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Are Tories welcome at Glastonbury


Apone
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34 minutes ago, amfy said:

Sadly we were selling it at The Glade Bar - by the cup or jug. A jug was £32 including the deposit, but one guy opted to ditch the jug when he was told about the deposit. He asked for pint cups instead and proceeded to pour most of it over the bar.

We also sold frozen Margueritas and Prosecco. It was a proper pain. When people came to the bar and said '3 ciders please' I literally wanted to hug them.

Yikes :(

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1 hour ago, dazednconfused said:

Actually witnessed more open Tory bashing last year's Thursday then any day this year. 

Yup, and that's sort of interesting. Last year it was more like lashing out because we had lost.

This year was a lot more positive and celebratory because it looks like things might be starting to turn around. Even Corbyn's speech wasn't really Tory-bashing, it was more a positive pro-Labour speech.

So it's interesting that a Conservative found the latter worse. 

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7 hours ago, pie_and_a_pint said:

It did seem, more than ever, that politics was a binary 'Labour/Corbyn good / everyone else bad' attitude at the festival this year.

I understand why, but those of us with Green and/or Liberal leanings seem to have been shoved in the 'bad' box or worse (particularly in the case of the Green Party) rendered invisible, which given the environmentally-aware slant of the festival seems a missed opportunity to add some balance.

 

In the New Labour years, there was a hell of a lot of Green/Lib Dem representation at the fest. Naturally. Haven't been to the last couple, but the re-emergence of a Labour Party that aligns more with the festival's views means naturally there's more focus.

Re: the cuddly Lib Dems, forgive me for not being totally convinced by a party willing to side with the Tories once more while there's an alternative available. Lots are feeling the effects of last time :) 

Edited by GlastoSimon
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5 hours ago, Apone said:

Mate I'm reporting an observation

I think some people's problem is that you've said this then failed to relate a single story or example despite being asked by many people who didn't find your suggestion such severe bashing was going on very credible.

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1 hour ago, DeanoL said:

Yup, and that's sort of interesting. Last year it was more like lashing out because we had lost.

This year was a lot more positive and celebratory because it looks like things might be starting to turn around. Even Corbyn's speech wasn't really Tory-bashing, it was more a positive pro-Labour speech.

So it's interesting that a Conservative found the latter worse. 

But sadly you still lost (maybe not quite as badly but still ....)

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1 hour ago, Ommadawn said:

But sadly you still lost (maybe not quite as badly but still ....)

But still widely regarded as an astounding success.

The bigger win is turning the tide away from me me me conservatism towards a social democratic future.

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13 hours ago, Apone said:

Just wondering because as I wandered around what struck me was the amount of vile,abusive,threatening and downright aggressive anti Tory messaging I have ever seen at the festival, In my view it was my favourite of the 6 I've been to in every way,bands,DJs,weather,side attractions,food, Thatchers cider (yummy!) but not the politics which was just everywhere this year. I totally get that Glastonbury is a left leaning festival, thats fine but does this leftness just have to be so damn aggressive and toxic. Seems the original Glasto ethos of peace,love, harmony has been completely lost in aggressive Momentum style Left wing rhetoric. This was compounded by Corbyn crashing the Glasto crowd, claim them as his own and practically blaming rich evil Tories for killing everyone at Grenfell,this a  spectacle I was forced to watch whilst awaiting the arrival of the Kaiser Chiefs on the Other Stage. It is a pity as Tory supporters prob make up a massive proportion of the Glasto festival goers, and if they're not welcome then presumably neither is their money and Glasto can just become a giant version of the Leftield stage.  

Sensible replies please

As far as I know Michael Eavis  had Woodstock in mind when he began his "little" Festival. I don't know how old you are but I was a teenager back then I know what the political atmosphere was like back then. Watch the film if you do not know. The main issue was the Vietnam war but also about Black rights and women's rights. Students were shot on the  Kent State campus for protesting the war by the Ohio National Guard. in Canada the FLQ kidnapped the provincial cabinet minister Pierre Laporte and the British diplomat James Cross. Women burned their bras in protest to make a stand for women's rights. 

So if he supported Woodstock, he supported many left-wing and not necessarily popular views (with the OG status quo) back then.

Those that held those antiwar views and other left leaning ideas eventually won out and they did not do it by keeping quiet at rock festivals. 

 

 

Edited by JacquelineS
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7 hours ago, GlastoSimon said:

In the New Labour years, there was a hell of a lot of Green/Lib Dem representation at the fest. Naturally. Haven't been to the last couple, but the re-emergence of a Labour Party that aligns more with the festival's views means naturally there's more focus.

Re: the cuddly Lib Dems, forgive me for not being totally convinced by a party willing to side with the Tories once more while there's an alternative available. Lots are feeling the effects of last time :) 

Yeah, fuck the Lib Dems. They're obsolete and pointless. Tactical voting for them and progressive alliances are just splitting the vote.

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8 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

A electoral performance that far outstripped the expectations of even the most optimistic commentators in mainstream media?

No - a pretty mediocre performance against a Conservative government which basically imploded and had one of the worst campaigns in living memory. Look a the figures. Labour barely did better than Ed Milliband in the last election which was largely considered a failure (cos like JC, he lost).

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4 minutes ago, Ommadawn said:

No - a pretty mediocre performance against a Conservative government which basically imploded and had one of the worst campaigns in living memory. Look a the figures. Labour barely did better than Ed Milliband in the last election which was largely considered a failure (cos like JC, he lost).

But you have to admit it's a better performance than anyone was predicting when the election was called?

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I commented on this before in the 'how did avoiding politics at Glastonbury go?'

To be clear,I'm 0% Tory but I have to agree that any Tory voters would have been intimidated had they had the bravery(stupidity?) to tell anyone who their political preference was.

If anyone had done an experiment and filmed themselves wearing a pro-Tory T shirt all weekend then I think Glastonbury's peace and love image would have been tarnished forever.

Ironically, some of the replies on this thread claiming that people wouldn't have been treated aggressively were agressive themselves.

I felt that both at Download and Glastonbury, the bands were getting easy wins by getting the crowds onside by Tory bashing (if they were so political,why only have it part of your act when the election is in?).

Enter Shikari don't wait until election time to put forward their labour views, they are openly and consistently Labour all year round. Some of the bands playing the festivals just jumped on the bandwagon and the Jeremy Corbin chant was reduced to the 'buttscratcher' style chants of some other festivals.

I guarantee that there was a fair percentage of Tory voters at the festival, it's just that they didn't feel comfortable saying it and this is the only reason we haven't heard any stories about 'vile,aggressive,threatening behaviour', not because Glastonbury goers are tolerant and welcoming of all.

My personal view is that all should be welcome at Glastonbury,whatever your creed,colour,race,religion,sexuality and political view

Edited by rivalschools.price
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16 minutes ago, rivalschools.price said:

I commented on this before in the 'how did avoiding politics at Glastonbury go?'

To be clear,I'm 0% Tory but I have to agree that any Tory voters would have been intimidated had they had the bravery(stupidity?) to tell anyone who their political preference was.

If anyone had done an experiment and filmed themselves wearing a pro-Tory T shirt all weekend then I think Glastonbury's peace and love image would have been tarnished forever.

Ironically, some of the replies on this thread claiming that people wouldn't have been treated aggressively were agressive themselves.

I felt that both at Download and Glastonbury, the bands were getting easy wins by getting the crowds onside by Tory bashing (if they were so political,why only have it part of your act when the election is in?).

Enter Shikari don't wait until election time to put forward their labour views, they are openly and consistently Labour all year round. Some of the bands playing the festivals just jumped on the bandwagon and the Jeremy Corbin chant was reduced to the 'buttscratcher' style chants of some other festivals.

I guarantee that there was a fair percentage of Tory voters at the festival, it's just that they didn't feel comfortable saying it and this is the only reason we haven't heard any stories about 'vile,aggressive,threatening behaviour', not because Glastonbury goers are tolerant and welcoming of all.

My personal view is that all should be welcome at Glastonbury,whatever your creed,colour,race,religion,sexuality and political view

Everybody is welcome. But if you choose to vote for a party that furthers the endeavours of the rich at the expense of anyone remotely ordinary, then being pushed into feeling ashamed about it is the least you deserve.

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It's a shame that Tories would go to a festival rooted in left wing politics and feel unwelcome, and I sympathise.  I recently bought a copy of Tractors Weekly magazine only to find it full of stuff about tractors. I was gutted.

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14 minutes ago, Quark said:

It's a shame that Tories would go to a festival rooted in left wing politics and feel unwelcome, and I sympathise.  I recently bought a copy of Tractors Weekly magazine only to find it full of stuff about tractors. I was gutted.

Good point, cos there's nothing in Glastonbury except left wing policies exactly like your Tractor example.

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Tories are most certainly welcome at the festival. One thing I love about the festival is that it's a wonderful promotion of left wing values. Look at what makes Glastonbury great as opposed to every single one of its major competitors and it's the left wing values going through the festival like a stick of rock. The fact that enjoyment of punters is what drives any changes, not profit making. The fact that artists make a lot less money for Glasto but do it for the experience and prestige (though the extra record sales don't hurt). The artwork on the walls. Of course theres things that don't always tally with that too but that's almost inevitable. So for Tories to come and be exposed to this is good - maybe some of them might see an alternate vision of what might be possible.

What really pisses me off though is people like the original poster here. People who complain about the festival being "too political". Ignorant morons who come to a festival like Glasto and have no appreciation of its roots and the fact the festival wouldn't be what it is otherwise.

There's many things I enjoy which I appreciate wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for capitalism. I still enjoy them all the same, so the least Tories can do is appreciate the socialist values which make Glasto what it is, whilst also saying they don't necessarily agree with those values elsewhere in society.

Christmas is a great time of the year. I'm not remotely religious, my family isn't even Christian. It would be crazy for me to  say there's too much religion in Christmas despite how secular a celebration it's become. This is sort of like what some Tories are saying.

 

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1 hour ago, Ommadawn said:

No - a pretty mediocre performance against a Conservative government which basically imploded and had one of the worst campaigns in living memory. Look a the figures. Labour barely did better than Ed Milliband in the last election which was largely considered a failure (cos like JC, he lost).

Labour now ahead of the Tories in the polls- they had a huge upward swing during the election but ran out of time. You're being ridiculous by pretending there's nothing going on at the moment and nothing was achieved. 

Edited by Mr.Tease
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