Dogwhistles in Remainer ideology

After a while a lot can be left implicit in ideological stories. This is often described as a 'dogwhistle', a thinly coded way referring to racist or sexist tropes via terms like 'urban crime' or 'hysterical demonstrators'. The daddy of them all was the analysis of the 'mugging' moral panic of the 1970s and 1980s, of course.

Grauniad-reading liberals need a bit more help to get there and a bit of practice condemning the efforts of others. Thus we have been told once or twice that 'supply problems' is an apologetic for 'problems produced only/solely by Brexit'. The Graun is trying to work the trick in reverse. A story I failed to relocate in this week's Observer had dire tales of shortages that didn't actually refer to Brexit at all -- but it was located under a byline that said 'Brexit' anyway. This one today is a bit more transitional for slightly dimmer dogs who still need a bit of work:

Sewage discharge rules eased over fears of chemical shortage

Wastewater plants in England and Wales offered waiver because of impact of lorry driver crisis

It's a good topic -- sewage and ecological damage, although a bit of a problem with nasty chemicals, but no matter -- on with the story of driver shortages. It seems based on the usual handout after a survey, of course, from an industry PR person:

A recent survey of its members showed that 93% were experiencing haulage shortages, up from 61% in the first quarter of the year....One of its concerns is that the driver shortage will be worse in the chemical industry because of the requirement for additional qualifications for anyone carrying hazardous substances....“We are seeing a real crunch on the driver front,” said Tim Doggett, CEO of the CBA [Chemical Business Association]....“My concern and what I have said to the Department for Transport this morning is the game of musical chairs we will see. If you have a driver faced with a job which means he doesn’t have to get out of his cab to deal with dangerous substances and one that gets paid the same and has to handle hazards and be specially qualified to do so, you know which job the driver will go for,” he added.

So they have evidently relied on paying general rates for special and hazardous jobs and now they face a shortage. I thought capitalists knew how to solve these problems based on market dynamics. But no, 'the chronic shortage of lorry drivers [is] caused by Brexit and the pandemic' and thus cannot be solved except by Government. Or rejoining the EU? Saying sorry?

The magic term Brexit is what got it in the Graun, no doubt. There is no attempt to estimate or explain the relative effects of Brexit and pandemic or set them against the dubious employment practices the industry itself confesses to. 

It is not even clear that it is a real problem with real effects yet:

In a regulatory position statement issued on Tuesday, the Environment Agency introduced a waiver that would mean some companies would not have to go through the third stage in the treatment of sewage if they did not have the right chemicals....A government spokesperson said the water supply to consumers would not be affected and any waste company that wished to avail of the waiver needed prior approval from Defra....It also said that no water company had yet notified it of a shortage of ferric sulphate but it was introducing the regulatory position as a precautionary measure.

Observer keeps the faith

 Well, W Keegan does. He is still right about everything:

Just how long will it take the electors of this benighted country to realise that they have been conned by the Brexiters?...The evidence mounts that Brexit is an almost unmitigated disaster. The slogan “get Brexit done” has been supplanted by “supply chain issues”. As a direct, and wholly predictable, consequence of Brexit, Britain is economically, culturally, reputationally, politically and diplomatically poorer....

The truth is that this country continues to want European standards of public service and healthcare, but nothing like the levels of taxation that our fellow Europeans are prepared to pay.As for Chancellor Sunak, by espousing Brexit he has helped to make the country poorer, thereby eroding the exchequer’s tax base. I think this is going to catch up with the Brexiters.

It is still one simple explanation -- not covid but European membership is the key. Quite where this will lead is less sure --rejoining? Keegan's personal vindication so he can die happy?

Exports hit by Brexit and weasels

This graun story seems rock solid surely?

Brexit: food and drink exports to EU suffer ‘disastrous’ decline

Although there is already a reservation :

First-half sales fall £2bn, says industry body, as barriers are compounded by staff shortages

Nevertheless, the main claim is that the decline is 'because of Brexit trade barriers, with sales of beef and cheese hit hardest', although, again, there is a weasel: 'compounded by the lorry driver and warehouse workers shortages, which were choking the supply chain'.and 'labour shortages across the UK’s farm-to-fork food and drink supply chain'

The data seem clear enough, although they cover 2019--2021, not just the 'first half of the year' as initially claimed. To summarise:

By product category, the biggest falls in sales to the EU have been in dairy and meat: beef exports were down 37%, cheese down 34% and milk and cream down 19% in the first half of 2021 compared with the equivalent six months in 2019.

Exports to nearly all EU member states fell significantly, including a loss of more than £500m in sales to Ireland, while sales to Germany, Spain and Italy were each down around a half since the first half of 2019.

But year-on-year exports of salmon and whisky, two of Scotland’s flagship products, were up 27% and 20%. [which might need some explaining --no extra paperwork for  these?]

Exporters have struggled with the extra paperwork and administrative costs that came into force on 1 January 2021...[and a return to an old issue -- still unresolved?]...the physical sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks that were not necessary before Brexit, with lorries facing partial or full unloads in Calais and other ports if any of the paperwork is missing.

imports were already being hit, with products of animal origin heavily impacted. Pork imports fell 19.6%, cheese imports were down 17.6%, and chicken imports fell by 17%.

 

 

 Brexit hits exports:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/sep/02/brexit-uk-food-drink-exports-eu-disastrous-decline

Operation Fear: low wages for Romanians or an unhappy Christmas for us

 Familiar refrains are emerging again, with this:

Business leaders call for relaxation of post-Brexit visa rules

Industry bosses say retailers will struggle to keep shelves stocked at Christmas amid worker shortage

The shortage of HGV drivers has been running for a while. Briefings for Britain has their own account of the shortage -- poor conditions for qualified HGV drivers, and EU standardisation rules have, in effect, encouraged transport firms to domicile in low wage areas in Europe. 

Meanwhile, industry sources said in addition to lorry driver shortages, there was a lack of tens of thousands of seasonal agricultural workers, and 14,000 needed in meat-processing plants.

The latter has led to exotica such as predictions of a shortage of turkeys for Christmas,. Apparently, Nandos and KFC have already experienced a shortage of chicken, and, horrors! McDonalds is allegedly short of milkshakes. These shortages seem to have lasted for a day or two! Our whole way of life is at stake!

The GUardina knows the source of the crisis:

Guardian analysis of labour market figures from the Office for National Statistics confirms the extent of the fall in eastern Europeans in the UK workforce since the start of the pandemic, and after Britain left the EU earlier this year.

The number of Romanian and Bulgarian workers in the UK, who would typically fill lower-paid logistics and food production roles, has plunged by almost 90,000, or 24% since the end of 2019.

I like the 'lower-paid' bit especially. Let's get those low-paid migrants back in so we can eat cheap poultry again!

 

The Graun also notes that 'the meltdown [was] triggered by Covid and Brexit', before warming to its theme.

Remainers right to predict Taliban takeover

I have taken my eye off the ball a bit lately, but, some (former diplomat?) chap on the ITV News managed a little speech summarising a theme that has cropped up once or twice. It is an excellent example of how to link just about anything on Brexit.

 

The illusion peddled by Brexiteers, especially Boris, was that Britain would be able to pursue a new course in international affairs to regain its place as a great power, in alliance with the USA. The Taliban takeover, with Biden's decision to withdraw, has shown the folly of this vision. Thus Brexit was a wrong move.

 

As many posts in this blog show, the concern for Britain's influence on world affairs was actually a big theme in Remain -- leaving the EU would threaten it and leave us isolated; Brexiteers were Little Englanders.That the dreadful blunders and miscalculations that led to the events in Afghanistan could have been traced mainly to a vote at a referendum in 2016 is ridiculous. Staying in the EU would hardly have made any difference -- EU spokespersons seem to have confined themselves to the usual pious hopes for peace and reconciliation.

 

Boris might well have blundered in his policy toward Afghanistan but his actions pale into insignificance compared to his predecessors, especially the seriously deluded and still pro-EU Tony Blair

What sort of home did football not come home to, exactly?

The last week or two have seen a familiar cultural trajectory, very similar to the much more prolonged one that we saw with Brexit, characteristic of the cultural politics of social distancing embraced by the new petite bourgeoisie

1. An imaginary community is constructed. Not 'Europe' this time but 'England'. It is a place of community, diversity, love and harmony, 

2. It is embodied, utterly ludicrously, in the professional football team! Professional football is not at all ruthless, exploitative, competitive and dominated by shady billionaires, but a nice game played by nice people. These people appear (!) young, community-minded and liberal in their gestures(!) -- anti-racist kneeling and charitable works. They are smartly dressed. They were from humble origins but are now millionaires, which shows what happens if you follow your dream and work hard, kids (we'll pass over the thousands who were not selected). They are very nice lads who give fans their old kit and are polite to their betters.

3. A struggle ensues to capture and develop this image (at rather short notice) and reinforce it in the liberal media, especially by the usual suspects like the Graun, C4 or Newsnight. Gone are the old condemnations of the flag of St George as exclusionary. In come black people (mostly not actual players) enthusing over professional football and the myths of community it peddles.

4. The team IS 'the nation'. Suddenly, regional differences, even Celtic ones, and all other social ones that seemed so important are magically resolved. We can all unite behind the team. All this stuff was analysed in Cultural Studies 40 years ago -- and here it all is again.

After the crash (England's defeat to an thoroughly well-organised and professional Italian team)...

5. The main terrain is still the cultural one.No-one cares about the tactics or the issues of skill (except specialist sports writers -- but luvvies do not read them)  -- it is all about fighting over 'the narrative'. And of course it rapidly gets polarised and becomes a matter of social distancing. It is nice people versus 'racists'.  Nice people must be right because the only ones who oppose them are unspeakable hooligans and racists.

The actual football doesn't matter. The result doesn't matter. The England manager said as much. It is a matter of developing as 'role models', of being tolerant and welcoming to minorities, of doing charitable works (Rashford's campaign to restore free school meals during the holidays was described on Newsnight as him 'feeding a whole nation'). Luvvies would not love them otherwise. Prince Harry for England coach!

It is just like the way the Remain campaign shifted from the issue of whether the EU actually brought prosperity to whether it offered some superior but ineffable way of life, and how the debate polarised and became a culture war against ignorant racists.

There did seem to have been some pretty crude racist tweets because, of the 5 penalty takers for England, only the white ones actually scored, which clearly invites the naive positivism characteristic of racism. However, the liberals were close to that positivist racism too, claiming that football was nicer and more civilised because there were more black players in the team ( causes and effects were nicely blurred). 

Liberal championing of campaigning footballers also inevitably brings political retorts of this kind from N Elphicke, Tory MP: [Rashford, who missed a penalty, should have] "spent more time "perfecting his game" rather than "playing politics" (reported in the Times). Liberals never learn. Note that this is not racist, of course. This might be harsh. Professional football is harsh. £46m was at stake. Dealing with economic and political alliances is harsh. Sentimental politics get us nowhere.

In fact, the latest issue of Spiked reminds me, there is a need to check just how much racist reaction was actually generated and by whom. They have agendas of their own, of course, but they claim:

industry experts and security professionals... told me that racist abuse of English footballers does exist, but that much of it comes from foreign accounts and bots. It doesn’t come from frustrated and virulently intolerant English people firing off salvos of abuse while pissed up and pissed off....Manager Gareth Southgate must have recently been told the same. He explained to no-doubt disappointed reporters yesterday that a lot of the abuse ‘has come from abroad – people that track those things have been able to explain that’.

The media love reporting tides of horrid reactions from sexists and racists, and, of course, they can't possibly actually show any. The Daily Mail shared a couple with banana and monkey emojis. Lots of people seem to have seen them. I spent about 20 mins searching through Twitter and found lots of hostile comments but no racist ones

It's only football -- or is it a blow against Brexit?

Classic Graun commentary on England v Germany in the Euros qualifier yesterday (before the match):

Patriotic hubris and old footballing rivalries are harder to sustain in a world becoming more closely connected

Noting that some of the players play for clubs in the opposing countries, the writer , one Philip Oltermann, who also has a book to plug, thinks this represents some sort of imagined Graun future where sporting rivalries offer

a story of increased international entwinement, at a time when Brexit has spun the two countries in different directions. As vessels for narratives about the nation state, for once, they no longer look fit for purpose. Instead, they look ahead of the curve.

So it is not just a game then?It does have some political and cultural significance? It can be watched by Islington luvvies? He offers them a few guidelines to reinfirce their cultural distance from ordinary fans. The English press  offered:

pictures of Paul Gascoigne and Stuart Pearce, Photoshopped to look like second world war soldiers, were published in the Daily Mirror in 1996 [!] alongside the headline “Achtung! Surrender”....Germany’s dominance on the football pitch and the tennis courts (Boris Becker and Steffi Graf won their respective singles tournaments at Wimbledon in 1989[!] )] touched a deeper paranoia about being sidelined by what was now Europe’s largest economy....When Germany knocked England out of the Euro semi-finals in 1996, John Redwood urged Times readers to “think again about the problem of Germany”...Tabloid attempts to frame that encounter in terms of martial conflicts of the past – “Let’s blitz Fritz” wrote the Sun in 1996 – look in hindsight more like desperate diversion tactics, a case of “Don’t mention the economy”

 Meanwhile the cosmopolitan and only slightly superior Germans:

have spoken of the clash in more celebratory tones. “To play against England at Wembley, that’s awesome”, said midfielder Leon Goretzka....One reason for this has purely to do with sport: Germany’s real grudge matches are against teams that have inflicted painful defeats, like Italy or the Netherlands. Matches against England, by contrast, tend to produce happy memories: England have won only six out of 24 matches against West and reunified German teams since 1966. Germany won England’s last match at the old Wembley stadium, and the first after it was demolished and rebuilt. “Four World Cups and three European Championships” is the correct response to England’s “Two World Wars and one World Cup” chant.

The cultural critics (with popular history books to write) just cannot move on. It's like all that stuff about the return of Teddy Boys and fears of Napoleon (elsewhere) their parents used to frighten them with.

The Times had a slightly different account from its man in Hamburg, incidentally, describing German fans singing not Ode to Joy but a parody of the UK national anthem based on their goalkeeper as king.

 

Meanwhile, the Gru report today of the England fans' reactions to the match and the win did not seem too hostile. 

[The mood] ranged from quiet confidence to bold optimism...“Germany’s not very good at the moment, and the English team are fit and young,”...“I’m nervous, I can’t lie, it’s risky. But I think the side is balanced and they’ll come through with a masterstroke. I see us going through to the quarter-finals,” said an assured Wasam.[probably not a white racist?]... “This is a new England. The side has good penalty-takers, they’re young, fit, confident – I believe we could win this,” said a vibey Ali as the pair bopped to Mas Que Nada [that old racist chant] ...“I reckon we’ll scrape by.”...“It just proves anything can happen,” said 26-year-old Sarah Asher on her way to the pub to celebrate England’s first knockout win against Germany in 55 years.

No-one mentioned the War.