The English Left blogger Mark Scott says England’s north and south must unite
WE’VE all done it. Berating the wealth held within the confines of the south of England; that age old north/south divide.
There’s no denying the misuse of power by the rich and upper middle classes down here. By any means necessary they will maintain their stranglehold of our land and our politics by bending rules and through outright distortion of reality. However, it’s time to stop talking about this as a simplistic north/south divide.
I was in Margate recently. A seaside town in the apparently elitist and luxury clad south-east. It has been the subject of much investment in the past few years. It has a Tracey Emin-endorsed Turner gallery, the Dreamland theme park has been rebranded as a hipster hang out (with Jarvis Cocker DJ-ing recently) and artists have started moving out of London to benefit from its cheap rent.
As I lay in my hostel bed that night, it got me thinking: how can we possibly win this class war if we are obsessed with a north/south divide?
As the product of a seaside town that’s lost its way (Ayr), I was looking forward to visiting this apparently rejuvenated hub of culture by the sea. Instead, what I experienced was rows of heroin-addled men and women lining the seafront and a plethora of sodden sleeping bags occupied by a lost generation. There is undoubtedly a situation of desperate deprivation that pervades the entire town.
While in Margate, news of the Grenfell tragedy came through. As I lay in my hostel bed that night, it got me thinking: how can we possibly win this class war if we are obsessed with a north/south divide?
With the risk of sounding like a Theresa Mayhem soundbite, poverty is poverty. No matter where you’re from. Don’t get me wrong, this is no rebuttal of Scottish independence. I’m just as committed, if not even more so, a supporter of an independent Scottish state than when I stuck an SNP poster in my window at 13. I believe in local identity and accountability as well as cultural celebration.
However, what we do need is more solidarity with one another, no matter where you’re from or at. At the moment, we are too blind sighted by pointless divisions. We need defend each other against those who wish to divide us and find methods of fighting back.
It’s too easy to look at Edinburgh through Glasgow eyes and say it’s full of nothing but Hoorah Henry types, or to say that Kensington is just a rich playground. It’s frankly dangerous talk.
If we are to conquer this new world order then we must stop the finger pointing at our own class. We’ve fallen into their trap. Infighting and jealously have left us being played by the ruling elites.
Accountability is at an all time low. Who’s to blame for those clad flats? Thatcher? Blair? The Tories? New Labour? The council? Who really knows? We’re lost in sea of systems, machines and procedures that confuse us, bewilder us and leave us living in the reality of an Adam Curtis-style dystopia where confusion reigns free and we feel utterly powerless to identify the powerful, let alone challenge them.
If we are to conquer this new world order then we must stop the finger pointing at our own class. We’ve fallen into their trap. Infighting and jealously have left us being played by the ruling elites.
People were literally burnt to death because of the decisions made by these bastards. This is class war. Let’s cut the pointless parochialisms and build a positive future.
Picture courtesy of steve p2008
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