Guest Post By Breitbart’s Charlie Nash
The British General Election is on Thursday, and the people are faced with a disappointing range of candidates. With the success of Brexit and Nigel Farage’s departure, UKIP are as good as dead, and Tim Farron’s Liberal Democrats have marketed themselves as a more anti-Brexit clone of the Labour party, leaving us with two main party candidates to choose from:
The Conservative Party’s Theresa May, an unelected Prime Minister who publicly wants to bring about government control over the internet, and who pretends to be for Brexit, despite having treated the general populace like children during her campaign against it.
And:
The Labour Party’s Jeremy Corbyn, a man who wants to outlaw internships, nationalize everything, and could probably be likened to a more communist version of Bernie Sanders were this not an insult to Sanders’ name.
But what if there were an appealing third party candidate? Someone who would address Islam, ensure that Britain gets the best Brexit deal possible, and effectively become the United Kingdom’s answer to Donald Trump?
What if Steven Patrick Morrisey, the former frontman for The Smiths, decided to run for Prime Minister?
Islam
“For what reason will this ever stop?” asked Morrissey following the terrorist attack in Manchester, before criticizing Britain’s politicians for failing to address the issue.
“Theresa May says such attacks ‘will not break us’, but her own life is lived in a bullet-proof bubble, and she evidently does not need to identify any young people today in Manchester morgues,” he declared in retaliation to the Prime Minister’s refusal to point a finger at Islam. “Also, ‘will not break us’ means that the tragedy will not break her, or her policies on immigration.”
“The young people of Manchester are already broken – thanks all the same, Theresa,” he continued, before focusing his attack on London’s Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan.
“Sadiq Khan says ‘London is united with Manchester’, but he does not condemn Islamic State – who have claimed responsibility for the bomb,” Morrissey proclaimed, as he moved on to the repeatedly used label of “extremist,” which he explained means nothing when used on its own.
“Manchester mayor Andy Burnham says the attack is the work of an ‘extremist’. An extreme what? An extreme rabbit?” he asked. “In modern Britain everyone seems petrified to officially say what we all say in private. Politicians tell us they are unafraid, but they are never the victims. How easy to be unafraid when one is protected from the line of fire. The people have no such protections.”
Despite coming as a shock to some, the statement on the attack was not out of the ordinary for fans of the singer.
Nor was it the first time he’s criticized Islam, having attacked Sadiq Khan previously in 2016 for eating “halal-butchered beings,” a comment which apparently made Morrissey racist, according to The Guardian.
Political Correctness
A natural dissident, Morrissey has never hesitated to speak his mind, and he frequently gets in trouble for it.
The vocal monarchical abolitionist has referred to the British Royal Family as “benefit scroungers,” and “dictators,” and he’s often been criticized for “racism,” despite the lack of evidence to back up such claims. (Sound familiar?)
Accusations of racism were first thrown at Morrissey when he jokingly claimed that “reggae is vile” and that the genre was the “total glorification of black supremacy” during an interview in 1985.
He took heat again in 2010 after he called Chinese people a “sub-species,” citing their record on animal cruelty—an issue close to the musician’s art.
But despite the negative attention that he can sometimes receive, Morrissey says what Morrissey thinks—the complete opposite of career politicians like Hillary Clinton, who previously claimed that she had both “private” and “public” political stances.
Working-Class Icon
As a man of the people, Morrissey has never been a fan of neocons and neoliberals, sometimes attacking politicians such as former Prime Minister David Cameron and President George W. Bush.
In 2010 he “forbade” David Cameron from liking The Smiths, while in 2004 following the death of Ronald Reagan, he announced on-stage that he’d have preferred it if George W. Bush died instead.
In the 80’s, Morrissey also weighed in on liberal elitist Bob Geldof (who was famously engaged in the Battle of the Thames against Farage), calling him “a nauseating character.”
“Band Aid was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music,” he declared, attacking the concept of virtue signalling which is all too common in modern politics.
During the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, Morrissey attacked both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, opting to support Bernie Sanders up until his defeat instead.
“Hillary Clinton is the face and voice of pooled money,” he declared, adding that “She will therefore repay the established elite with whatever they want if she is elected.”
“Donald Thump is George Wallace,” he continued. “Hating just about anyone who doesn’t happen to be Donald Thump. Surely this is not 2016 America?” (Not everyone’s perfect, even Morrissey)
Despite his disdain for Donald Trump, he expressed support for Nigel Farage and the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in 2013, claiming that he “nearly voted” for the party during the election.
“I nearly voted for Ukip. I like Nigel Farage a great deal,” the musician admitted. “His views are quite logical – especially where Europe is concerned, although it was plain daft of him to applaud the lavish expense of the royal wedding at a time when working-class England were told to cut-back, shut-up and get stuffed.”
Revealing his Eurosceptic political position, Morrissey continued to praise the outcome of Brexit, which was largely a success due to major support from the working class, and called the movement “magnificent.” At the same time, Morrissey also attacked the BBC, claiming that they “persistently denigrated” supporters of the “Leave” movement, who rallied against the left-wing, upper-class London elitists of the “Remain” side.
“Liberal educators such as George Galloway and Nigel Farage… they are loathed by the BBC because both men respect equal freedom for all people,” declared Morrissey in a 2013 interview. “And they are not remotely intimidated by the BBC.”
His affection for populism again made headlines in May after he claimed Front National leader Marine Le Pen “easily won” the French presidential debates.
It didn’t make him popular, particularly among his predominantly left-wing audience, but he said it nonetheless.
Because Morrissey says as Morrissey thinks.
War Against Fake News
This is one of the reasons why the mainstream media hates Morrissey with a passion, and the feeling is mutual.
News outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, and The Independent often try to smear his name, and assassinate his character with popular social justice buzzwords.
The Guardian called him an “embarrassment,” racist, and a “fallen idol.”
The Independent called him “problematic.”
Fact Magazine called him a “fucking idiot.”
Morrissey, on the other hand, regularly comments on the lack of truth coming from the mainstream media.
“Last night Marine Le Pen easily won the French Election debate. Today both the BBC and CNN say Macron won the debate. This is precisely the reason why mainstream news media outlets cannot be trusted to tell the truth,” declared Morrissey last month, before claiming that “Their private agendas are more important than facts, reality, or their duty to the people.”
“As for Brexit, the result was magnificent, but it is not accepted by the BBC or Sky News because they object to a public that cannot be hypnotised by BBC or Sky nonsense,” he added last year. “These news teams are exactly the same as Fox and CNN in that they all depend on public stupidity in order to create their own myth of reality. Watch them at your peril!”
During an article about Morrissey’s social “worst hits,” The Independent even attacked the “English Blood Irish Heart” singer for previously wrapping himself in the Union Jack flag on stage, attempting to link this act of patriotism to racism.
Celebrity Outsider
Morrissey is an outsider in more ways than one. His refusal to conform with the status quo alienates him from a lot of other celebrities, and his “meat is murder” form of vegan activism is often mocked by the general public.
This is similarly mirrored in President Donald Trump, a man who is also mocked for a variety of things, including his own quirks, but yet managed to elevate himself to the office of President of the United States, purely out of a feeling of need to repair his increasingly damaged country.
Though Morrissey has repeatedly insulted President Trump, there are too many similarities between the two to dismiss an uncanny parallelism, despite the fact that they probably have just as many differences as similarities.
Still, with Farage out of the picture, and a current selection of bitter and unappealing anti-Brexit candidates for Prime Minister, in an alternative timeline, Morrissey could be the populist that Britain needs. At least hypothetically speaking…
There’s a chance he could end up imposing a ban on meat consumption, or implement an array of other personally-selected policies based on his erratic, dissident, odd, and sensitive personality, but there’s also a lot of potential.
In 2016, “London Loves Business” claimed Morrissey “would be the worst London mayor ever.”
I disagree, and I think he’d be an even better Prime Minister.
A working-class populist who says what he thinks, addresses the Islamic threat head on, and applies himself to a variety of other pressing issues that mainstream political candidates refuse to even acknowledge.
Wouldn’t that be appealing?
