Red Tories’ chaos deepens as second candidate dumped over Israel comments – and party’s Westminster polling falls
The second parliamentary candidate to be suspended by Labour in a matter of days for ‘antisemitic’ comments was given a gushing endorsement by a senior Jewish Labour Movement figure.
Graham Jones trumpeted the backing of Ruth Smeeth – now Anderson – last year while he was seeking selection to stand for Labour in Haslingden and Hyndburn. She referred to him as a ‘true ally’ in her fight against ‘antisemitism’:
Oops.
Anderson was one of the most prominent faces in the creation and propagation of the so-called ‘Labour antisemitism crisis’ after falsely accusing left activist Marc Wadsworth of claiming she was part of a ‘media conspiracy – video evidence showed he had said no such thing, but that didn’t stop her storming out of a meeting and marching with a ‘lynch mob‘ that to the party hearing that drove Wadsworth out of Labour:
Author and investigative journalist Asa Winstanley wrote last year:
Ruth Smeeth MP had good reason to delete the post [claiming Black activist Marc Wadsworth had used an antisemitic smear toward her at a Labour event] —the idea that Marc Wadsworth had said she was part of a “media conspiracy” was completely untrue. Importantly, he did not make any kind of anti-Jewish comment. In fact, he didn’t refer to Smeeth’s Jewishness in any way—he later clarified that he hadn’t even known she was Jewish. Wadsworth replied to Smeeth’s false allegations in a statement the same day, describing them as “poisonous slander.” He said her claims played “into a Jewish media conspiracy theory that I utterly reject and have never espoused.”
Wadsworth’s instincts about Smeeth “working hand in hand” with the right-wing press to overthrow Corbyn were totally correct. Only three days earlier Smeeth had played her own minor part in the coup attempt against Corbyn. She announced on Twitter “with a heavy heart” that she was resigning from a junior role in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet. It was timed to coincide with a series of resignations by dozens of hostile MPs, in a failed attempt to force him to resign. They came after the no-confidence vote tabled by Margaret Hodge and the firing of Hilary Benn, another right-wing shadow minister Corbyn had fruitlessly attempted to bring on board as part of his abortive “big church” approach.
But unlike Wadsworth and the others, as a journalist reporting on the UK’s pro-Israel lobby, I happened to be pretty well acquainted with Smeeth’s work.
I wrote a story about her in 2014, when she was selected as a Labour candidate. I did so because of two key facts, ignored by a media that would later pay her such close attention: she had worked as a spin doctor for the Israel lobby and had acted (wittingly or otherwise) as a secret Labour Party source for the US government.
Anderson, who was once described in a leaked US embassy communication as someone to ‘strictly protect’ who had provided inside information on then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s election strategy, has also smeared left-wing Jews who support Palestinian human rights – and said, at about the same time as she was endorsing Jones, that pro-Palestinian Jews should ignored by the UK media and if they didn’t like it, ‘tough’. She went on to smear left Jewish group JVL, forcing the BBC to publish a belated ‘correction’ for not challenging the accusation.
Other JLM activists similarly have egg on their faces after jumping in to try to get Rochdale voters to back Azhar Ali, the other suspended candidate – only a couple of weeks before the Rochdale by-election – despite his ‘antisemitic’ comments about Israel:
Ali was set to lose the by-election badly even before being officially dumped last night, having featured in videos of him being told to leave by voters he tried to canvass because of his association with Keir Starmer’s support for Israel’s genocide, in stark contrast to the warm welcome widely given to pro-Palestinian candidate George Galloway.
For his part Jones, before he lost his seat, was one of two Labour MPs who sat drinking on the Commons terrace with disgraced right-wing activist Ian McKenzie, who had made comments about the rape and beheading of senior Labour MP Emily Thornberry. Jones was then taken to task by local members for his support for McKenzie.
The chaos of the Starmer regime and its propensity for shooting itself in the foot continues to grow – as well as its complicity in apartheid Israel’s genocidal slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza. Starmer’s red Tory party has fallen three points in the polls, despite the Tories’ ongoing disaster, and has lost half or more of its support among Muslim voters, as well as being rejected by those opposed to Israel’s genocide.
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Well the behaviour of Starmer in respect of the Rochdale Election was
pilloried by Andrew Pierce in “Good Morning Britain” this morning for
chosing to initially “let off” the Labour Candidate because he was not a
Corbyn supporter. This was contrasted with the behaviour regarding
Diane Abbott who was suspended because she was a Corbyn supporter
with much less (according to Pierce) of a contravention.
I have no illusions as to Pierce’s motive in speaking up for Diane Abbott –
anything to put down the Labour Party! In my opinion her confused draft
made no sense whatsoever.
It will be interesting to see if there is any further comment on tomorrow
mornings GMB.
Diane has been a stalwart of working class and anti racist action. She is a venerable member of our struggle and I ain’t Labour. Time to retire Diane. You don’t deserve the continuous abuse.
But, but, but Keith eradicated Antisemitism from the Labour Party and left no stone untouched he claimed. It now transpires that under Keith and the Rightist scum he heads that the Party is festooned with Antisemitism across the UK. What will Luke Akehurst do/say, what will JLM and Katz do to ensure only genocidal supporting maniacs remain in the Party untainted by Antisemitism, any principle and any human decency. Further, I believe Akehurst, the JLM and Board of Deputies should demand that the LP change its name to Likud in order to demonstrate totally loyalty to Israel, anything less will constitute antisemitism.
Everything and anything can be twisted to be classified as A/S. Hands up all brownshirts who thought that you were safe. RHOM, the Strassers and many others thought that they were safe. You can feel as comfy, sleek, oiled and greased but if they want to get you you have been basting not basking.
3 Nov 2022
Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow:
Often when there is descent expressed in the United States against policies of the Israeli government, people here are called anti-Semitic, what is your response to that as an Israeli Jew?
Shulamit Aloni:
“Well it’s a trick we always use it, when in Europe somebody is criticizing Israel, then we bring up the holocaust. When in this country people are criticizing well, then they are anti-Semitic.”
Aloni was a board member of Yesh Din, an organization founded in 2005 which focuses on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories. She defended U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s use of the word “apartheid” in the title of his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. Later, Aloni said, “I hate to cover up things that should be open to the sun.”
https://youtu.be/q0TFxpp7pco
A ‘trick’ we see practiced on a regular basis in a number of other contexts.
I forgot to add that the political soldiers wing of the fascists also thought that they were invulnerable. Mandelson selects those who are useful but always discardable. These are frightening times for all wings of what is left of the movement.
In an article on this latest mess, Phil Burton-Cartledge writes on his All That Is Solid blog this paragraph about Sue Gray:
And then Tuesday took a turn for the worse. Graham Jones, hoping to get back his old seat in nearby Hyndburn, was recorded at the same community meeting that nobbled Ali saying that British citizens fighting for Israel should get locked up. The JLM said this was unacceptable and antisemitic and, like clock work, the party handed down a suspension. At about the same time, The Times scooped on complaints against Sue Gray. You’ll remember the frisson of impropriety on occasion of her appointment and recall how the rules about employing former senior civil servants didn’t apply to Keir Starmer because she was the best of Whitehall. Turns out she undertook an investigation into leaks surrounding the leadership’s dithering over the £28bn/year green new deal commitment, and did not afford staff their right to union representation or respect for the rules of workplace conduct. Phones were confiscated and searched for incriminating messages without following procedure. The GMB branch representing party workers are unhappy and have lodged an official complaint. And to think Gray was the woman brought in to professionalise the Starmer operation. (My bold text)
https://averypublicsociologist.blogspot.com/2024/02/from-rochdale-to-botchdale.html
This JLM mob need serious investigating. I’m not paranoid but the bustards film everyone and everything. Costly and takes a lot of organising. Could start with BBC and Southside.
The South African Government said that it had submitted an urgent request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding Israel’s intention to expand its military offensive in the densely overcrowded southern Gaza city of Rafah.
In a statement published on Tuesday, the government said it asked the Court “to consider whether the decision announced by Israel to extend its military operations in Rafah, which is the last refuge for surviving people in Gaza, requires that the Court uses its power to prevent further imminent breach of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza.”
follow the link and read the complete article
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israeli-offensive-in-rafah-south-africa-submits-urgent-request-to-icj/
Smeeth is just one of the many poisonous reasons that has alienated this family from the party.
What I really need to know is why the A/Sers are so vain about their looks.
Jones and Smeeth were both members of the House of Commons Select Committee on Defence which supported the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the 1987 INF nuclear missile treaty.
Unproven allegations that Russia was violating the treaty were presented as if they were incontrovertible fact.
Why would Russia deploy a land-based missile with a greater range than allowed under the INF treaty when it could deploy it at sea (not covered by any treaty)?
Withdrawal from the treaty was one of a number of deliberate provocations against Russia recommended by a report from the Rand Corporation thinktank.
Former weapons inspector Scott Ritter attacked the deadly folly of the withdrawal decision in an article for The American Conservative:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/what-facts-how-politics-trumped-intel-in-nuke-treaty-pullout/
Geordie Galloway has the political class, MSM and toilet papers on the run
2 months before Mayoral elections, you can see Momentum building up behind Independents
As for the Fuhrer, the longer it takes to hold a GE the higher Andrew Feinsteins name recognition becomes in the seat, the choice for the electorate becomes crystal clear, between those who support the Genocide and those who dont
Geordie Galloway has the political class”😕
https://www.facebook.com/classictvmoments/videos/george-galloway/1846240542075971/
I lived in Camden. Their loyalty to Labour runs deep. Our girl was Glend. Lord, what has happened to the movement.
Excellent Results for Labour
Huge swing to Labour in Wellingborough
The swing to Labour in Wellingborough was a whopping 29%.
Gen Kitchen (Lab) 13,844 (45.92%, +19.46%)
Helen Harrison (Conservative) 7,408 (24.57%, -37.60%)
Ben Habib (Reform) 3,919 (13.00%)
Ana Savage Gunn (LD) 1,422 (4.72%, -3.14%)
Marion Turner-Hawes (ND) 1,115 (3.70%)
Will Morris (Green) 1,020 (3.38%, -0.12%)
Kev Watts (Ind) 533 (1.77%)
Alex Merola (Britain 1st) 477 (1.58%)
Nick The Flying Brick (Loony) 217 (0.72%)
Andre Pyne-Bailey (Ind) 172 (0.57%)
Ankit Love Jay Mala (ND) 18 (0.06%)
Kingswood results in full
Damien Egan (Lab) 11,176 (44.94%, +11.50%)
Sam Bromiley (Conservative) 8,675 (34.88%, -21.31%)
Rupert Lowe (Reform) 2,578 (10.37%)
Lorraine Francis (Green) 1,450 (5.83%, +3.40%)
Andrew Brown (LD) 861 (3.46%, -3.48%)
Nicholas Wood (UKIP) 129 (0.52%)
Did the left have a candidate?
See here:
https://skwawkbox.org/2024/02/13/merseysiders-protest-government-moves-to-replace-skilled-medics-with-less-skilled/#comment-252760
Dave – A simple NO would have sufficed..
Only for post-modernist narcissistic snowflakes like yourself, Billy, who live inside their own context free virtual reality bubble.
Dave – Oh dear, If only we were all as clever as you think you are. 🥱