Anti-EU party campaigns to 'sod the lot'

[pampango]

Source: Agence France Presse

Far-right UK Independence Party (UKIP) launched its manifesto for May 6 elections on Tuesday, vowing to freeze immigration and pull out of the European Union under the slogan "sod the lot".

Accusing the main parties of ducking the real issues, UKIP unveiled a campaign poster featuring the faces of the main party leaders Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, under the slogan "Sod the Lot."

UKIP policies include a five-year freeze on immigration, the introduction of work permits for everyone including EU citizens, and a pledge to triple the staffing of the UK Border Agency.

On the economy, it would transfer two million jobs from the public to the private sector, introduce a 31 percent flat tax on income, and increase defence spending by 40 percent.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j3CR2MtyphhSAUGMQkcwrBJXKHMQ

[Democat]

1. Are they also insisting that Gordon Brown is Kenyan?

Sounds like the UK Tea Baggers?

[T_i_B]

2. Quite similar to the teabaggers

They are big on global warming denial, obsessively anti-immigrant and so on. They tend to do well at European elections but at the General Election it's not all about their pet topic of the EU, plus the voting system General Election is not First Past The Post, which does not benefit them as the lousy PR system in the Euro elections does.

You are welcome to come down to the UK forum with any questions about the UK general election and the people who are likely to be the next government.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=191

[LeftishBrit]

3. No, but there's a probably a contingent among them who think he's not a True Brit because he comes

from Socialist Scotland instead of good old Middle England.

They are pretty much like teabaggers though mostly without the religious fervour.

[T_i_B]

5. That's more the English Democrats

Much like UKIP and the BNP but with more of an anti-Scottish tendency.

[LeftishBrit]

6. Oh God, I had mercifully forgotten the English Democrats

What a bunch of lunatics they are.

[T_i_B]

7. We have one standing where I live.

Haven't had any leaflets from them yet though.

[No Elephants]

8. Somehow, I don't think they'll be using any Tea Party nomenclature.

[steaa]

4. The UKIP do not seem to think a lot aside from knee-jerk ideas.

Even if by some miracle they win an election, or if the Tories withdraw from the EU - the UK will still abide by EU laws and directives but the difference would be that they wont have a say in how they are made. See: Norway and Switzerland.

[boppers]

9. WTF does that even MEAN? "Sod the lot"? Putting soil on an area?

Could somebody please explain? That sounds like a good thing.

Also, if you're in the mood, I can't figure out the obsession with testicles, as in "the bollocks", are they bad, or good?

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. You really haven't heard of 'sod' as a verb? Wow

It's short for 'sodomise'. This may be the rudest campaign poster ever, from a party that takes itself seriously anyway (and it has several representatives in the European Parliament, because in European elections it gets a significant vote).

So, no, not a good thing. I'd say it's about as rude as "screw the lot of them".

'Bollocks' - that's a good question. If you say what someone has said is 'bollocks', it's roughly the same as 'bullshit'. Or if something has gone wrong, you might say just 'bollocks'. However, if you call something 'the dog's bollocks', that's praising it (presumably because they're so good that dogs like licking them).

[T_i_B]

11. I'd just like to say...

that "the dog's bollocks" is a f**king stupid term!

[boppers]

12. So, their slogan is to "Violently abuse the group in a sexual way"?

Wow.

I'm still confused about the "bollocks" thing, though.

Is there a range of bollocks, or are only dog's bollocks good?

For example, would "the cat's bollocks" (also licked by the species) good things?

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. There's no assonance in "cat's bollocks", though

Though something can be the "cat's whiskers" - which, interestingly, they lick a lot too. I'm not sure if bees lick their knees, though (but that is back to assonance).

Sodomy doesn't have to be violent, or abuse, of course. As I said, it's pretty much the equivalent of "screw the lot".

[boppers]

17. Sodomy was a criminal act in much of the US, until recently.

So, "screw the lot" may not work, because screwing was quite legal, and could refer to penile/vaginal sex in the US. Sodomy was not, and referred to non-penile/vaginal sex.

Is, perhaps, "ass-fuck the lot" closer, and within both definitions, or have the meanings diverged so much that "sod" has no concise US meaning, because it's related to historically illegal sex in the US, that was legal in the UK?

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. No, 'screw the lot' is closer

'Ass-fuck the lot' would be far more aggressive, as a phrase. 'Sod' as a verb isn't that aggressive; even the first recorded example given in the Oxford English Dictionary is:

"1904 Eng. Dial. Dict. V. 605/2 Phr. sod him, may mischief befall him. w. Yks. Sod him, he can go to ____."

That set of underscores is what was in the 1904 Dialect dictionary - standing in for a word they felt they couldn't print - and 'hell' is probably the word. So 'sod' may have been felt milder than 'go to hell'. And "sod him/you/etc." is a common expression, without actually implying any physical act - South Park's "screw you guys, I'm going home" could just as easily be "sod you guys ..." in British English.

It can appear in comedy that's not that outrageous - in the 198Os Blackadder TV series, there's a joke that Baldrick thinks his first name is 'Sodoff' "because when I was young, I'd go up to other boys, and say 'my name's Baldrick', and they'd reply 'yes, we know, sod off, Baldrick'". Or in the 1970s, Monty Python and the Holy Grail having the line "you silly sod!" kept in, while others were changed (it got an 'A' certificate, roughly the equivalent of a 'PG') - in the following, the '|' indicates a line that was changed to the '+' after it:

ARTHUR: ... You silly sod.

TIM: What?

ARTHUR: You got us all worked up.

BEDEVERE: You cretin!

TIM: That is not an ordinary rabbit ... 'tis the most foul cruel and bad-tempered thing you ever set eyes on.

ROBIN: You tit. I soiled my armor I was so scared!

TIM: That rabbit's got a vicious streak. It's a killer!

| GALAHAD: Oh, fuck off.

+ GALAHAD: Get stuffed.

TIM: He'll do you up a treat mate!

GALAHAD: Oh yeah?

| ROBIN: You turd!

+ ROBIN: Mangy scots git!

http://mzonline.com/bin/view/Python/HolyGrailScene31

So 'sod' and 'tit' were OK, but 'fuck' and 'turd' were replaced (good thing too - 'mangy Scots git' is a great line). It's not certain the replacements were just for the sake of stopping arguments with the film rating board ('turd' would have been able to stay in, I'd think), but it does look rather like that.

[miscsoc]

13. increase defence spending by 40%

why? i'd always thought the ukip would have a fairly isolationist foreign policy. evidently not now. when farage was leader they made some expressions of anti-war sentiment re: iraq, though the most lukewarm imaginable

it amazes me how these idiots can be so obsessed by withdrawing from the eu yet at the same time eager to surrender our sovereignty to the americans, preferably the most right wing and belligerent americans available. at least the eu has elements of democracy in its institutions and can be reformed.

ukip are turning into an even more sinister outfit since lord pearson took the helm - they seem to be trying to emulate geert wilders organisation in the netherlands and trying to stir up racial/religious tension to win votes. i saw an interview somewhere online where pearson expressed sympathy with the edl, even.

I wouldn't be surprised if the current ukip re-evaluated the possibility of ties with the bnp some time soon. they have refused previous overtures but i certainly wouldn't put it past pearson to change that policy, especially now that the BNP has been compelled to abandon explicit racism in its membership policies

[T_i_B]

14. UKIP have always been wildly anti-immigrant

It's their 2nd main obsession after Brussels bashing.

The thing that I've noticed about them is of late though is how much they go in for climate change denial. I can post the text of a loony e-mail I have recived from UKIP central office if you want proof of this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=191x29536#29546

[miscsoc]

15. yes, the anti-immigration stuff has intensified lately though

they used to at least cloak it in politically correct language about the country being full, rather than specifically picking on minorities. the anti-eu nonsense was destructive but didn't seem to promote violence or anything in the way the islamophobic stuff does.

i've noticed the climate thing too. the bnp have leapt on that bandwagon as well, it's an example of "crank magnetism" - google that.

[ikri]

18. "transfer two million jobs from the public to the private sector"

I'm amazed that more hasn't been made of this since I cannot think of a way to do that without privatizing the NHS.

They'd lose 90% of their supporters if they were pressed on that policy.