More lies from right-wingers about Vox Political – because they are AFRAID

Misnomer: This particular magazine would be better-named The Expectorator – because it spits on the intelligence of its readers.

Right-wing rag The Spectator has named This Writer as number 20 in a list of 50 people or groups reckoned to be Labour Party anti-Semites – presumably because its editors are now terrified of the independent media’s reputation for factual accuracy.

What a shame the part of the article about me – by someone named only as “Steerpike” – has absolutely no factual accuracy of its own.

Here it is:

For those who have trouble reading images, it says: “Mike Sivier, author of the far-left Vox Political blog, has claimed there is a ‘conspiracy’ between Jews and those who defend them in the UK, saying: ‘We are being told that agents of a foreign country have infiltrated our institutions’. He was due to stand as a Labour candidate in council elections in 2017 but was suspended before the ballot took place.”

The link on the word “saying” takes you – not to any Vox Political article such as this one (on which the allegations were originally based), but to the false and malicious Campaign Against Antisemitism smear piece that I debunked immediately after it came out, almost a year ago. ‘Steerpike’ wouldn’t dream of letting you anywhere near my actual words because then you’d know his accusation is a lie.

Ironically, the article to which The Spectator indirectly alludes is headlined Accusation games: It’s all falling apart for the knee-jerk ‘anti-Semitism’ accusers – and now, it really is.

Let’s take the claims line by line.

“Mike Sivier, author of the far-left Vox Political blog, has claimed there is a ‘conspiracy’ between Jews and those who defend them in the UK.” Far-left? That’s a matter of opinion. I’d say I write from a centre-left viewpoint, but then I’d say The Spectator is written by people of a far-right bent. Agreed?

As for a “‘conspiracy’ between Jews and those who defend them in the UK”, take a look at my article and you’ll see that I was commenting on former Israeli embassy official Shai Masot’s attempt to conspire with members of UK political parties to achieve the wishes of the Israeli government. The example used in the Al-Jazeera documentary The Lobby was a plan to remove Alan Duncan, who has pro-Palestinian views, from his position as a Foreign Office minister. At one point in the documentary, Mr Masot even referred to what he was trying to do as a “conspiracy, yes?”

I make no mention of a “‘conspiracy’ between Jews [bolding mine] and those who defend them in the UK” because it was a conspiracy by a member of the Israeli government.

In the documentary, he mentions connections with other UK organisations including Labour Friends of Israel and its counterpart in the Conservative Party, and this led me to ask further – justified – questions about the role of such organisations in promoting the agenda of a foreign government.

“Saying: ‘We are being told that agents of a foreign country have infiltrated our institutions’.” ‘Steerpike’ let himself down here. “We are being told” means I wasn’t asserting it – I was merely reporting what had been said elsewhere. “Agents of a foreign country” cannot be taken to refer to Jews as a racial or ethnic group. And the infiltration of “our institutions” was demonstrated in the documentary.

“He was due to stand as a Labour candidate in council elections in 2017 but was suspended before the ballot took place.” The article fails to mention that I still stood as a candidate, and people still voted for me. The intention is for readers to believe heroic whistle blowers forced Labour to stop me from standing at all, which is a lie. It also fails to mention the fact that my membership was suspended because the Campaign Against Antisemitism (or one of its readers), having failed to win support against me from Welsh Labour, sent a copy of its lying article to Labour headquarters in London, where an officer triggered my suspension in a knee-jerk reaction, having failed to check if there was even a prima facie case to answer.

The CAA article was, it seems, written with the express intention of corruptly influencing the council election I was contesting, in flagrant breach of the Representation of the People Act, 1983. I’m still arguing about that with the police, who have been reluctant to understand the law in this regard.

So the Spectator reference to me is a pack of lies from beginning to end. Can anyone dare expect the rest of the article to be any better?

No.

I’m not familiar with all the incidents listed but, of those I do know, none are reported accurately and all are treated in the most hysterical, prejudicial way possible.

What are we to conclude?

‘Steerpike’, together with the editors and owners of The Spectator, are afraid.

They know the fake claims of anti-Semitism against the Labour left aren’t gaining any traction because independent media sites like Vox Political are debunking them by publishing the facts.

And they know that this means people will know they are lying.

So they repeat tired old smears against This Writer in a vain attempt to swing opinion in the other direction.

Fat chance.

All they have done is attract my attention – and, soon, the attention of my legal representative.


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17 Comments

  1. JohnDee March 31, 2018 at 4:22 am - Reply

    Thanks for reminding us of that real conspiracy from the dick-brain Israeli diplomat and government stooge caught on camera plotting against our MPs.

    Really, Labour needs to wake up and do something about these constant ‘dead cat’ smears attempting to stifle criticism of Israeli Govt human rights abuses.

    I’m not sure what can be done apart from exposing it for what it is, though! Keep up the good work, but do get some more sleep, Mike.

    • Mike Sivier March 31, 2018 at 11:37 pm - Reply

      Bad news – I’m pulling another latey.

  2. jeffrey davies March 31, 2018 at 6:00 am - Reply

    they are very very worried about this man corbyn

  3. Thomas March 31, 2018 at 7:14 am - Reply

    The Spectator has a thoroughly dreadful reputation, and I would say that someone who chooses to write under the name of an arch-villain (from Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy, his many crimes include a number of murders) such as Steerpike has demonstrated poor judgement before even setting pen to paper.

  4. NMac March 31, 2018 at 8:18 am - Reply

    This is almost back to the old cliché of “Reds under the bed” of the 1960s. All these nasty reactionaries have are lies and smears.

  5. Roy Partridge March 31, 2018 at 8:39 am - Reply

    Crowdfund a group lawsuit?

  6. aunty1960 March 31, 2018 at 8:47 am - Reply

    This is probably a intentional serious effort to smear you again.

    And you are NOT EXTREME LEFT WING middle moderate like most I think.Rational not rabid or revolutionary and not prone climb the barricades and throw a flaming molotov

    But you now make me feel normal

    Been on end of persecution and personal attack

    Court case against me fizzed out as no evidence against me.

    Other side should have been brought to justice and investigated re false police complaint and false police statement

    After all that fizzed out like a floppy balloon.

    Its not nice or good or fair

    But as you and Tom Pride suffering same I feel normal.

    Tom Pride was open and honest about his fmaily having been Jews who suffered the Holocaust, did he get any respect or empathy?

    NO! a load of personal nastiness

    Well at least we know what we are dealing with, low level brainless scum

    So glad that you and Tom and many others are on the same side. although all targetted defamed and abused and lies told about them.

  7. Dave Rowlands March 31, 2018 at 10:58 am - Reply

    I’m actually dismayed at the way things are going in this way. It seems that accusing someone of doing something it’s the default standard of guilt until proven otherwise. People are suspended from duty while investigations are ongoing, why?

    All accusations should be backed up with undisputed evidence, why is it not the case?

    Lives are actually being ruined by accusations even when they are found to be false, the laws and the views of the public as a whole need to change and the way these second class newspapers report on the accusations in the first place needs to change.

  8. Brian March 31, 2018 at 1:46 pm - Reply

    Seems to me that you have a growing mountain of evidence to show Libel / Defamation of character resulting in harm to both yourself & Vox Political. Sub judice?

  9. Roland Laycock March 31, 2018 at 1:54 pm - Reply

    Vox Political is one of the better news out let I don’t care what they say

    • Mike Sivier March 31, 2018 at 11:34 pm - Reply

      Thank you! That’s very kind.

  10. Stu March 31, 2018 at 3:02 pm - Reply

    We all know that they are desperate because their support and credibility is in the toilet. (they are not waving, they are drowning)
    Just take solace in the FACT that you are being singled out because you are being noticed as someone who gives a damn and is actually making a difference.

    Time will reveal all…..

  11. Rik March 31, 2018 at 4:43 pm - Reply

    I am sick of these people and the MSM twisting the facts, Good luck to you Mike

    • R Mitchell April 1, 2018 at 7:34 am - Reply

      These people are not really interested in promoting anti-Semitism; they are interested in promoting untruthful comments about a decent Labour leader in Jeremy Corbyn for their own hate campaigns and vested interests and are a disgrace to the Jewish race.

      Thank goodness we have you to point them out Mike and keep going with all our support as we need people like you more than ever these days.

  12. weebles1703 April 1, 2018 at 12:20 pm - Reply

    I read about the earlier attempt to smear you in an excellent blog by Martin Odoni https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/242362/posts/1811525950
    I wish you well in your discussions with the nasty Spectator rag. You should be proud that your honest and accurate journalism has them wetting themselves.

    • Mike Sivier April 1, 2018 at 2:42 pm - Reply

      There are quite a few articles on this subject here on Vox Political – as you might expect.
      Thank you for the kind words!

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