Divide & Rule

On 5Live this morning, there was a debate about whether a tweet by Labour MP Diane Abbott is racist or not. Some people have spotted the real issue behind this comment, while others seem to have focussed on the surface meaning. Before we begin, let's look at her words "White people love playing "divide & rule" We should not play their game #tacticasoldascolonialism".

A tweet has a limit of 140 characters, which means some discussions or comments are truncated. This was also a reply to a journalist, not a general remark. The UK has a long colonial history of this very tactic, but even then it's a curve ball. The issue is not about white versus black, Asian or any other racial group. The issue is about the 1% rich elite versus the 99% of the rest of us.

The elite doesn't care about skin colour, religion, gender, age or anything else. They care about money and influence. They care so much about money and influence that they do anything they can to prevent anyone organising to make a system fairer for all, which means they lose some abilities they currently exploit for personal gain.

Imagine a system where tax avoiders are hunted down via Interpol and assets seized for non-payment. That would see a who's who of social, political and royal elite suddenly have their names and reputations on arrest warrants for defrauding the tax payer. The elite exist for one purpose; to maintain the status quo, where they have a personal stake.

The problem I have with Diane Abbott's tweet, is that she is implying that she's one of the groups being divided and ruled by virtue of being black. She is evoking the image of colonialism to add power to that implication. The problem with this is that she is part of the elite. She is part of the 1%. She is privileged. She is part of a system which has always played the divide and rule card to maintain the status quo.

Politicians are very well skilled in manipulating people, they do it for a living. They are very skilled communicators, in picking exact words to use to imply stuff they want you to conclude, while sneakily leaving themselves an out if called on it later. Politicians who develop the art of the non-answer or deflection are those who rise up the ladder. Politicians who attain cabinet member status can be assumed to be skilled in the qualities their parties value......the non-answer.

To some degree, politicians have to be aware of, and stoke their public image. They rely on being a "name" when the election comes round. If your local MP is in the cabinet, or regularly appears on the news discussing stuff, they are a known quantity. To the average voter the challengers are just a photograph and name on a ballot paper. Dianne Abbott spent a while as a regular pundit on a political discussion program, among others. Her public profile has always been a key part of who she is.

To that degree, she is as much a "celeb" as a newsreader or TV host. As such, she knows how to draw publicity. She knows that publicity simply raises her profile. If it's out of context, it is an obvious publicity stunt. Like any politician, the safe assumption is to assume everything they say is lies, deception or misdirection until proven otherwise by some actual proof. The only person who knows is Dianne Abbott.

The other element of this whole concept, is that people are people. Regular conversations are often incoherent and not thought through to the umpteenth degree. As such, we can all put out throwaway comments while not paying attention, or without the context of the conversation, while tired, drunk or just in a bad mood and the world is defined as "a bunch of obnoxious wankers".

Her tweet and the resulting debate has divided opinions. Some agree or disagree on various grounds. The sentements behind it may well be noble but isn't that a textbook example of a politicians use of "divide and rule"? Perhaps we should take her advice, and not fall for it......even when it's deployed by her.

While writing this post Dianne Abbott has posted an update tweet "Tweet taken out of context. Refers to nature of 19th century European colonialism. Bit much to get into 140 characters."