Entryists to the left of me, Hardliners to the right...

[Soph0571]

Remember when a Cameron ally called Tory activists “mad, swivel-eyed loons” who were forcing MPs to take hardline positions on Europe? Heh, they have successfully taken over the entirety of Tory party thought, since the success of the referendum, pushing little Englander, xenophobic, nasty closed-minded policies. It is working far better than I am sure they could ever have dreamed of.

Remember when Kinnock said "We know that power without principles is ruthless, sour, empty, vicious. We also know that principle without power is idle sterility", as he was purging labour of the militant left in the 1980’s. We all know that they are back with a bang and even as faced with the rout of the election they cling to power with the fierce determination that only true ‘believers' can even as their ideology has been soundly rejected by the electorate.

I predict a decade of hard left and hard right, before we find our way back into the middle ground…oh, goody...

Maybe the rest of the Union should cut off England? After all trying to reason with fundamentalists or cult members is exhausting and unproductive and right now the cult of the right, the cult of the left and the cult of Brexit dominates in England in a way that is not expressed to the same extent in the rest of the union!! Heh.

[hedda_foil]

1. Soph, could you clarify the current meaning of the terms "entryists" and "hardliners"?

I understand that entryism is about the infiltration of a political party by members of other party(ies) but what is its meaning in this context? It's not a word we've seen used in the US. Similarly, "hardliner" isn't in common usage here. Obviously both words are important to understanding what has happened to the largest political parties in the UK. There must be some history here that we've missed.

[Soph0571]

2. Hey hedda

Entrysits is the term used for the far left radicals, the militant left, who in the early '80s infiltrated the Labour party and cased havoc. They got kicked out then but rejoined under Corbyn and have enjoyed a real resurgence in the last 4 years.

Hardliners are those on the far right of the conservative movement, who would see us go to hell in a hand basket rather than give u on their dreams of Empire renewed.

[T_i_B]

3. Entryism is also happening to the Tories

But with the far right.

And while all this is happening the best and brightest are not being attracted to politics at any point on the spectrum

[Soph0571]

4. UKIPPERS UGH! n/t