It's worth noting the BNP vote actually dropped in Yorkshire compared to their 2004 result.

The Labour vote collapsed by almost 200,000.

Bald men, fighting over a comb.

I wonder if anti-fascists in Britain will ever *fully* unite to defeat the BNP?

What a miserable result, a year ago, a neo-fascist takes his seat in the London assembly, now a BNP thug is elected to Europe, and no Left of Labour in sight, how fucking miserable. How fucking predictable ?

Erm,

surely the Greens are left of Labour?

The Tories are left of Labour never mind anyone else.

Does anyone know how many of the electorate actually voted? When I went to vote at 8 o'clock in the evening, there were only about ten names ticked on each page of the electoral register. I imagine it was an extremely low poll, because most people did not know who to vote for. When it comes to the General Election, things will be different. The stakes will be clearer.

"Wales...another ex mining area" (area ? !!!)

Ah yes, where only just a few years ago the happy miners in their brown boots and best Sunday mufflers would carry (soon to be) Lord Neil and Lady Glenys through the thronged streets of Cardiff, pausing only to tear up a symbolic 1926 picture of Stanley Baldwin, whilst munching on a Max Boyce © leek burger A LONG time ago David. Don’t believe the Welsh self-serving hype.

To me, the REAL Welsh result was the exposure of Wales’s dirty little secret, its secret love affair with the Tories. Always there, but becoming more apparent in the 2005 general election and much denied by the myth makers. (Plaid). The follow on from this is the fate of greater powers for the Welsh Assembly a la Scotland. A referendum was promised by 2011, highly unlikely now in the face of the demonstrated support for UKIP and the Etonians. Welsh Labour’s organisation (sic) itself is in total melt down with its euro candidates thrown to the wolves… "Your problem Guv".

My vote went to the Greens who improved their vote but were always destined to be undermined by Plaid’s "all things" to everyone persona. But hey, that’s nationalism.

Finally, what a way to treat Lady Glenys on her promotion to Gordon’s Euro window box. The Welsh, what ungrateful bastards we are! (I blame the Tinky ap Winky Druids).

Hey Dave,

Thought you might be interested to know the results in Hackney, your patch:

Labour - 34%
Green - 23%
Tories - 15%
Lib Dems - 12%

Matt

"VOTERS across Europe stayed away in droves from the European elections as turnout headed for an all-time low of 43 per cent. More than 200m voters stayed at home as apathy (alienation?) took hold across the European Union, according to an EU estimate. British politicians feared the Westminster expenses scandal would convince even more people here not to vote. In Yorkshire, turnout plunged from 42.6 per cent five years ago – when all voting was by post in a trial scheme – to 32.5 per cent this year." ~ Yorkshire Post today.

AH, BUT "THE PROJECT", CONFIDENTLY MARCHES ON!

FORWARD TOYNBEE!

"To me, the REAL Welsh result was the exposure of Wales’s dirty little secret, its secret love affair with the Tories."

Holy cow. You really are barking mad, aren't you?

Mr O‘ Shouty Clown ~

In Wales, post last night, Labour is NOW forced back to its declining and ageing "heartlands" (S.Wales Valleys), where they are also ignored and despised. (See the Rhondda response to Chris Bryant’s "safe house" expenses.) Increasingly, only "old people" with folk memories of Nye and 1926 vote Labour. In South East/M4Wales (Newport, Cardiff, Greater Cardiff, etc.), the home of the new "Aspirational" (sic) Labour Wales, Labour could only hold just 15 constituency seats against the Tories now record 17. Similarly in NE Wales (Deeside). I’m writing this in (former industrial) Newport where the former Gen Sec. of the Welsh Labour Party, Jessica Moredon’s "safe" seat is now also under Tory threat. Labour are a directionless and unloved rump. You might expect Plaid to pick up from all this but as chancer coalition Assembly partners with Labour, they are now also the "establishment". And their radicalism is just as threadbare.

This is NOT new. The collapse in Labour’s vote exposes the latent and actual support for the Tories. WELSH tories. Long standing if covert. This FACT has been denied by the "Oh, Wales is so cosy-rosy socialist ~ Shirley Bassey down Tiger bay ~ How green is my arse.", mongers.

Hell, even Peter "Orange" Hain has gone (almost) white!

Darren, you wrote:

"surely the Greens are left of Labour?"

If you seem to think that the Greens are a natural home for the working classes, disenchanted with Labour, well, all I can say is that you'd be better to take up another hobby, apart from politics

But he didn't say any of that, did he. He asked a simple question - "surely the Greens are left of Labour?"

If you honestly think that they aren't, umm, I just don't know what to say to you.

Matt

Moddity,

what Matt said.

Sorry for the Moddity gibe. It was unnecessary.

I live in Leytonstone - I didn't get anything through my door that was anything but the same old centre-right New Labour politics.

If the left want people's vote we have to make a stand for real left-wing policies that demonstrate social cohension, stability and long-term prosperity.

For a start I think No2EU is pandering to right-wing scaremongering and a disgrace to the trade union movement. There are some good ideas very, very badly promoted.

European collectivism and cross-boarder social policy (with freedom of labour) is the only way forward for a progressive left-wing party. Its not the EU that wrong, its the lack of socialist strength within the policy making organs.

Matt Sellwood & Darren,

please, can I suggest that, for a moment, take off your middle class snotty attitudes and when you read the comments of others you make an effort to connect with them (something New Labour never does) and that way you'll get a reasonable exchange of views, and not seem like small minded picky politicos, as you do now.

peace, love and brown rice, from the working classes :)

In my native North West, if just one tenth of the people who voted for Crow and Scargill's respective vanity projects had voted Green, I'd have someone who believes in "an alternative vision to simple managerial and private sector politics", rather than a fascist and holocaust-denier, representing me in Brussels now.

I'm tempted to join the Green Party but, now that modernityblog has explained to us that *all* Greens are middle class types who live on brown rice, I'm now worried that they won't have me. modernityblog, can you please lay off the tedious inverted snobbery? The very concept of the "middle class" is false consciousness.

No, it isn't "false consciousness" to say that there's a middle class, however Mod I really do think you'd have to concede that the Greens are fairly obviously to the left of Labour.

Nah, McG,

I wouldn't even bother to explain that "*all* Greens are middle class types who live on brown rice" to you, cos if I did (which I don't believe nor is there evidence to back it up), you'd probably misread it and not get my point :)

But this is the type of bickering which so endears the Left and politicos to the world

oh, I forgot, it doesn't?

then maybe it is a habit to change? bickering and misreading that is.

PS: Yeah volty, probably on some policies but that's not very hard.

I think you see the measure of these parties not when they are in opposition, which allows them to say almost anything to garner support, but rather when they have power or have been in coalitions, etc and if memory serves the Greens haven't been too good then.

As an aside, I think even New Labourites support stem cell research, whereas the Greens are opposed to bits of it. So it depends.

'please, can I suggest that, for a moment, take off your middle class snotty attitude . .. ."

You never did answer the point though, did you?

Thanks for referring to me as middle class, though. My wife will be chuffed to bits on hearing the news. ;-)

I think the Greens might be a bit too cold on bombing Muslims back to the stone age for Modernity's liking.

> No, it isn't "false consciousness" to say that there's a middle class

Isn't it? There are two types of people - those who work for a living and those who live off others' work. The vast majority of those derided by the likes of Modernityblog as "middle class" still have to get up in the morning - just because they put on a suit rather than overalls doesn't mean they're part of the ruling elite. Anyone who reckons that teachers or doctors are so profoundly different from waiters or gas fitters that they can't possibly be on the same side electorally is falling for ruling class 'divide and rule' tactics.

The vast majority of those incapable of reading and thinking at the same time might well read "middle class" whereas I wrote:

your middle class snotty attitudes

Equally, those still a bit dim after years at university might well miss that last word: attitude

Which changes the meaning a bit, if you could but think about it. Not that that will happen tho'.

If you can't manage the elementary skills of reading what people write and rendering it accurately then I pity you when you're faced with a more complex task, such as talking to the working classes.