Vice-chair suggests national party organisation has been ‘bodysnatched by closet racists’ as he informs members of suspension and laments Starmer’s failure to confront racism during LBC appearance
Last month, the SKWAWKBOX reported that Labour members in South Thanet had ‘overwhelmingly’ passed a motion calling for the restoration of the Labour ‘whip’ to former party leader Jeremy Corbyn. The Jewish member who had proposed the motion told the SKWAWKBOX that he had moved it because:
Once again Jewish members are being used as a political football in what is a blatantly factional manoeuvre… how dare [acting general secretary David Evans] tell me what is and isn’t safe for Jewish people.
Even a war criminal like Blair didn’t attempt to stop internal debate in the party.
That attempt to ‘stop internal debate’ has continued – with the suspension of the Thanet constituency party (CLP) chair. The vice-chair (membership) of the CLP announced the news in a post on the CLP’s Facebook page:
The Chair of South Thanet LP has been suspended by the Labour Party. This follows local members agreeing collectively on a motion/statement of support for Jeremy Corbyn. The motion/statement was proposed, seconded and supported by Jewish members and referred to Mr Corbyn’s ‘proud record of fighting all forms of racism including antisemitism’.
Subsequent to this act of participative democracy the Chair of the Party was suspended. This paternalistic diktat by officials of the Party which seeks to curtail the rights of fee-paying members in an attempt to consolidate power has uncomfortably Stalinist overtones.
When one takes into account the leader of the Party’s utter failure to confront racism in a recent promotional outing on LBC then ordinary members are left wondering whether the organisation has been ‘bodysnatched’ by closet racists. The Party must immediately lift the suspension of Norman Thomas and restore full access rights to local Party officers so we may continue to fight against all forms of oppression. You know, like the Labour Party is supposed to.
Suspended for allowing member democracy in the form of a motion proposed by a Jewish member, seconded by a Jewish member and supported by Jewish members present.
The latest in the saga of twilight-zone Stalinism – or ‘Starmlinism’ – against Labour members and their elected officers – including many Jewish ones – for exercising freedom of speech that even the EHRC report said is legally-protected.
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A UN report has found that Israel is an apartheid state, and therefore:
“The international community, especially the United Nations and its agencies, and Member States, have a legal obligation to act within the limits of their capabilities to prevent and punish instances of apartheid that are responsibly brought to their attention. More specifically, States have a collective
duty: (a) not to recognize an apartheid regime as lawful; (b) not to aid or assist a State in maintaining an apartheid regime; and (c) to cooperate with the United Nations and other States in bringing apartheid regimes to an end. Civil society institutions and individuals also have a moral and political duty to use the instruments at their disposal to raise awareness of this ongoing criminal enterprise, and to exert pressure on Israel in order to persuade it to dismantle apartheid structures in compliance with international law.”
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/201703_UN_ESCWA-israeli-practices-palestinian-people-apartheid-occupation-english.pdf
NOBODY should be supporting Israel, least of all most of our MPs, and we should be fighting any lobbyists who justify its behaviour.
If the Labour Party applies the anti Semitism criteria that it applies to members to the United Nations then clearly the result would be that the United Nations is an Antisemitic organisation. Why then isn’t Keir Starmmer demanding the UK withdraws from the United Nations. Furthermore the UK has participated in United Nations Security Council meetings were the Council member countries including the UK sought to sanction Israel for e.g. the mass killings in Gaza in 2018. Why then isn’t Starmer raising this in parliament and condemning our Security Council representatives as rabid anti-Semites, he’s quick enough to condemn members .
There is a new blog called sidecar out of the New Left Review. The first edition includes an article by Tariq Ali on Starmers War https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/starmers-war?pc=1309.
It’s a summary worth reading and passing around.
As to Palestine this video documentary from Channel 4 News is a useful explanation of the critical role that the UK and the Labour Party played in enabling Israel’s fascists to seize the land and property of the Palestinians and drive them into exile.http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/56046.htm
Joe Stallin was a unfortunate manifestation of a Revolution that liberated Russia and the people.Comparing old sick joe with the knight and the sick neoliberal system in Britain is a insult to the peoples democracy across the world..Socialism and the revolution against neo liberalism is not helped by ridiculing The Russian and Chinese Revolution of the people.The power of the people comes from the East….not from minor racist imperialism of the US and Europe….Get on board and attack the real enemy Elitism Monarchy Titled clowns and the whole stinking swamp of Imperialism.Unfortunately your depiction of the knight ridicules,with Royalist overtones comrade!
Oh dear, I bet that little lot used to go down really well on the doorsteps of the leafy commuter belt that you used to inhabit.
SH I got elected in a seat on nearly 2000 votes the nearest Labour came before was 90 preaching the gospel of neo liberal propaganda.I preached public ownership,NHS and protection of our local services including the post office and the mainline rail station to the city of London.I T was the first and only borough council seat taken by the Labour party in history.Your ignorance of what the electors value is on a par with the knights misfits Honesty and belief shines through using modern tools of campaigning and the old soapbox in the town centre.You might like to try it one day as a Alian concept for you and your misfits.davidh…Steve H davidh….And of course Judas H…..get to bed looser you can’t hide away in the wee hours forever.
You really are a pathetic, snidey little shit aren’t you.
Indeed…there was a certain youngster of working class parents in leafy Oxted who was enthralled by the story, and vowed he’d do all he could to assist his comrades in their struggle for socialism.
No idea what became of him, though…
As a fellow moustachiod man, I wonder what kind of reception I might have got if I’d met with the “Zeks” eking out their imprisonment in the Gulag’s of Vorkuta or Mgadan (many of them old Bolsheviks) and told them that the man who had codemned them to their deaths in the arctic wastes was just an “unfortunate manifestation of a Revolution” I am sure their laughter would have been uncontrollable.
True to form Walsher…another bloody misfit you and SH
Jpenney – It is not very often that I find myself agreeing with you.
I penny and denying them even the basics of democracy.When I worked for people for democracy in the late sixtys we were definitely socialist and we actually did somthing to get the Catholics the vote,what were you doing whilst we were fighting litterely against the establishment conservative and unionist party?…dont try to give me lessons on communist and socialism,both of which I admire and make no secrets about it and never have done..What were you doing in the sixtys for the working-class people of NIreland comrade…like most brits,bugger all and not interested after trashing the irish .
Hear hear (and before i cop a bucketload about Ireland (which has no relation to this subject) I can show you pics of me on Anti-Internment Leaue marchesand the like…….
Stalinism marked the death of the Russian Revolution, when all the old Bolsheviks were, over time, murdered and a totalitarian state capitalist regime had been imposed upon the country.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the smooth transition to bandit capitalism was facilitated by the true nature of the system Stalin created. The USSR was not a socialist state. It was, in its control and structure, a state to which our current Western Conservatives aspire.
Just look at what they say, do, and have planned for the future.
Finally – Yes. It is true that Stalin was a paranoid nutter as well, which helped the forces of reaction greatly.
The essence of socialism is democracy.
No democracy = no socialism.
You’ve got the Maxist terrified. How long can this purge go on? Time for CLPs to pass motions of support at the same time. Make them squirm who do we suspend, how can we justify them all? Get our boffins to check every word, sentence. Make the party ungovernable from the centre and run it locally but as one. They will bleat to the media especially that rancid, drooling, louche excrement, flopped in his wobble throne, oozing ignorance and bigotry (sorry, speaking for the unheard masses) thus giving us unheard of free advertising. They took the gloves of years ago it’s time we did. Season’s greetings.
Joseph – Was there a reason that you didn’t also share your views on the Russian and Chinese states with your electorate.
You can speak. Your comments on this blog show you to have a real ‘liberal authoritarian’ streak in you. Just like Blair, Mandlson, Straw and all the other ex-Trots who became neoCons, you couldn’t wait for the western engineered fall of the Soviet Union and when it did you all started copying them, like wearing little enamel lapel badges with union jack’s or NHS on them. Now, with the pandemic, if you had your way we’d all be confined to barracks and issued with Covid passports.
Don’t come here being such a hypocritical bigot, we’ve got your number.
You have gone far down a blind alley SH. In your love of the EU, you have shown that you support an ever expanding technocracy fronted by careerist PR consultants which has lost ‘the political’ in favour of economic growth. The system you support has birthed populism and given new life to nationalism. Your leader Stalin doesn’t even have the strength of his convictions, he’s a rampant liberal technocrat supporter who’s trying to jump on the coat tails of the populist nationalists. It won’t work and will all end badly.
…….for you.
Lundiel, I notice that you’ve brought up your dislike of the EU again. It would appear that you have fallen for the divide and rule strategy of the right wing whose project Brexit was.
There are many of us on the left, including ‘The Canary’ who saw through this divisive tactic to turn the UK against our partners in the EU with the disastrous consequences it would have for Britain. Others on the left with only a minimal knowledge of how the EU is run and the benefits membership brought to us, fell for the anti-EU propaganda of some lefties – ‘Trots’? that the only way to advance workers rights is by revolution against neoliberalism, starting with Brexit.
Please take a look at this ‘Canary’ article, in particular the video from Stephen Fry, which highlights some of the lies told by Brexiteers to convince ordinary members of the public to vote against their own best interests, many of whom now regret their vote to leave.
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2020/12/15/as-johnson-threatens-uks-neighbours-with-gunboats-we-revisit-the-lies-underpinning-the-entire-brexit-project/
Stephen Fry…really?
No lundiel, The Canary but did Fry say anything with which you disagree?
Err yea, everything. The EU is a vehicle for privatisation and curbing government spending. Johnson’t answer is equally as bad, while the media is massively pushing the “it harms business” line. The fake concern over worker’s rights was always just that. They could have told the truth and said concern over German manufacturers dominance or concern over corporates losing the legal right to compete for state owned entities. The very idea of a country with its own currency and national bank agreeing to adhere to EU budget rules is mental. The whole thing is a nightmare.
Lundiel, so you disagreed that the right relied heavily on their anti-immigration strategy to push Brexit?
I don’t give a toss what the right did. I answered with truth and all you can do is ignore that and ask stupid trap questions that have fuck all to do with anything.
Lundiel, knowing now that they were conned by the far right and sections of the blinkered left, many ‘leavers’ will no doubt also respond with denial rather than admit their error.
Sorry Lundiel, Mandyshite was one of ours. A Euro as was Davies and a few others. Euros, tapeworms of the lowest vilest order. The saw The Party as a training ground for treachery. Slipman and Temple were others. They sharpened their claws withe the great lie that the Sovs invaded Afghanistan and supported the fundamentalists and not the legitimate government who asked Moscow for their help. Shat on the steel workers, miners and SOGAT. Very fishy and quite wealthy individuals. I believe that their teachers or tutors told them that they were orators. We’ll they could certainly move the room, hastily to the bogs to puke. Truncated history of the fake left. Trots don’t deserve all the credit. All the best.
SH….the local people of horley in Surrey voted for the local town council a man called Danny stallford a paid up member of the communist party and a very good and decent honest man.I new Danny and his family and his beliefs in communism which like my family we shared.and I was astounded that rock solid torys would vote for a communist party member.Well theres a lesson for you there and your misfits that people tire of liars and theives representing them even right wing Tory voters…And yes the electors were very much aware of my beliefs and the only time I was ever criticised was by fellow Labour party members for my support for a united Ireland and also for my Catholic beliefs….Communism was not a issue for most people because its batting on the same team as socialism nd everybody realises that the Russian people stopped the germans dead in their track when we were allies in war.Spinning negatives against communism by the democratic socialist Labour party makes no sense to me…or many neoliberals who see them both as indistinguishable in political outlook…Government by the people.
Joseph – Where’s the democracy in Russia and China
We had some great members worked tirelessly for Labour in elections in which we were not standing. Ended up with just Bob Peck in Nott’s. Split after split. Infighting and real stand ups. We were bushwhacked. Hardly anyone read the classics and were easily swayed because they lacked real knowledge of the class war. Eventually the word class was outlawed. I ended up haunting Labour clubs and met some really good socialists, but they hadn’t read the runes thrown by Kinnockio. I even became friends with some Rouchies, who were remarkably cultured and knowledgeable about class. The SPGB always offered me a warm welcome and there were great debates. I saw something happening when JC got on the slate. Remembered him from the GLC so I took an educated punt. Read the tea leaves after a bit but stuck with Labour more out of hope than reason. I didn’t expect the AS barrage but knew that JC would never be allowed to win. I’ll see what this new scheme has to offer. As for “The Career” and their pet celebrity. Well the day I take advice from there you can commit me. I know who I would like to see in a cotton shirt, breaking granite rocks for two years in Dartmoor. Pip Pip.
If the Man of Putty sees that pic of him as the Man of Steel he’ll start growing a moustache right away.
All real men have moustaches… 😉
Beautiful!
Time for Calls to introduce motions of support for Stalin & Evans maybe? Let’s see who supports them…..and who doesn’t.
The new Labour Israeii party wont stop expelling anyone who don’t go along with their new rules where the fuck is the outrage from our so called socialists MP’s are they to frightened to speak out Fucking scabs the Lot of them
Where was the outrage when Jennie Formby issued a similar edict?
SteveH here ←
Have thatcher’s eyes been imposed onto starmlin’s picture?
Or is it frankie boyle (sans spectacles and beard) made up to look a bit like the hybrid?
Why is the EHRC not commenting on this? Their rules/law being broken, after all. They must have some thoughts on it, and whether it is legal to purge the labour party in this way.
Jenw2049…The EHRC have been packed with torys and the smear against the Labour party was all about the AS scam,so mission accomplished as far as they are concerned.
They have and they love it.
Why is the EHRC not commenting on this? After all, it’s their rules which are being broken by this purge of the Labour Party.
Telling the truth is now incompatible with membership of the Labour party even when the Deputy leader Angel Rayner agrees with you…”The statement around the small numbers and to suggest that it is a small number in the Labour party WHILST THAT MIGHT BE TRUE is completely unacceptable to not understand the hurt and the distress, it’s not about numbers its about the devastation etc” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zegrw2YDP0s
Lisa Nandy was quoted as saying she doesn’t know anymore if Corbyn is anti-Semitic.
Who in their right minds could vote for these people, they have no self respect and are just following Starmers and the BoD dictat, careerists one and all. Including John ‘we must apologize more’ McDonnell a more craven backstabbing individual you could ever meet, pathetic.
That’s not fair. He’s a statesman, reliable and looks good in toothpaste and deodorant ads.
Very sad the way john has deteriorated over the years especially as he was once a firbrand socialist.Still hes been infected by the Westminster parliament syndrome,more dangerous than any virus and more leathel.
Labour publishes its approved EHRC ACTION PLAN
https://labourlist.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Labour-Party-EHRC-Action-Plan.pdf
Here’s a summary of the changes.
The reforms are summarised by the plan as such:
Leadership committed to zero-tolerance of antisemitism, culture change and action against offenders
Independent antisemitism complaints handling process to be set up as soon as possible
All national executive committee and national constitutional committee antisemitism panels to be assisted by external lawyers
Consultation with the Jewish community will be built into all aspects of the action plan. With immediate effect, we will establish a high-level advisory board and a reference group to work closely with the Labour Party and act as a sounding board
Summary of case decisions to be posted on the Labour Party website
Strengthen due diligence checks on candidates
Labour Party website to be updated with dedicated pages for antisemitism complaints
Develop a complaints handling handbook for all staff and to especially guide those handling antisemitism complaints
Strengthen social media guidelines to make clear that sharing or liking antisemitic content will be subject to disciplinary action
Deliver, alongside Jewish stakeholders, appropriate antisemitism training for all staff
Protocol to be published governing the Leadership’s interaction with disciplinary and complaints procedures
In the plan’s foreword, Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner say: “First, we will change the way complaints of antisemitism and all other forms of racism are handled.
“We will be establishing an independent process to investigate complaints of antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, sexual harassment and any discrimination based on protected characteristics.”
Might as well turn the whole dispute architecture over to Harpin and the Countdown woman.
Starmer’s Labour Party appears to prioritise anti-Semitic racism above all other forms of racism. Is there any mention in the document of racism against the Palestinians for example or consultation with their leaders?
What are ‘protected characteristics’?
Jack – Unfortunately the EHRC has left the Labour party with very little choice.
SteveH, the LP is supposed to be an independent body. In whatever document it produces in relation to this particular issue it should not be constrained in it’s ability to be fair to all. We have had a legal appraisal of the initial EHRC report highlighting the failures of EHRC members, if the LP wanted to be taken seriously by those who care for the human rights of all, it could have used this opportunity to broaden its response and not prioritise it to one particular group, no matter what the EHRC says.
Jack – Unfortunately the EHRC was granted enforcement powers by the Act which set it up so just telling them to go away was never an option.
SteveH, you know I never said that, don’t be disingenuous. I said that Starmer’s LP could have gone even further in its condemnation of racism and you know quite well why it didn’t!
Jack – As I understand it they have broadened their outlook to include all discrimination cases into the new disciplinary procedures. So in theory there should be no hierarchy of discrimination.
SteveH, the evidence shows that your ‘understanding’ is incorrect. So far, Starmer has concentrated his fire on anti-Zionists. Such as Jewish professor Moshé Machover who has done nothing more than condemn Zionism.
Jack – I’m sorry but I have no idea what you are on about or how it relates to the introduction of new disciplinary procedures. However this is what Keir and Angela said in the document.
“First, we will change the way complaints of antisemitism and all other forms of racism are handled.
“We will be establishing an independent process to investigate complaints of antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, sexual harassment and any discrimination based on protected characteristics.”
Don’t really understand much of anything, do you, SteveH?
The EHRC’s “enforcement powers” are like the powers granted to local councils to enforce parking regulations or collect the poll tax.
There are higher authorities than car park attendants, traffic wardens or the EHRC.
David – Regardless of your needlessly condescending opinion it would be difficult argue that the EHRC hasn’t got the Labour party by the short and curlies.
I’m guessing that the Labour party has good reasons for not starting down the slippery slope of breaking the law. Not the least of which is that it doesn’t look good but also because a breach of the Equality Act can lead to a prison sentence of up to 5 years. If an organisation is in breach, it is the head of the organisation who would be prosecuted.
SH….that would be Tory approved action plan then…!
SteveH – ‘I see no ships’
Jack – You will find that choosing to close your eyes to what you don’t wish to see doesn’t make stuff magically go away
Fuckin’idiot – Jack was quoting you.
You’re blind to ships, metaphor, irony and reality.
David – No he wasn’t quoting me, I’ve not said anything about ‘ships’ on this page.
Not my eyes SteveH, yours.
Jack – Oh I see now, but you haven’t provided anything to see. Instead of clever quips perhaps a better way forward would be for you to explain what you mean.
SteveH, just like Nelson in the past, you refuse to see what’s in front of you from Starmer. Please don’t ask me who Nelson was.
Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell did not speak to each other “for months” as the row over anti Semitism engulfed the party, it was claimed today.
But it is claimed they stopped talking and would walk straight past each other in Parliament after the party began a probe into vete¬ran Jewish MP Margaret Hodge.
The investigation came after Dame Margaret was said to have shouted at Mr Corbyn in a corridor, accusing him of racism and being anti Semitic.
A new book by journalists Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick Maguire claims the relationship fell apart because Mr McDonnell felt it was wrong to hold the probe. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/jeremy-corbyn-john-mcdonnell-did-22571858
Then when giving an interview with Jewish News
Jewish News… “So when we’re talking about sharing a platform with anti-Semites, we’re not talking about people who are just supportive of the Palestinian cause, do you think it might be time for an apology?
JmD: You have to look at why he was sharing platforms, it was not to endorse them, it was to try and engage with them.
There you have it, Corbyn spent the past 30 years traversing the country addressing anti war and pro Palestinian groups, but McDonnell said he [Corbyn did not endorse them] with a friend like McDonnell who needs enemies?
SteveH on the “Action plan”. This Action Plan will help us act decisively against antisemitism in all its forms. It will hold us to the highest standards and ensure we neither miss incidences nor accept denial or excuses. The first question that needs to be asked is what is anti Semitic language, is it [as most people believe] abuse of people of Jewish origin simply because of their religion or ethnicity, or does it include criticism of the state Israel, here they give us a clue “anti Semitism in all its forms”. RL Bailey and in particular M Peake were abused relentlessly for being critical of the Israeli state in particular its security services, if that is the yardstick the labour party is going to use as a starting point it is finished as a political movement and would deserve to be shunned at the polls. Free speech anyone.
Article 49 paragraph 6 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” This is called a grave war crime. All Israeli governments since 1967 have planned and executed the settlement enterprise on a daily basis with more settlements in the pipeline. These grave war crimes have been recognised as such by the International Criminal Court Act UK [ICC] derived from the Rome Statute and by all 15 Judges at the World Court [ICJ in the Hague] even the US Judge Blumenthal agreed that ALL the settlements are grave war crimes, of course the UN security council have many resolutions condemning the settlement enterprise, could anyone agreeing with these World bodies remain in the Labour party?
As usual Jonathan Cook has a very clear and incisive contribution to make and provides a context too:
https://dorseteye.com/antisemitism-claims-used-to-mask/
Excellent article by Jonathan Cook describing how people such as Starmer have become part of the ‘antiSemitism Industry’ to protect the racist Israeli State.
One can imagine a time in the not-too-distant future when the BoD will demand all copies of Finkelstein’s “The Holocaust Industry” be confiscated and burned on College Green.
Opinion | Haaretz Editorial
Editorial |
“The World Zionist Organization’s Land Theft Division
It’s time to investigate, and then shut down, this quasi-governmental agency, which steals both state and private Palestinian lands to realize its sacred goal of settlement construction”
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/editorial/wzos-land-theft-division-1.5465930
Guess who are affiliated to the WZO yes the Jewish Labour Movement, I accuse Starmer of supporting the JLM ipso facto grave war crimes as indicated in my comment above and ask him to tell them affiliation to the WZO is incompatible with membership of the Labour party.
Thank you for the link.
Starmer, who is a Zionist, would hardly criticise other Zionists in the JLM, LFI etc. We lost our chance to shine the spotlight on the evil of Zionism when Corbyn backed off when they went for him. This one of the reasons I am not too enthusiastic about his latest inititiative. If anyone who supports him is targeted for political destruction by the Zionsts, they will not be able to count on reciprocal support from JC.
The EHRC is not an independent body. The LP can challenge its findings. The three alleged breaches of law are contentious. Labour is not complying because it is forced to by law but because it has given in to the Israeli lobby and refuses to fight. Take a look at Peter Oborne’s Dispatches programme about the Israeli lobby in the UK. Easy to find on YouTube. And Oborne is no radical, he’s just an honest journalist. Long before Corbyn led the LP, Oborne uncovered that any criticism of Israel was deemed anti-Semitic and that Israel was extering undue infuence over our politics.
Comparisons between Starmer and Stalin are fun but they don’t get us very far. Stalin had absolute power. Those who opposed him were wiped out. Our system is more subtle, and in a way, more disturbing. It is the power of the media to control people’s thinking which explains why Starmer prevailed. He didn’t and he doesn’t have absolute power. He is using what power he has to take more and to shut down all dissent, but don’t forget that Labour members elected him. They did so because the media had destroyed Corbyn thus convincing people left-wing policies can’t be popular. This combination of thought-control and a democratic political framework is the means by which people are separated from their interests and bamboozled into voting for their unfreedom. Starmer isn’t going to have anyone bumped off. He doesn’t need to. He can just have them quietly removed from influence. Which leaves him looking liberal and democratic. It is not Stalinism we have to fear. We aren’t going to have a dictator. It is this clever and sly manipulation and the reduced, curtailed version of democracy it installs which are the enemy. That’s what we need to make clear to people. How? Not by talking to the converted. Get on the streets. Get leaflets through thousands of letter boxes. What happens online is that people stick to their bubble. They become blind to what’s beyond. Old fashioned shoe leather is the way to spread the message.
Well said. Ultimately, Starmer is going to be hobbled by the fact that his careerist chums in the PLP are not equipped for the existential battle facing the Party. A serious left alternative, built from the ground up, and grounded in peoples’ everyday struggles, will win the day.