How the left has been left-behind by the right

Now we have to rely on the right to fight the feral rich

Once again a spectre is haunting Europe. But don't look to the left for any pointers. Instead, keep up with some very interesting voices on the right, and their increasingly feverish interest in some fundamental issues: the position of wealthy and unaccountable elites, the extent to which supposedly liberalised economies have been fixed in their favour, and a restive public mood across the globe.

Fear not. This is one man who will never again look to the left for anything useful.

However I used to consider myself mildly left-wing. I was never a Marxist. I never bought into Stalinism. The superiority of market economies over dirigisme seemed to me to be self-evident.

But I did think we needed a government to moderate some of the effects of a market economy. For instance, I think government ought to ensure that those at the bottom of the income spectrum reap some of the benefits of a growing economy.

In the end, I feel, it is about people.

I did not leave the left. The left abandoned me. I really cannot be part of a "movement" that makes a celebrity out of the likes of David Hicks.

To the modern lefties any cause, even the rights of Somali pirates, has a higher priority than the welfare of ordinary working folks at home.

Somali pirates you say?

Pirates protected from EU taskforce by human rights

…Modern European navies are now so mindful of the legal loopholes they face in tackling pirates that they often instruct commanders to simply let them go.

…The Royal Navy admits, unofficially, that it is under similar instructions.

So what does the Royal Navy do when, despite its best efforts, it captures pirates? Would you believe it supplies them with nicotine patches?

HMS nursemaid shame as navy seizes 17 armed Somalis, gives them halal meat and nicotine patches...then sets them free!

The 17 outlaws were armed with an arsenal of AK 47s and rocket-propelled grenades, and had forced hostages on a hijacked fishing vessel to work as slaves for three months.

But instead of bringing them to justice, the British servicemen were ordered to provide the pirates halal meals, medical checks, cigarettes – and in one case even a nicotine patch – before releasing them in their own boats.

I just love it. Cigarettes and nicotine patches. Well, I hope the pirate was successful in quitting.