card than John Terry (managing to turn himself from perpetrator to victim) or Luis Suarez (a 75m transfer to Barcelona)?

Black people are said to play the race card. Yet it is UKIP, The NF (who famously refused to acknowledge John Barnes' wonder goal against Brazil), Britain First, the EDL, the Tories etc who complain about their culture being swamped.

Believe me, as the Chelsea fans who wouldn't let a Black man on the train in his own country and the morons who pollute the streets of Malia, Benidorm, Tenerife and many places I have lived in and travelled to ably demonstrate, English/British culture is alive and well.

Last week, there was an article in the Independent about British people living in Spain and their views on the upcoming election. They were referred to as ex-pats. Have I missed something or are they not immigrants, the same as many of the people they decried in Britain?

The KKK (often with the complicity of local government) hung my brethren from trees, bravely blew up young girls in churches and did pretty much what they liked, whilst we weren't allowed to eat in their restaurants, change in the hotels we sang in and much more, yet they still wanted us to go and fight in their wars. Yet when those heroes Tommie Smith and John Carlos did the Black Power salute at the Mexico Olympics they were effectively finished.

As Muhammad Ali so rightfully said on refusing the draft "no Vietcong ever called me nigger".

Reading online forums (and the level of racism, as demonstrated by the percentage of racist tweets sent to Mario Balotelli and Danny Welbeck is staggering) I have been struck this week by the fact that more sympathy has been shown for the animals needlessly killed by that disgusting "huntswoman", Rebecca Francis, than there has for human beings drowned off the Libyan coast.

The same applies to posts written about Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Michael Brown, 12 year old Tamir Rice and the depressing litany of black men (and children) gunned down in America.

I am of the concerted opinion that as Black people we are still to some degrees operating a slave mentality, which we need to grow out of. We need to stop killing each other, whether it be in London or the US and as Public Enemy did so well start learning the truth about our history. I am still bemused by Black Christians who can pray to a god that their slave masters and apartheid rulers went to church on a Sunday, then came out and continued to rape, murder us and deprive us of the most basic of human rights.

There are BAME UKIP members and I have heard immigrants using the same arguments against immigrants that were used against our parents and grandparents.

I have been called a racist myself and heard the old (yawn) argument that "if you don't like it here, why don't you go and live in" (fill in the blanks). It seems, as I have pointed out many times that the concept of freedom of speech only applies until you disagree with someones point of view. Know what I mean Nige?

Last week on hearing another tiresome tirade against immigrants and benefit scroungers (who, of course all had brand new houses and cars) I merely pointed out that perhaps they should look no further than Buckingham Palace for the perfect example. Sometimes I'm glad to be a 3rd dan kickboxer!

Again more frequent now than "I'm not a racist but", "I don't mind the Blacks, it's the Paki's/Muslims I can't stand" (gee thanks) or (when it suit) "you're just as English/British as we are, is the Black people are just as racist.

I actually believe that any racism exhibited by Black people is by and large a reaction to their experiences and the slave mentality I touched on earlier.

I can honestly say I have never heard a Black person proclaim that the colour of their skin made them superior to a white person, which is so prevalent here, in the US and across Europe, (Reggie Yates was incredibly brave and a touch naive in Russia) The Deacons of Defence (check them out) and the Black Panthers etc stood up for our people at a time when they were needed.

I had hoped the open racism of the 60's, 70's and 80's would have disappeared by the time my son came of age. Sadly it has returned in worse forms and but I can see a time when it is going to return to almost open war on the streets, as when we when toe to toe with the NF and British Movement.

For the sake of humanity, I sincerely hope I am wrong!!!

Richie Moran

Richie Moran will be joining Writing on the Wall this Friday (08/05/15) at the Kuumba Imani Millennium Centre for the launch of Emy Onuora's book PITCH BLACK. Join in the discussion:

Join Liverpool born writer Emy Onuora and ex-Birmingham City footballer Richie Moran and ex-Huddersfield Town footballer and the Ethiopian National Football team, Iffy Onuora for this unique and timely book launch. Hosted by Peter Hooton from The Farm. 

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE