The Daily Express must try harder

I never buy national newspapers.  I cannot remember when I last bought one.  It must have been years ago. I will read them online and in hard copy provided that I can do so without parting with any money.

It is not parsimony that prevents me from buying national newspapers however, but a moral objection to the content of our national newspapers.  Before I explain further, let me draw your attention to two comments on the website of The Daily Express.

Commenting on the rise of UKIP, Leo McKinstry argues that this is mainly at the expense of the Labour Party.  He remarks that:

The party was founded more than a century ago to represent the working class but now, in the grip of its pro-EU, diversity-fixated dogma, regards traditional supporters with contempt.

While the nanny-employing, restaurant-using, property-renovating classes squeal with delight at cheap foreign labour, British workers find themselves squeezed out of the job market or forced to endure lower living standards, while public services, especially housing, the NHS and schools, are put under intolerable pressure.

He continues:

Labour tries to cover its attacks on the working class with endless anti-Tory, toffbashing rhetoric. But this class war language is deeply hypocritical, for Labour is awash with privilege.  (He then lists senior Labour MPs who went to fee-paying schools.)  He concludes that:

Enveloped in politically correct ideology Labour can no longer claim to be the party of the people. That is why Miliband should be terrified of Ukip’s rise.

As an aside, McKinstry also comments on what he calls the noble impulse which helped win two world wars against tyranny, and yet he fails to explain what is noble about murdering innocent people.

In a comment about the Islamic community in Britain, Peter Hill observes:

I wonder if Muslim countries go out of their way to cater for other faiths. Actually, I don’t wonder.

They think “unbelievers” don’t even belong to the human race.

This is inflammatory.  In fact I think it is the only inflammatory comment about Islam I have ever read in a national newspaper.

There is a lot to admire in the comments by McKinstry and Hill, and yet I refuse ever to give money to The Daily Express.

If Leo McKinstry truly feels that the Labour Party has abandoned the cause of ordinary people, then will he state publicly and unambiguously that no one should ever vote for the Labour Party?

If Leo McKinstry cares about the impact of open door immigration on this country, then will he offer public and unambiguous support for a political party which seeks to end open door immigration?

(In case anyone is wondering, UKIP is not that party.  It has never sought to end immigration; it had no immigration policy on its website earlier this year; and its current policy statement on its website is vague and does not mention asylum seekers.)

If Peter Hill considers himself entitled to state publicly his opinion of Islam, then maybe he would like to condemn the fact that Nick Griffin was prosecuted twice for expressing his opinion of Islam.  Did The Daily Express call for either of those trials to be abandoned?

The Daily Express must try harder if it wants my money.

Related previous posts include:
Your Muslim faith - really?
Our fellow-travelling national press
Paxman on war, Hastings on Russia
The Daily Express comments on Islam