Chris Bryant’s Peruvian nightmare: Labour centrist owned by Latin America lecturer
What an embarrassment for entitled Blairite Starmerite Chris Bryant!
He wanted to make a point about those damned lefty Marxists and ended up being humiliated by somebody who actually knew something about the subject matter.
Bryant came to grief after tweeting about the Peruvian presidential election, that was won by left-wing teacher Pedro Castillo. He promptly selected Marxist Guido Bellido as his prime minister.
Bryant tweeted: “Perú is a wonderful country but it’s depressing that voters were left with a choice between Fujimori and Castillo. Sadly the new cabinet looks set to take the country down a failed Marxist route.”
A what?
Which “failed Marxist” route is that?
A nonexistent one.
Marxism is not a social/political system – it is a critique of Capitalism. Bryant was probably groping for a reference to Communism – which is a global political/economic model. Marx didn’t expect it to work except on a global level (anything smaller and the surrounding Capitalists would crush it), so it’s unlikely that Castillo is likely to try it.
It is astonishing, not only that a member of the Labour Party doesn’t know this, but that a Labour Parliamentarian is this ignorant.
It suggests that the party’s recruitment/selection process has gone seriously awry – as Alan McLeod stated in a response to Bryant.
Who’s he? Well, we’ll all know momentarily but for the time being let’s just say his Twitter bio told us he “mostly tweet[s] about US and Latin American politics”.
This time, he tweeted, “It is truly extraordinary that a Labour MP in south Wales could say such a thing. It goes to show how bought out the party has become.” Living in Wales as This Writer does, I can only take this as a reference to the fact that south Walians are, generally speaking, socialists – and that it is therefore amazing that Bryant – not a socialist – ever managed to get selected.
From what I can see, it seems this former Conservative was parachuted in by the Blair leadership. So it may be unsurprising that his understanding of Marxism is so poor.
https://twitter.com/RD_HaIe/status/1421849901437181954
Indeed.
It seems Bryant was stung. He responded by demanding to know his interlocutor’s credentials – and that’s where he really came unstuck:
How it started How it’s going pic.twitter.com/I5SGArjxRn
— Colin Monehen (@CMonehen) August 1, 2021
“I’ve got a PhD in Latin American politics, lectured about it in universities, and have produced a book and five peer-reviewed journal articles on the topic.”
Even then, Bryant wouldn’t let it lie. He thought of a comeback – and came even more unstuck:
That's nice, Chris
But if you are truly concerned with authoritarianism in South America, I'd advise you not to pall up with far-right Colombian strongman Alvaro Uribe like you did in 2009, right as he was carrying out a massacre of 10,000 leftist opponents.
(ht: @Daniel_IV_) pic.twitter.com/1rz9ISGWL2
— Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) August 1, 2021
So now Chris Bryant’s credentials as a Labour representative are utterly shattered.
Postscript: This isn’t even the first time Bryant fell foul of Twitter!
Back in August 2018, social media users descended on him like a pack of wolves after he accused someone of anti-Semitism for using the slang term “gammon” to refer to Mike Gapes.
He tried to protest that he thought it was a reference to Jewish people not eating meat from pigs when in fact it was an insult against middle-aged or older white men with conservative, traditionalist views, stereotypically characterized as having a red or flushed complexion.
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here: