Shameful attack on Liverpool Community Independents councillor and candidate has backfired on Labour. Skwawkbox has unpicked one of its biggest lies
Labour’s shameful use of its sewer-campaign tactics in Liverpool to attack a popular young left-wing councillor has predictably backfired – and managed the unprecedented feat of uniting all the city council’s opposition parties in condemnation.
The party’s cowardly leaflet – which doesn’t even mention that it’s from Labour except in the tiny, legally-required ‘imprint’ down the side – made a string of atrocious smears against Cressington councillor Sam Gorst – and also showed how out of touch the Labour right is with the people of Liverpool.
The leaflet accused Gorst of disrespecting the Queen and even of being a councillor in the ‘leafy’ Garston area of Cressington – which is being amalgamated by the Tories into the new, single Garston ward – but the Labour councillor who promoted the leaflet on behalf of the party’s right-wing candidates also represents ‘leafy’ Cressington, while one of Labour’s candidates is a barrister who is unlikely to live on a working-class estate and the other was exposed in Liverpool’s recent scandal of councillors having parking tickets cancelled.
And one of the smears attacked Gorst by implying – Labour doesn’t quite have the guts to say it outright – that he jumped the housing queue by getting a property in eight months when most wait four years.
But of course, as with all such spineless smears, the reality is very different. While Sam Gorst has not stooped to engage with the smears, Skwawkbox has done the digging to bring readers the truth to counteract Labour’s lies.
Seven years, not eight months
While Labour claims he received a property in only eight months, in reality Gorst – who unlike Labour’s candidates has lived in Garston throughout – first joined the social housing queue with an application to South Liverpool Homes in early 2016 – more than seven years ago – and has been on the housing association’s register since April of that year. For four years, Gorst and his family – like so many in the UK’s blighted housing landscape – lived in damp, privately-rented housing in a poor state of repair. In July 2020, the family was offered a starter tenancy with the housing association.
Gorst and his partner split in February last year. His partner remained in the property and Gorst became effectively homeless for eight months, ‘sofa surfing’ until he finally found a flat on Stanley Street last autumn.
But while this was eight months after he moved out of his housing association home, it was not through any housing waiting list or the Property Pool Plus system, as Gorst was working full time. Instead, as the property was considered ‘hard to let’, it was advertised through online estate agent Rightmove.
Gorst was offered the flat after a video call and affordability check and completed the starter tenancy last October.
These facts were not particularly hard to uncover. Labour either didn’t bother finding out – or just as likely knew full well and decided to tell the lie anyway. The party’s claim that it’s smears are factual is just one more lie.
If you live in Garston, vote for Gorst and his fellow Community Independents candidate Lucy Williams – and if you live in other parts of the city with LCI candidates or viable candidates from other parties, vote for them. Labour needs to learn that people will not tolerate its games, lies and abuse.
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The Labour Party isn’t know for a robust diligence process. Hence, why are we surprised?
“While Sam Gorst has not stooped to engage with the smears,”
and this twitter spat❓🤔
Mayor slams ‘disgusting’ tweet from councillor as row breaks out
Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson has slammed a “disgusting” tweet from a Liverpool Councillor and reported him to the council.
Mayor Anderson responded to comments made on twitter by Cressington Councillor Sam Gorst, who is a member of the Liverpool Community Independents group on the council.
It appears that Cllr Gorst had responded to tweets from a parody account set up to impersonate Labour councillor Nick Small. In response, Cllr Gorst said: “I thought you blocked my Nicky boy. How’s your bird these days? Is she still tormenting those with mental illness and covering up her nastiness by painting the picture of being a homelessness champion for a nice slot in the Echo?”
The Mayor of Liverpool then responded directly to Cllr Gorst’s comments. She said: “Sam your behaviour is disgusting. You spew bile at everyone and then claim that it’s others who affect your mental health. I will be reporting this to the city solicitor but for the good of all our sanity, I would suggest you stay off social media.”
Responding, Cllr Gorst said: “I suggest that you should resign. For the good of all the city’s residents. They don’t need to deal with inept decision making any longer. I would not be taking any suggestions from you Joanne after how you’ve ploughed the council into near bankruptcy.”
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/mayor-slams-disgusting-tweet-councillor-25683297
Fat jo anderson taking offence on behalf of others…par for the course. Does she endorse the leaflet, I wonder?
Have you for context read the twitter discourse that led to anderson sticking her oar in?
No. Thought not.
And are you aware that the “red echo” is generally regarded by the populace (qualified to be called it’s readership) as nothing more than a mouthpiece for (smarmerite) labour councillors…and libpewl fc? (Hence it being widely known as the red echo)
Again, you have no idea. But let’s get back to fat jo anderson…
For someone who doesn’t even think she should be on the position; that she wished the position was defunct, she seems keen not to heed Sam’s advice and spew it.
But then again, like the resort of those grafters, shoehorned into these sinecures…😙🎵
OK he made some unpleasant comments about the late Queen
plus nasty undeserved comments about a person who runs a Charity
and his opinions deserve a slap on the wrist ..
However what the leaflet state as FACT is that he was engaged in
criminally obtaining a flat.
That is a LIE – so did the Mayor criticise the originators of the leaflet
for that lie?
Or the Liverpool Echo correct the lie from the Labour Party
contributors to the leaflet?
HFM – If that’s the case then it should be reported to the Election Commission, it is a criminal offence to lie in election leaflets
Toffee – “Have you for context read the twitter discourse that led to anderson sticking her oar in?”
Have you, could you post a link to the Twitter thread?
No, but I have read the full report in the Echo which contains a number of direct quotes. Have you?
Unless you are trying to claim that the report is inaccurate and you are going to provide evidence that supports your assertions then I am struggling to understand what your point is.
All I’ve done is highlight an article in his local paper, you’re the one who is desperately trying to justify and/or excuse his actions,
All I’ve done is…
We KNOW what your game is, ollies.
You’re part of the jilted schoolgirl clique, terrified that Sam Gorst will shit on your hubristic prediction of losing his deposit because he doesn’t wear (nor need) the red rosette anymore.
Reinforced by the fact you haven’t condemned – or even mentioned in passing – the bullshit about Gorst within the smarmerite labour leaflet…that they don’t even have the bollocks to put their name to overtly.
Oh, you’ll no doubt again point to the echo article and it’s direct quotes but you HAVEN’T read the twitter discourse to glean any context.
The same context you insist we all consider when the boots on the other foot.
Now fuck off, nonce excuser.
Toffee – As I said above “you’re the one who is desperately trying to justify and/or excuse his actions,”
What’s with this obsession you have with lost deposits.
We’ll soon know what the actual result is.
I expect that Labour will win the seat the seat again.
“Disrespecting the queen”, eh?
https://media.kulfyapp.com/2XRU8K/2XRU8K-360.gif
This is what is happening in Liverpool.
In how many other Labour run Councils, are these same tactics being used? Hard to tell, of course – unless people come forward – but given the state of this Labour Party, not beyond the bounds of possibility.
Before you complete your Postal Vote, and send it off, or make your mark at the Polling Station, on the day, think very carefully who you’re voting for.
I have.
In how many other Labour run Councils, are these same tactics being used? Hard to tell, of course – unless people come forward
It’ll be those coming forward as well as those already have resigned their labour affiliation to stand as independents that those rodents will be targeting.
Quite obviously suggests that the wee gobshite’s prediction of lost deposits for the lot of them, most certainly isn’t the (terrified) view of the smarmerist labour party.
Toffee – I thought you’d have known that here aren’t any deposits to lose in Local Authority elections.
Oh DO button it, Mr logic.
It’s always the fookin same innit?
Always insisting on semantics and exactedness like some OCD sufferer, when in fact you’re just a gobshite who can neither count, spell or use the correct grammar.
You’re THE most soul-destroying, torpid twunt I’ve ever had the misfortune to engage with. I fully expect keef would look positively ebullient in comparison and he’s walking mogadon ffs.
Toffee – Don’t you think that accuracy is important?🤔
Oh! “accuracy” is it???
From who? YOU? The red echo? Fook me – all that laughing has given me a hernia 😕
Toffee – Do you have any evidence to support your
assertionsrantsThey really are worse than jilted schoolgirls.
Anyway, there’s a four letter response Sam can always use that’ll shut them the f*** up..
BICo
#LabourScum vote them out.
I see the wee gobshite’s back??
😙🎵
246
What’s the difference between Red and Blue Tory scum
Name your standout dividing line
FFS Dougal….Brace yerselves, everybody!!
GREEN PAPER ALERT 😕
(Along with the obligaTORY: “What’s not to like”)
Here’s a few dozen.
https://skwawkbox.org/2021/11/12/labours-latest-data-breach-communication-reveals-more-breaches/#comment-205230
And STILL NO mention of a rescue package for THE biggest socialist success story of all – namely the NHS.
In fact, quite the opposite. MORE private outsourcing.
Tell us genius, what’s LABOUR (As the rest if us know it) about THA
What’s NOT Tory about their NHS plans, hmm?
I’ll “eagerly” await reading your non-response in the morning as I’m off to me pit and me phones only on 3%
.
Toffee – See my response below
https://skwawkbox.org/2023/04/21/exclusive-labour-smeared-gorst-with-social-housing-innuendo-heres-the-truth-against-labours-lie/#comment-243102
“Here’s a few dozen….”
“So many nobodies, so much nothing.” I’m paraphrasing my grannie, who also said “Tsuzogn un lieb hobn kost nit keyn gelt” meaning ‘a promise (or policy) is only worth as much as the integrity of the person (or party) making the promise’.
If his word (= promises/policies) were a bridge, the ferryman would be a millionaire.
Quite correct, qwerty.
Here today, gone tomorrow politicians, few (if any) will still be In their briefs (positions – not underpants, wee gawp) if by such time they are elected into government.
That is of course unless “circumstances have changed” eh, keef??
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/keir-starmer-hints-four-times-28958252
A lot has changed then; a lot will have changed come the election
https://labourlist.org/2022/07/starmer-on-ten-leadership-pledges-the-financial-situation-has-changed/
How much of that bullshit the wee ponce linked to will be “relevant” to those amphibians by that time, seeing as “a lot will have changed” by then?? Moreover, how many of those reptiles will be there to form their (potential) government**?
A keef “promise” is invalidated the precise moment it’s left his gob. Not that they were ever valid before then
**As far as we’ve been made aware, there are two male shadow cabinet members that are under investigation…Are they on that list of bullshitters, and will they still be so come the next election – or will “circumstances have changed” by then? 😙🎵
246
Here’s how we know none of the Red Tory pledges are worth the paper they are written on
‘End tax breaks for Private Schools’
Like all good Tories you will say anything to get elected, remind you of anyone
Toffee – You and your phone have something in common.
Well, yeah – we’re both far more intelligent and capable than you, even when switched off.
Which, to be fair, isn’t something I’d beat me chest about.
:).. well, I hope you’ve both disabled your Emergency Notifications settings for tomorrow, Sunday. The Govt is claiming this authoritarian measure is a test of the technology, but it’s actually a Test of you and me, to see how browbeaten and obedient we been made by the war legislation that enabled the covid-con and its incessant fear-mongering, by the system-created ‘cost of living’ crisis, by the Ukraine war, and the rest of the fear-porn that the MSM infests us with daily and continually.
Everybody – please switch off your smart phone’s Emergency Notifications for the afternoon of Sunday 23 April. How can this not be a test to see how much they can get away with?
The Toffee21/04/2023 AT 9:27 PM
And STILL NO mention of a rescue package for THE biggest socialist success story of all – namely the NHS./I>
Ach!? MY bad. Electing smarmerite councillors is gonna save the NHS, honest!!
https://skwawkbox.org/2023/04/21/starmer-repeats-nhs-lie-that-saw-twitter-attach-correction-just-two-days-ago/
Christ on a stick 🤦
Labour’s plans for the NHS include:
▪ Doubling the number of medical school places to 15,000 a year
▪ Doubling the number of district nurses qualifying each year
▪ Training 5,000 new health visitors a year
▪ Creating 10,000 more nursing and midwifery clinical placements each year
▪ A long-term workforce plan for the NHS, with independent workforce projections, new career paths into the NHS, and new types of health and care professionals.
Not so.
What is stated here is Starmer’s “promise” of what he says he wishes to achieve.
A plan would necessitate a statement of a pretty clear detailed outline of what measures would be taken to achieve the aspirations (where the teachers of the new courses are to come from and how this can be done etc.), a timescale, full costings and the identification of the source(s) of the funding required to implement the programme.
Failing that, we are left with the patter of a snake oil salesman.
goldbach – Your political naivety is your problem.
SteveH, are you aware of how many position within the NHS are vacant? How many GPs are due to retire within the next 5 years?
Labour’s pledges aren’t going to close the gap. Anyone listening to Streeting knows that Labour’s agenda is to privatise further the NHS.
Both Labour and Tory are going to dismantle the NHS. However, a Tory government will find it more difficult to do so because the Trade Unions will come into the open and fight them. With Labour in government the Trade Unions would be less willing to take a stand. We have Blair’s governments as a example.
Hence, a Labour government is better than a Tory government is simply not true. Thatcher was pushed back on the Council Tax by the demonstrations on the street and this Tory government is being pushed back by the Trade Unions, no the Labour Party.
Maria – The patient satisfaction levels were the highest they’ve ever been when Labour were in charge. What, if anything, are you and your comrades offering.
Maria, he is a silly little boy.
Rather than engage with an argument that has been advanced and presenting an alternative view, he resorts to insult. It’s juvenile playground stuff. We shouldn’t be surprised though, and at least it raises a little smile.
goldbach – What insult would that be?
SteveH21/04/2023 AT 8:53 PM
Toffee – I thought you’d have known that here aren’t any deposits to lose in Local Authority elections.
You knew full well what I meant. And keef full well knows more (labour) councillors** aren’t gonna save the NHS.
…Still repeats and peddles the bullshit even when it’s been flagged by a social media company as such.
But there’ll be NO smart-arsed response to that, will there? Keef said it – therefore it’s gospel.
**Mind you, nor are any more (smarmerite) labour MPs. Why? Because keefs’ sticking to a TORY plan of further private investment & outsourcing.
Because he’s NOT tory. However, anyone refusing to vote for him is.
In Norwich South (Town Close)- considering spoiling ballot with comment re. photo ID. Or Green, obviously not Starmer’s Labour.
What will that achieve?
What has keef achieved?
*A substantial loss of membership
*A £13.5m reserve converted into a £4.8m deficit in under three years
*Seats LOST to the toerags
*A pitiful failure to maintain a consistent lead over THREE OF THE WORST PMs in history .
*Imposition of candidates, thereby removing democracy
*Further removal of democracy by cracking down on the ability of CLPs to hold NCVs in him, or in support of Corbyn.
Not an exhaustive list, but certainly an unimpressive one.
SteveH decrease the number of Labour votes? It is a safe Labour seat so I doubt that spoiling the ballot will stop Labour from winning the seat.
However, alarm bells will run if Labour’s majority is cut by half for example. Members of the PLP could become nervous and realise that Starmer isn’t a winner and mount a leadership challenge before is too late.
Clive Lewis will hold in Norwich South but any hopes of winning Norwich North seat will quickly disappear and with it, the hopes of getting Labour in government at the next General Election.
Bang-on topic!!
Toffee provided a Daily Mirror link above in which Keir Starmer is called “Mr Starmer”. What’s with this? Attempted insult or PR for the rt hon member for the Trilateral Commission? Not sure.
Keir Starmer hints four times he’ll ditch his tuition fees vow saying ‘a lot has changed’. Keir Starmer pledged in 2020 to scrap £9,250-a-year university tuition fees – but it could be the latest pledge on the scrapheap as he blames the Tories’ ‘huge damage to our economy’
The promise was among Mr Starmer’s “10 pledges” when he ran for Labour leader, most of which he has since junked.
Mr Starmer defended ditching other pledges like an end to NHS outsourcing or scrapping Universal Credit, saying: “When I was running for leader I made pledges which reflected my values.
“Since then, we’re now three years on, a lot has changed.”
Yes – he received £455,000 backing from various far right multi-millionaires, took 58 days to disclose it to the membership which gave him the “continuity corbyn” vote in the meantime and elected him leader. He’s a deceitful monster. A political con-man of the lowest order.
The promise was among Mr Starmer’s “10 pledges” when he ran for Labour leader, ALL of which he has since junked
Fixed 👍
qwertboi – ….and yet a poll carried out during the leadership election strongly indicated that members were voting for change.
A poll of Labour Party members asked ‘If Jeremy Corbyn was on the ballot paper alongside KS, LN and RLB how would you vote?
RLB’s vote completely collapsed, Jeremy only got about 30% and Keir still won with an overall majority.
🤔
Which poll, where, how many members, etc., I’ve never seen it. But that’s not the point. We’re focussing on how Starmer is an ineffective leader who will cost Labour seats at every election he serves as alleged leader during, how his word can never be trusted, how he intentionally lied to Labour members only to get their votes in the leadership election before showing his rightwing intentions and backers, and how, should this goniff ever get his hands on the state’s levers of power, we will all suffer. With over 2000,000 members ‘departed’ by Starmer (yes, they reluctantly felt compelled to leave the party because of him and his duplicitous politics), the Labour party is both denatured and disabled by Starmer. Its days are numbered.
Do you really believe – as Starmer has said – that Labour can acquire 1,000 new seats on May 4th?
oops, 200+K members, not 2000,000. my mistake.
246
There was a poll recently amongst members and supporters that had JC ahead of Starmer
Every poll since 2020 has Don’t Knows ahead of Starmer
Your man has Neil Kinnock written all over him
Hung Parliament with Socialist group holding balance of power
Doug – You are deluding yourself, particularly about the SCG .
I agree with your analysis Doug. The best Starmer can hope is to get a hung Parliament in such and scenario, I believe the SCG could push Starmer to the left.
We will have to wait and see the results of the local elections in May to have a clear picture as to whatever Starmer can win the 60+ seats he will need to deliver a hung parliament.
qwertboi – If you were a little more observant then you would have already noticed that I have provided a link to this poll several times before on these pages.
I believe that Labour led by Keir Starmer will win the next General Election with a substantial majority. As for the LA elections we’ll see soon enough what the actual results are.
Please feel free to correct me but you and the your other faux left comrades appear to be desperate for yet another Conservative government so that you can safely return to your rather sad ‘if only they’d listened to us’ comfort blanket.
You are literally terrified of a successful Labour government.
I also think that the longer Jeremy selfishly prevaricates about his future the more likely it is that he will let you all down by retiring? I very much doubt that you or anyone else will be getting an invite to a PJ Party campaign sleepover any-time soon.
246
Red Tories are in the wrong party, the country is crying out for a Labour government, what makes you think the electorate won’t work this out for themselves
Look out for massive gains by Lib Dums and Greens in May
Doug – Yes you are right the electorate are crying out for a Labour government but one led by led by Keir Starmer not one led by Jeremy Corbyn.
We all saw what they thought of Labour in 2019 when the previous incumbent was in office.
Ooops – one led by
led byKeir Starmer246
According to your polls Labour should gain 400 seats in May elections
Let’s see what happens
SteveH said to me “you and the your other faux left comrades…”. My goodness. This is pure CIA. Thirdway-ites, or trilateral-ists, if you prefer, i) enter a moderately left wing popular party (the SPD, Democrats and Labour). ii), infest it with neoliberal centrism, iii), get MSM co-ideologues to mount incessant campaigns against the ‘looney/extreme left’ and persuade the people that clinton/blair and now starmer are the real (capitalism-loving) left and anything to the left of them is “faux left”. Pure CIA!
I’m afraid it isn’t as effective the CIA and corporatists need it to be. In fact it possibly destroys the initial successes of the entryism and causes a rift between the “sheeple” (as you/they think of them) and the centrist entryists (Labour Dems in US, SPD in Germany) and even new ventures like Macron’s in France.
qwertboi – Oh dearie, dearie me. Another conspiracy theory. 🙄
It’s the results of my own personal analysis, not a “conspiracy theory”, which, one again, dear centrist, is pure CIA-speak. Sad, that you think nobody can think for themselves.
qwertboi – Or in other words you’re claiming that you managed to dream up this nonsense all by yourself.🤔
“In actuality, a conspiracy theory is nothing more than an opinion held by one or more people about a possible conspiracy. A conspiracy theory commonly questions state narratives and policies.”
So, scientists are conspiracy theorists when they question the efficacy of enforced-isolation, masks, “testing”, ‘vaccines’, etc., and democratic socialists are too when they question anything, especially if they question the quality of the evidence which state/Establishment actors (like the BBC, the wider MSM) provide?
I must be a very dangerous person, as is every other critical thinker on sites like Skwawkbox. Thank you for informing us, SteveH.
qwertboi – …..and?😕
If only we were all as clever as you think you are. 🥱
” …..and?😕
If only we were all as clever as you think you are. 🥱
I realise, it’s not our mental acuity, our sharpness of analysis and insight that you are bemoaning here. You’re obviously using “clever” to mean ‘crafty, cunning, devious and sneaky’.
Yup, you’ve got us on that one! ‘The left’ could never be quite as devious as Sir Keir ’58 Days’ Starmer. He’s amongst the craftiest, most cunning intellect on the planet! A right dirty bastard! Forensic.
Please feel free to correct me but you and the your other faux left comrades appear to be desperate for yet another Conservative government so that you can safely return to your rather sad ‘if only they’d listened to us’ comfort blanket.
Answer us what’s NOT toerag about smarmer’s NHS plans, then tell us we’re tory.
Private sector involvement in any way, shape or form is toerag policy. And keef proposes MORE of it.
Because until you convince people otherwise (and you’re still to convince anyone in your many years of bullshitting on here) they’ll continue – and be seen to continue – to be mimicking the toerags. That’s when they not abstaining instead of opposing them.
Everyone here – bar you – sees NO difference between the two.
Vote keef = get toerag.
Not remotely surprised.
A failure to mention the ‘h’ word when referring to jews in a piece about racism automatically makes it antisemitic.
As for madge hodge, I find your liberty deeply offensive and deeply depressing. and everything within politics referring to the sexual abuse of children should make mention of your shameful despicable actions.
You are literally terrified of a successful Labour government.
Successful?
Keefs’ labour’s been an unmitigated fuck-up in (supposed) opposition for fucks sake.
Corbyn at least won forty-one votes against them. keefs’ publicly voiced support for them.as many times.
I also think that the longer Jeremy selfishly prevaricates about his future…
Selfishly? To whom? Well, let’s find out
….the more likely it is that he will let you all down by retiring?
Again – interesting use of the question mark from someone known for not using them (correctly).
Is that used as an expression of hope that Corbyn DOES retire to give a keefist a run at the seat?
Given your anti-Corbynist stance it certainly appears so.
Oh…but you voted for him twice, and I didn’t 😴
And you ONLY voted keef because he was best of a bad bunch.😴
SteveH22/04/2023 AT 3:43 PM
goldbach – Your political naivety is your problem.
Remember when you told everyone if labour didn’t offer a second referendum then the libtards would hoover up all the marginals?
How did that go again?
Remember you told us you only voted keef because he was best of a bad bunch?
Greasy prick has almost papal infallibility now, doesn’t he?
“Political naivety”,!? Jesus wept.
❗DIANE ABBOTT SUSPENDED by Labour after letter suggesting Jews do not face racism❗
The following is what Diane Abbott published earlier today
https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/commentisfree/2023/apr/23/success-for-women-not-same-as-for-men-letters
Racism is black and white
Tomiwa Owolade claims that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people all suffer from “racism” (“Racism in Britain is not a black and white issue. It’s far more complicated”, Comment). They undoubtedly experience prejudice. This is similar to racism and the two words are often used as if they are interchangeable.
It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice. But they are not all their lives subject to racism. In pre-civil rights America, Irish people, Jewish people and Travellers were not required to sit at the back of the bus. In apartheid South Africa, these groups were allowed to vote. And at the height of slavery, there were no white-seeming people manacled on the slave ships.
Diane Abbott
House of Commons, London SW1
Here’s the link to the original article that Diane was commenting on
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/15/racism-in-britain-is-not-a-black-and-white-issue-it-is-far-more-complicated
and here is a link to her retraction/apology
https://twitter.com/HackneyAbbott/status/1650072333527252994/
“I am writing regarding my letter that was recently published in the Observer
I wish to wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them
The errors arose in an initial draft being sent. But there is no excuse and I wish to apologise for any anguish caused
Racism takes many forms, and it is completely undeniable that Jewish people have suffered its monstrous effects, as have Irish people, Travellers and many others
Once again, I would likely to apologise publicly for the remarks and any distress caused as a result of them.
There has been a mixed reaction from the ‘RW’ of the party
https://labourlist.org/2023/04/diane-abbott-whip-suspended-over-deeply-offensive-racism/
Labour MP for Barking Margaret Hodge said her statement was “deeply offensive and deeply depressing”. The Jewish MP added that Labour leader Keir Starmer’s “response is right”, adding: “No excuses. No delays.”
But John McTernan, previously Tony Blair’s political secretary, called it a “swift and appropriate apology”, and it should be “accepted in the spirit it is offered”. Abbott, the first black woman ever elected to parliament, had been subjected to “vile racist abuse throughout her career”, he noted.
Looks like her entire letter is about semantics with her claim that the word ‘racism’ can only apply to colour-based prejudice.
but, more importantly, didn’t Dianne Abott realise what aggressive ideologues like the starmerians could do with her letter?
and might this not be a good thing if it causes the SCG to realise that they shouldn’t sit-by so passively against Starmer’s authoritarianism?
Cutting to the chase, steveh, Dianne will probably keep her seat if she stands as an Independent.
I see my previous post didn’t make it. Ho-hum. I said a while back it wouldn’t take much to dispense of abbott and so it’s proved, although she’s hardly helped her own cause with another show of clumsiness.
And her being bounced has ticked all the boxes.
Leftist
Black woman
Former Corbyn shadow cabinet member
Longstanding labour MP
London MP
If mcdonnell had the stones to say things as they really are, he’d be next.
Unfortunately however, he doesn’t. That won’t stop them looking for the most spurious of excuses.
Oh …It appears the missing post I was referring to WAS published – just miles away from where it was meant to go.
https://skwawkbox.org/2023/04/21/exclusive-labour-smeared-gorst-with-social-housing-innuendo-heres-the-truth-against-labours-lie/#comment-243155
Other than the fact that Ms Abbott’s letter is rather ill-constructed, I can find no fault with it.
Those of us who wish to do so can adopt a form of dress that is not distinctive of religious affiliation and can adopt a lifestyle which does not identify us as being “different” (it’s easy if we have abandoned religion altogether) and we can simply “melt into the background” – providing that COLOUR OF OUR SKIN doesn’t make us stand out.
No perception of “difference” results in no manifestations of racism.
That’s why people with black and brown skins do feel the effects of racism “all their lives”, as Ms Abbott pointed out.
Very true gbach, v true. I remember a (RC) priest at the infant school I went to concentrating a stare on me and saying “you’re a right XX, aren’t you?”, meaning, despite being a Jew (or so he thought) my blue eyes and (light, back then) brown hair meant I didn’t ‘look’ (obviously) Jewish. FYI, most Jews in Scotland tended to go to Catholic schools – because the education received was generally a bit superior, and because the more obviously ‘semitic’ ones could(and did) pretend to be Italian. Point is, I never felt more Jewish in my life and I think I started pestering my mother to allow me to go to ‘yid’ schule every Saturday morning. I soon regretted it and discovered my local ‘ABC Minors’ Saturday morning matines #’We are the boys and girls all known as Minors of the ABC)
Point is, it made me feel good to be “othered”, a trait which I’ve since classified as immunising and enabling, when status-quo neoliberal authoritarianism tries to ‘other’/separate/demonise the people it disapproves of, or fears. FWIW I’m sure it played a part in making me appreciate and celebrate my “working class”ness, which, undoubtedly (thanks to my moderately wealthy maternal grandmother, a member of a Port Glasgow/Greenock branch of the Communist Party) immunised me from hyacinth bucket attempts to deprecate ‘the working class’ which it demonises as worthless, self-harming, rif-raf.
BLM seemed to me to be publicly embracing something similar after George Floyd’s murder by a (Israeli-trained) policeman, defining its people as noble but victimised, not only as the feeble victims of racism. It was this that pissed-off the far right and fed their ‘culture war’ narratve.
Truth is, a black woman like Diane Abbott probably understands the insidious nature of racism (as experienced ‘anti-Semitism’) better than most. Starmer’s Heirarchy-of-Racism Labour party can NEVER concede this, so it prosecutes her for her clumsy wording and easy to misinterpret message.
OOops, foggy brain XX = Kirk Douglas.
Oh, I forgot to say, isn’t it quite disgusting the way our resident ferret gleefully reports the news with capitalisation and bold script?
Glad someone else noticed.
But all he’s doing is merely pointing out the (then) breaking news
Yes. Because we can’t see him, it’s his way of throwing the V sign.
goldbach – After waiting for over an hour from when I first became aware of these events I got fed up of waiting and eventually decided to report the facts of what is a quite significant story so that people could read those facts and form an informed opinion.
If you have a issue with that then that’s your problem.
………… and your keyboard got jammed, resulting in the bold capitalisation.
Pull the other one.
goldbach – Jeez, why are you getting your knickers in a twist about the ‘bold capitalisation’ of 3 words instead of the substance of what was written. Is this silly attempt at distraction the best you can manage? Shooting the messenger for even handedly reporting the facts isn’t going to make it all go away.
As reflected by its prominently coverage on every UK news program that I’ve seen since the story broke this is an important story. LBC have talked about little else on their phone-ins today.
Pleased to have interested you.
LBC???
By the company they keep, I see!
goldbach – ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
To add a little context –
Diane Abbott: A statement from Jewish Voice for Labour
The suspension of Diane Abbott is yet a further attack on our freedom to debate very important issues in the Labour party. Her original letter was not antisemitic and the way some critics have rounded on her as if it were is cynical and unhelpful.
As a prominent Black Labour MP she cannot avoid discussing the way Black and Asian people are in the frontline of racist oppression – and the way the Black experience has been downplayed in the Labour Party. This was identified by Martin Forde in his report as a hierarchy of racism. The wording of Diane’s letter was unfortunate in that it appeared to compare forms of racism. Diane has rightly apologised for this.
All racism is abhorrent – and she has always fought against it. Historically Jews have been major victims – most notoriously in the time of the Holocaust. As Diane says in her tweeted apology, “Racism takes many forms and it is completely undeniable that Jewish people have suffered its monstrous effects, as have Irish people, Travellers and many others.”
The fight against racism today – certainly in this country – is centred on defence of Black and Asian people. This in no way discounts the experience of Jews. Jewish people in this country of course face prejudice and racism, in particular the Haredim, who in their dress are highly visible, but it is not institutional, structural racism that fundamentally affects their prospects and outcomes.
Yes, Diane’s letter should have been drafted with more care – but this is no ground for suspension from the Labour Party.
Here’s an extract from Tomiwa Owolade’s thoughts on Diane Abbott’s response to his original article and her subsequent retraction.
What Diane Abbott gets wrong about racism
Abbott understandably feels strongly about racism. She has been the victim of appalling racism herself, and I have no personal animus or ill-will towards her. Yet her response to my column showed a remarkable lack of judgement. And she doesn’t have the excuse of a throwaway tweet or Facebook comment: this was a public letter. The only positive to be gleaned from this sad story is how quickly the Labour Party has acted and how universal the condemnation of Abbott’s comments has been. Tomiwa Owolade, New Statesman.
https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2023/04/what-diane-abbott-gets-wrong-about-racism
The JVL take on it is correct.
Tomiwa Owolade – “My interests include fiction and non-fiction books on a wide range of issues, especially identity politics, liberalism, social protest movements, and religion.”
Liberalism – precisely.
“I have an undergraduate degree in English from Queen Mary, University of London. I also have a postgraduate degree in English from University College London. I was awarded a First Class in my BA, and a Merit in my MA.
I have written for many publications, including the Times, the Sunday Times, the Spectator, the FT, the Evening Standard, and Literary Review. I am a contributing writer at the New Statesman. I have also appeared on BBC Radio 4.” – classic neo-liberal CV.
JVL is correct.
Diane Abbot does not need to justify herself, it’s all on the record, she has suffered the most horrific abuse of any MP, not least from Starmer supporters
Name another individual from any other group who comes close
That there is a hierarchy of racism is also not in dispute
My advice, tell them all to fuck off
Given her age my advice to Diane would be that she should step down at the next General Election.
I wonder what her advice to you would be.
I note she apologised immediately when she realised that her
letter was badly worded – in fact I found it confusing and
wondered if she wrote it herself or if it was written by one of
her younger staff?
A friend said that in previous times it would have resulted
in discussion as to what she meant and issues raised –
and then forgotten after a week.
In contrast – comments about her revealed in the leaked
report are so ghastly that they could not be repeated on
family TV .
They were written by a Labour Staffer so why no
apology frown the Labour Party Leader?
PS The last sentence was rhetorical only ..