Percy the Poodle

The fundamental idea is that left and right are now a two way stretch.

People can be economically right or left and socio-politically right or left. This helps to explain the lack of appeal of traditional parties but also why they continue to get in. Labour mirror the population (in words not deeds) by being socially right of centre (though in a intrusive, interventionist type of way) and economically narrowly to the left of centre (but not far enough to damage 'stability') Cameron is moving to this position as well.

What UKIP has to take from this is some sort of judgement of where we are on the two scales and work out firstly what voters we should target, in what seats, and secondly how we convince the bulk of the population - that 75% core to move to our position. That is honest politics. What the major parties do today is merely follow the polls not direct their movement - and they gain equivalent respect.

Percy the Poodle

Having done the survey its big flaw is lumping iraq with economics.

War is not an economic (except that it costs money) and support for Iraq has more to do with social issues like religious tolerance and your percieved internationalism. Trouble is these things work in different ways. You may internationalist about military action but not so internationalist about economic integration. The whole point of statistical analysis is to simplify that which is too complex to understand with out simplification, so there are always inaccuracies.

In general a more helpful analysis than I have seen for a while.

Winston's Black Dog

A lot of people consider the Iraq War to be about oil and following on from that the economy.

I'm not expressing a view one way or t'other as to whether that perception is correct but it may make the survey parameters more understandable.

Percy the Poodle

Those who supported it (amongst the general population) did not believe it was about oil. Those who opposed did not do so because of its economic impacts on this country but because it was illegal and would cause unnecessary bloodshed. Therefore linking views amongst the electorate on Iraq to those on the running of our economy is still IMO a mistake.

prober

Percy... actually "Left /Right" is 3 core dimensional not two, with a 4th of considerable significance. ie Social/Economics/ Authoritarian/Nationalism. The BBC etc try and pretend it is one dimensional in order to use "right wing " as a sneer in an incorrect context.

In practice , everything is a mixture ( eg we all want to help the poor but argue on how best to ) but .......................

Taking extremes , Hard line fascists and communists are both heavily authoritarian ie "Right Wing". UKIP has a strong democracy & libertarian ethos hence (Left), combined with social self responsibility ethos ( Right ).

Whereas the revolutionary wing of communism is anti nationalism ( Left Wing) , communist governments are strongly into reinforcing nationalist feeling ( eg Cuba) hence Right Wing. UKIP is nationalist hence Right Wing.

So what about radical Muslims ? They tend to be on the extremes of authoritarian and "nationalism" in the sense that Islam demands literal obedience to the book and Islam is the nation replacing any geographical national loyalty. The Wests has still not got its head round the implications. Islam does not really fit the "box" on social and economics as it has no interest in the latter and in the former is a combination of hard line Right (family duty) & (alms for the poor) Left.

So what about the Blair government ..... assuming they believe in anything ? Actually a mixture of Left wing instinct ( fanatical regulators ) and pragmatic. Hence simplistically ( & open to challeng)
Social ....Left with newspaper posturing to the Right as things unravel in crime and social disentegration etc
Economic..... Right free market but unable to stop meddling ( Left)
Authoritarianism ..... Incresaingly so ... Right... repressive legislation
Nationalism ...... Increasingly ( unconvincingly) Right

& the EU ? Dont get me depressed.