SHOOTING THAT FOX FOR THE WOKE GENERATION

No, it's just more lock-jawed pop-stars

Thicker than pig-shit

Nothing to convey

So scared to show intelligence

It might smear their lovely career

Morrissey – The World is Full of Crashing Bores

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Much against my better judgement, I found myself watching BBC Question Time. Why would an erudite citizen like myself be watching such an egregious example of left wingery? Why would I risk destroying my TV by hurling a pint mug at it because the words of some Mao apologist has enraged me? Well dear reader, I had seen the panel list and had noted with pleasure that it included that scion of the Fox acting dynasty, Laurence Fox.

Now Laurence Fox, as well as being an actor, singer and songwriter is something of an iconoclast in the luvvie world. He sits beyond the pale and rejects the woke narrative in it’s entirety. Now, in the eyes of those who sit Olympian above us and correct us when we stray from the path of correctness, this would put him in the same league as Hitler or at the very least Margaret Thatcher. In fact, Laurence is far from right wing. He regards himself as sensible and I’m inclined to agree and here’s why.

A statement from an audience member, obviously a plant, regarding the treatment of Meghan Markle was as follows:

Plant, “Let’s be really clear about what this is, let’s call it by its name, it’s racism”

Fox, “We’re the most tolerant, lovely country in Europe”

Plant, “You’re a white privileged male”

Fox after banging head on table “I can’t help what I am, I was born like this, it’s an immutable characteristic so to call me a white privileged male is to be racist. You’re being racist”

That was pretty much the end of the exchange.

This was different. This was new. I have seen many panellists frozen by a comment like this lest they say the wrong thing and trash their career. Not so Laurence Fox. He fought back and landed a nice metaphorical upper cut to the jaw. This was brilliant I thought, but wait; the audience, they’ll tear him apart. He’ll be eviscerated. I waited for what I thought was the inevitable reaction but no – it was good.

He was being applauded, nay cheered by them.

Lets jump forward to a later section of the show. The question was “Who should be Labour leader?” Fox answered that it should be Keir Starmer “Because he looks like he can take Boris on.” Now this got an extra special dirty look from Shami Chakrabarti – she had been firing them at Fox for most of the show. “What about the four women?” as if that should have been the default response. Fox did another face plant and said, “Let me rewind. Any of the women. Is that better?” There were quite a few gasps at this ironic heresy but he followed up with “It’s really more important what gender you are, what sex your more than your policies or how you approach politics – come on.”

So we clearly have an individual who will not meekly bow to the accepted views of the left. Who, when, challenged has a common sense response to the question. Refreshing stuff indeed.

Why does this matter? Why do the opinions of TV talking heads have any bearing on how or what we think? The answer to this comes in three parts.

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Historically, there has been a plain divide between the opinions of the famous (and might I add influential), and those of the ordinary working citizen. The metropolitan elites both in the art and in politics have shown an obvious sneering contempt for the outdated and unsophisticated views of those outside their bubble. Now, they see anyone not conforming to their views as a fascist. This is not hyperbole. They are so far to the left that everyone else is on the right of the political spectrum. It’s like a man standing on the North Pole. Every direction he turns is south. So it is that the left’s view of all outside the left is that they’re right wing.

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The second point is fear and self-censorship. The slow but incessant creep of post modernist thinking has entered our discourse and changed the way people think. By declaring what can be said, they have changed what can be thought and by extension discussed. There is a fear out in the real world that some thoughts must be kept as thoughts and never spoken, lest they fall foul of the rules and result in disastrous real life consequences for the speaker.

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Thirdly, this way of thinking, detached from reality has been taken up not just by the left but also by the centre and the right. Euphemism, spin and distraction rather than plain speaking is the rule. Whataboutery is the go-to response. Anything meaningful is buried and as a result, nothing gets said.

Laurence Fox has said the unsayable. He doesn’t care if there are any repercussions. He’s self employed and so cannot be sacked. I think he’d have said what he said anyway. He’s sick to the back teeth of the bullshit. It might affect his career but I think not. He said what we're all thinking. He’s not the only one. Look at Jordan Peterson. He’s filling stadia. People want to hear his message of self-reliance and improvement. Of course he’s been labelled alt-right adjacent or some such rubbish but he’s not. He’s not right or left he’s just sensible. A grown up in a world of children. Fox is the same and I for one want to see more people stand up and say enough! Let’s be honest and speak our minds. The nation is crying out for this.

The 2019 election result was an emphatic rejection of left wing thought and politics. The voter in the so-called ‘red wall’, the constituencies in the north, voted for two things. A PM who would make Brexit happen and more importantly, against the Corbyn far-left project. I really believe that we have turned a corner and can see an era of truth just ahead of us.

It’s up to us to see that we get there.

Steve Metcalf was born in the Home Counties of Geordie parents, raised in Leicestershire but has now settled in rural Lancashire. He escaped from corporate life in his late forties and now drives a truck for a living. When not working he likes to cook, study military history and walk with his unruly Labrador Mollie in the Lakeland Fells.

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