Labour leader breaks lockstep with Johnson at last
Keith Starmer has at last recognised the inevitable and has added his voice to calls for a national lockdown – the first time in months that the Labour leader has broken ranks with Boris Johnson over the issue. It comes as 143 people died in the UK in the last 24 hours.
The u-turn is to be welcomed – and brings him into line with SAGE scientists – but Starmer remains ambivalent over schools. A lockdown with schools open for the children of key workers could be effective, but wider opening in the sector that has fuelled the second wave is out of the question and he needs to say so unambiguously and urgently before more lives are lost.
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Starmer is advocating that the lockdown should take place over the half-term holidays.
No ‘If’s or Buts’ Starmer must go!
If you can muster the support of 20% of the PLP then there’s a mechanism in the rule book to remove a sitting leader. 😏
The chocolate fireguard changes tack again. What a clampit.
Really? I thought it was a very well timed and effective intervention.
This isn’t Iraq Blair.
lundiel – How odd, what a weird association to make.
What the hell is he doing? This is planned between the lot of them.
🥱
Evgeny Kissin, the brilliant pianist whom I was extremely blessed to have had a minuscule chat and autograph after seeing him perform … as ever with the thoroughly deserved 7 or 8 encores, has just reminded us all of the wisdom of Lev Landau, imprisoned by Stalin. Landau felt it necessary to REPEAT to his fellow prisoners that “No one is to blame if he was born a slave; but a slave who not only shuns aspirations for his freedom, but justifies and embellishes his slavery … such a slave is a lackey and boor who causes a legitimate feeling of indignation, contempt and disgust.”
Indignation, contempt and disgust re Sir Kier Starmer, is righteous disgust, not enough contempt and exquisitely calibrated indignation. SO, expect nothing good from Sir Keith Starmer. You won’t be disappointed.
🌹🌹🌹
windchimes – After posting that you must be disappointed that there isn’t a prize for coming up with most tenuous and irrelevant link of the day.
Sorry SH, it needed to be clearer for a few like u. If you expect even a tiny useful crumb from Max Headroom, then u r a slave deserving of contempt for not freeing yourself.
Similarly McCluskey, McDonald et al, who after 60+ years at the heart of the political bog, still believe they can threaten your Keith into throwing them a crumb or two, they are pathetic and contemptible.
Weeks ago when McCluskey made his threat re union funding, I thought hmmm,,, there still… even now…McC feels that threats and appeasement is the way rather than firm action and sound principles. Surely if he meant anything useful he would withdraw at least £5 million funding WITHOUT WARNING.
But as per Left history, perfectly able people are afraid to govern themselves, so bend over to be shafted over and over again by Red Tory bastards like your slave masters Keith & co. And in fairness, you are all determined and realise the importance of putting your case forward relentlessly, even though without any merit. We are yet to learn that… sadly. But SH it is with wild optimism I hope u have a road to Damascus conversion!!! Seriously, i’v been thinking, there is a reason why converts are selected to get things done. They always have more zeal!!! Your work rate fir your master is tremendous … and all for stale white bread and stale unfiltered water.
correction… FOR your master…
windchimes – Thanks for your long but rather pointless rant. 😏
If Len McCluskey (and Unite) HAD cut the funding to the LP by £5m, signpost would have STILL been criticising and condemning him for only cutting it by £5m, and saying how he should have cut it by £10m, or whatever. His sole objective – as with dozens and dozens and dozens of his posts since shortly after he started posting on here about a year ago, is to find fault with Jeremy and his colleagues and allies and the left membership, albeit totally spuriously. And you can be 1,000% certain that signpost knows that McCluskey has ALSO told Starmer (via the media) that there could very well be more cuts in funding AND that the Unite vote was a very close run thing – ie 25 to 23.
The following are excerpts from an article in the Indepenent in August 2018:
Unite general secrtary Len McCluskey has waded into the row over Labour antisemitism, accusing Jewish community leaders of “truculent hostility” and “refusing to take yes for an answer”.
The close ally of Jeremy Corbyn claimed Jewish groups had shown “an utter refusal to engage in dialogue” and were guilty of “petulant trolling”.
Writing for HuffPost, the Unite general secretary claimed Labour had agreed to all the requests made by Jewish community leaders.
He wrote: “I am at a loss to understand the motives of the leadership of the Jewish community – the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Jewish Labour Movement.
“What is the response from the leading Jewish community organisations to this record of reaching out, of understanding, and of action? Intransigent hostility and an utter refusal to engage in dialogue about building on what has been done and resolving outstanding difficulties.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/antisemitism-row-labour-party-jeremy-corbyn-unite-ihra-jewish-groups-len-mccluskey-a8495051.html
Given that you think so badly of just about everyone on the left signpost and are forever finding fault with them, why don’t you fuck off and form your own party and show us all how clever and superior you are, as you obviously think you ARE!
Signpost is a paid shill and his job is to concoct ways to discredit everone on the left, from Jeremy Corbyn to the left membership to his alleged CLP. And it’s all complete and utter black propaganda B/S!
Arse Hole, re your 1️⃣ “Writing for HuffPost, the Unite general secretary claimed Labour had agreed to all the requests made by Jewish community leaders.” with that u confirm what i suspected re John McDonald whining on the radio “We did EVERYTHING THEY asked!”
I’v always wanted to be sure. Thanks for presenting the Huff quote which confirms wanton UNREWARDED appeasement. Only a Dim White Flag Dullard would present such evidence as defence, when it supports in full what I have detected in the likes of you, ie PATHETIC APPEASEMENT.
2️⃣ U r sort of correct re the £5million. With no knowledge of the amount of funding McC’s Union gives, £5 came to mind. Were I McCluskey, I would have withdrawn ALL the funding without warning until Keith and the rest of his Tory infestation left and joined Ummuna, Soubrey, Ellman, Berger etc.
3️⃣ “McCluskey has ALSO told Starmer (via the media) that there could very well be more cuts in funding”
More support for my view in “THERE COULD VERY WELL BE…” Sounds quite wet to me and every sensible person. That’s why you won’t see it. You have suffocated your senses.
You crazed sad dishonest lying weirdo. Anyone would feel you can’t accept that i’ve rejected your sordid advances. Or you don’t accept No means no!!! ie misdirected tenacity. At least SteveH slaves away for a defined aim. While you??? Not even heaven knows your aims. GET HELP!!!
Anyway AH, wether you get help or not, I am sorry to day that though my tastes are quite Catholic, the line is drawn at Hysterical White Flag Wavers, Committed Defeatist, those impervious to learning who expect a different result using their same failed clampit methods that failed a minute before, and those lacking self awareness… though you AH sink to new depths with that. Astonishing but very funny🤣🤣🤣 , plus you are behind all my other redlines. Not a chance… even if Hell freezes over.
I’v tried politeness. Now lets try blunt. Get it into your pathetic sick head, do get help while it is still free at the point of delivery ASAP And chase pleasures elsewhere. I am not interested. Not now. Not ever. NEVER‼️‼️‼️
‘Cruel and unusual punishment: the trial of Julian Assange’
https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/cruel-and-unusual-punishment-the-trial-of-julian-assange/
Allan Howard, PKEASE stop exploiting the noble cause of Julian. Clearly nothing is off limits for you to keep up your act. People have seen through your campaign to make us all WHITE-FLAG WAVERS. U do it persistently trying to distract with posts about Julian, for whom u could not care less.
You may be sick in the head but it does not excuse your tawdry base exploitation of the wicked pressure on Julian by the forces you work so hard for us to appease. You are beneath contempt. More repellent and disgusting than I thought you were this early evening. STOP trying to exploit Julian’s suffering at the hands of Starmer & Co. You are VILE ‼️‼️‼️
You rightly post this share,but it looks odd on the page after your paranoid nonsense above against signpost.
Nothing paranoid about it all. Signpost, so-called, is a nasty little fascist lying shill, who around five months ago posted the following:
i’m no fan of the potter woman as she did not support jeremy. she had the means and great ability but declined. anyway, she is providing lots of money to help the excellent marvellous glorious Mr Lees to pursue legal case against cummings. this is the sort of ACTION we needed and need. ROBUST ACTION. Clear robust thought. ZERO APPEASEMENT. It has never worked. It has not worked. It will never work.
And when I questioned him about it in another thread he claimed he didn’t say it and said that I was making it up and that I should seek help. The following are a few clips from his post:
Dear AH, Mr Lees is not suing Cummings. No one ever said that. The admirable Lees reported Cummings to the police….. AH, you have on several occasion deliberately invented quotes … like boris johnson, and placed your inventions between the words of others. He, johnson needs help. You do too……. Skwawkbox readers can find my accurate words. No decent nor “well balanced” person would slander as you do. You do EXACTLY as the slanderers of Jeremy did………. The waiting lists are very long, but phone your GP. They will call back and put you in the right direction……. But please seek help – WHILE STILL FREE. Other phone services Mind and Sane can be helpful. Accept you need help AH, and many will try to help, even during Covid-19 Tory horrors
Anyway, so here’s a link to what he says he didn’t say:
https://skwawkbox.org/2020/05/24/video-cummings-heckled-by-own-neighbours-over-disregard-for-lock-down-rules/#comment-147121
Funny how you so often defend a lying little shill by attacking and vilifying ME John. I wonder why that is!
Allan – DOES ANYONE CARE?
Steve, needless to say, one shill doesn’t care what ANOTHER shill does, or says, precisely because they ARE a shill..
But I’m gonna keep posting the above every few days so that as many people as possible get to see it, and it will of course – along with your… er, reply, get it’s very own chapter in my book. So yet again, thanks for the additional material.
Allan – Is it dark up there.
“A lockdown with schools open for the children of key workers could be effective…”
Is it known how many infections there were among keyworkers’ children, their teachers and the keyworkers themselves the last time this was done?
I don’t remember seeing any numbers published.
My friend who is a teaching assistant and worked through the lockdown had no infections of children or teachers in her school. However, strict social distancing was in place.
Oh well, if your friend says so…
Anyone interested in reading what Keir Starmer actually said, in full, can read it here.
https://labourlist.org/2020/10/act-now-break-the-cycle-starmers-statement-calling-for-circuit-break/
……and you can watch the video here https://youtu.be/F7LB-wiOfKs (there’s a short Q&A at the end from journalists)
Now that even his own MPs have told him to start opposing, he has final done a little …. a VERY little, opposing. He should have been doing this from 4th April, not boosting the fool Johnson. Had he done so, then Johnson would have had to have upped his game, to the benefit of all (bar the benefit in financial terms to some Tory donors).
Because it has taken Starmer this long to do this little, it’s very doubtful whether he’ll keep it up …. what on earth would the rightwing press say about him!
I’m sorry but following the advice of behavioural psychologists isn’t science. Following the actions taken by Sweden however, is science.
Sweden has nearly twice our land area, less than a sixth of our population, a generally higher standard of living and better education system.
Those factors make imposed lockdowns more easily avoided.
If “HK and UK aren’t compatible” – and I think you meant ‘comparable’ – why are you trying to compare Sweden to the UK and calling that “science?”
Frankly I don’t think you’re qualified to make that judgement.
.
All the lockdown fans posting here should adopt a bit of common sense. If you impose a lockdown, there is a natural euphoria once it is lifted and people behave accordingly. If you impose subsequent lockdowns you increase both the euphoria and the behaviour post lockdown. Starmer is an idiot and a would be authoritarian. Imposing lockdowns also destroys the economy and will eventually out the young against the old because the young can’t be expected to put their lives on hold forever.
Lundiel,
You really do need to look at Hong Kong, which is now managed two major outbreaks since late January – our guard ain’t down and if cases go above 60 per day we go back into Lockdown.
I’ve told you before, HK and UK aren’t compatible in regard to the virus. A number of different factors separate us including viral mutations in Europe, a preponderance of East Asians not being affected so badly as Europeans, cultural social distancing norms of East Asians and early human DNA in Europeans that appears to make th more susceptable.
If scientists could prove that following strict lockdown would do more than damp the spread I for one would welcome it. However, we can’t keep shutting down forever and a working vaccine is not yet on the horizon. It is my belief that people in England are becoming seriously worried about the effects of further lockdowns and are less likely to adhere to them. I believe the best way to proceed is through social distancing, mask wearing and massive financial aid to the vulnerable.
Lundiel,
First, we have a large number of Westerners in South East Asia, many of whom have been breeding with locals shall we say, so, in all fairness we have quite divergent DNA, further, I hope you consider the Philippines as South East Asia, which has been brutalised by the pathogen, much as South American Nations have been brutalised, or don’t Brazil count?
Of course, in SEA, which has seen both SARS, MERS and now SARS Cov2, people are a little more willing to wear face masks and engage in social distancing, such measures are helped by the fact that journeys on our MTR have reduced by some 40%, meaning our carriages don’t look like sardines in a can presently, meaning less chance of infection.
However, should infection rates increase above 60-100 per day in a population of more than 7 million, then we go into Lockdown, if we don’t, well given our ageing population our deaths rates will become like those in Europe.
Now, the plan is quite simple, its believed that a vaccine will be in place within the next 12 months and that this will require some 70% of the population to be vaccinated, and, luckily, China is actually developing four vaccines presently, all in phase three trials, has actually vaccinated 350,000 people thus far and is hopeful it can rollout a vaccine programme by December – its helps that of these four vaccines, three are based on old methods/technology, with one using modern technology – the old technology vaccines being cheaper to produce.
I’m none too sure how you think people managed to survive during the Spanish Influenza Pandemic, how various containment measures were utilised, or the economic impact that had on communities globally. The fact remains, we do know how to contain the little bugger and we are learning how to treat it also, but, it remains dangerous, particularly to old gits like me, namely those over 55, and we have a load of over 55s in the UK presently.
What you call ‘lockdowns’ make perfect sense. What you call “the economy” is also known as the capitalist system and, notoriously, it is indifferent to such minor matters as tens of thousands of deaths, mainly among elderly and vulnerable people.
The fact is that China, where the pandemic began and quickly came under control is actually the only economy likely to grow this year, because it got a grip on the virus and dealt with it.
In the UK, the US and elsewhere in neo-liberalism’s heartlands, imposition of quarantine, test, trace and treat protocols was half hearted and inefficient and had little more effect than to inconvenience people.
It has not helped us to force the government to do its duty and protect us all, that in the background there has been a ‘libertarian’ chorus from the Thatcherites and proto-fascists spreading the damaging, anti-social and idiotically inaccurate rumour that there is no pandemic and the idea that there is has been promoted by some sort of conspiracy in order to lower stock prices in order that corporations can be snapped up, at a discount, by speculators from Outer Space.
I’ve never read such utter dogmatic rubbish. You obviously don’t depend on a wage to survive. You are contemptuous and have some front throwing around accusations of ‘proto fascism’.
Couldn’t agree more, Bevin. Many fail to recognise that Fascism was a bottom-up, not a top-down movement, and grew out of ignorance, misdirected resentment and malice.
The possibility exists now as it did between the wars, Trunt’s base being the prime example.
Tories’ Hostile Environment, Go Home vans, UKIP and retarded conspiracy theorists all keep the roots of Fascism alive.
People are basically cunts.
Nice try McNiven. Fascism was top down utilising nationalism to claim the working class. Fascism is an uneasy alliance of the elite, the business owners and the working class. Fascists believe in controlling the working class by turning them against each other, giving some power and allowing them to exercise control over the rest…..just like Bevin wants to do (all in the name of helping protect the masses)…Tin pot Mussolini. Also Trump has nothing to do with us. He has no following here and attempts by people like your self to link Trumpism with people who don’t accept that the way we are tackling the epidemic is in our best interest is highly disingenuous at best and fucking pathetic at worst.
One doesn’t need to be a denier to reject Tory incompetence on CV.
Fascism grew in the beer halls and back rooms like any revolution – fuck all to do with elites or business owners in the beginning.
The ruling class only climbed aboard when they saw they’d be dispensed with if they didn’t. Of course Hitler would have had some wealthy backers taking a punt on him, there are retards in every walk of life – but as a class, no.