As the Labour Party Conference closes, here’s yet another documentary that Keir Starmer will be hoping won’t attract any media attention – so please tell everybody about it.
The world premiere of Labour: The Big Lie is currently taking place online. Visit this site to see it – but be quick because it’s only on until midnight on Thursday, September 29.
The premise is very simple: Jeremy Corbyn led a movement that caused shock waves in the global establishment. Who brought it down?
Narrated by Alexei Sayle, this 75 minute long documentary feature from Platform Films reveals an extraordinary story of intrigue and conspiracy that the mainstream media has systematically ignored.
There will a screening in a London cinema in the last week of October at a venue to be advised. It will be advertised on the Platform Films website at www.platformfilms.co.uk
This Writer has not seen it yet, so I can’t say how good or bad it is – although Alexei Sayle’s participation is encouraging.
So if you pop over and watch the film, be sure to come back and tell us all what you think of it.
Suspended: Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi with the RMT Union’s Mick Lynch.
This is unfortunate timing – for the Labour Party.
It has suspended Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, recently elected to the party’s National Executive Committee, on suspicion of having broken party rules nearly a year ago.
Why wait so long – until a significant event in the party calendar – if it’s a serious allegation? Doesn’t this correspond with the claims in the Al Jazeera documentary series The Labour Files about the party’s factional use of the disciplinary system?
Members of Jewish Voice for Labour, for whom Ms Wimborne-Idrissi is media officer, seem to think so:
This suspension along with a flurry of other eve of conference expulsions and suspensions bears out the evidence presented in the Forde Report and the Al Jazeera programme, The Labour Files: The Purge, about the Party’s factional abuse of the disciplinary system.
Furthermore, the notion that the Action Plan, introduced in response to the EHRC investigation, has solved all problems has been shown to be travesty.
On Thursday afternoon Naomi received a Notice of Allegation and Administrative Suspension which charged her with having “spoken at an event run by proscribed organisations”. That event took place almost a year ago at the 2021 party conference. Why has this moment been chosen to suspend her from membership?
Naomi’s NEC candidature was backed by 13 different groups and many individuals who came together to campaign for the #Grassroots5 slate. Other members who have been charged with the same offence have not been suspended pending investigation. Why has Naomi been singled out for suspension? This action and its timing seem calculated to prevent her taking up her role as an NEC member representing constituency party members at the NEC AGM scheduled for Tuesday Sept 27.
We note that extraordinary numbers of other members, included elected CLP delegates, have been suspended or expelled just in time to prevent their participation in conference.
Naomi and JVL have campaigned powerfully and consistently against the misuse of allegations of antisemitism against the pro-Palestinian left. Naomi is the only directly elected Jewish member on the NEC. Approaching 60 Jewish party members have been investigated for “antisemitism”. Many Jewish members have resigned feeling that Labour is an unsafe place for non-Zionists.
How does this disproportionate targeting of Jews fit in with Keir Starmer’s talk of ‘”tearing out antisemitism”?
Could there be another factor in this carefully planned timing? Naomi’s suspension came hours before the airing of the first in a series of #LabourFiles documentary programmes revealing the extent to which staff and politicians on the right of the party worked behind the scenes to undermine and defeat those on the left. Programme Two on Saturday 24 September will include evidence of the abuse experienced by “the wrong sort of Jews”.
We deplore the misuse of disciplinary procedures to purge the party of left-wing activists who have always represented a strong strand in Labour.
We call for
the immediate lifting of Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi’s suspension
an end to the arbitrary and factional interventions by the party apparatus
implementation of the recommendations in the Forde Report including effective action against the racism and Islamophobia exposed so graphically
the restoration of the whip to Jeremy Corbyn.
Conference to review all decisions to ban proscribed groups.
Of course, there has been a fuss on the social media. Here’s Ms Wimborne-Idrissi herself:
Dear journalists. Want to know how @UKLabour fights antisemitism? Talk to the latest leftwing Jew suspended, just after election to NEC, for a year-old rule breach. Coincidence? Or factional interference in discipline procedures as seen in #LabourFiles & #FordeReport? 1/2
Message for @Keir_Starmer at Labour Conference 2022. Please don't treat us to more nauseating, self-serving, bad faith comments about how, under your leadership, the party has challenged antisemitism. It hasn't. 1/9
You have consistently ignored requests to engage with Jewish members outside a select few right-wingers you agree with. Your role in all his has been a *shonde* (disgrace). If the LP wanted to do something positive about a/s in society + racism within the party, it could: 3/9
stop disciplining Jewish (+non-Jewish members) for making legitimate criticism of Israeli policy and daily human rights abuses against Palestinians, and have the courage and basic humanity to speak out on these too; listen to the range of Jewish voices in the party 5/9
Forde's call for Labour to engage with other Jewish voices such as JVL, his vindication of @jeremycorbyn's role, and his criticism of "wholly misleading" media narratives about LOTO's actions under Corbyn re dealing with antisemitism complaints 7/9
Oh, and one more thing, try in future not to arrange Labour Conference on the Jewish High Holy Days, which excludes practicing religious Jewish members from full participation. 9/9
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The day the Labour Party conference began, the Middle East news channel uploaded a new documentary, The Labour Files, to YouTube.
Here’s the promotional blurb:
Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit uncovers the true story behind the “crisis of anti-Semitism” that engulfed the British Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn. It made him appear unfit to govern and led to a crushing electoral defeat.
An analysis of internal party documents, social media data and covert recordings reveals how senior Labour officials used the party’s procedures to undermine support for Jeremy Corbyn and to silence debate about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
The files also show how pro-Israel groups ask the party to distance itself from the Boycott Divest and Sanctions campaign, a protest movement that seeks to end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands, and how – in response – the Jewish Board of Deputies was assured that Labour would “never accept attempts to exceptionalise and deligitimise Israel.”
Part of the documentary concerns alleged links between the husband of Labour MP Stella Creasy – Dan Fox – with the far-right English Defence League (EDL). You’ll be able to watch the video below but before you do, in the name of balance, here’s Ms Creasy’s statement about this aspect of it:
Rest assured, you won’t hear a peep out of the media about the Labour files because they’ve got the Labour leader they want. pic.twitter.com/cTjt4BqPM8
Interesting convo with Him Indoors who doesn't understand why we keep making a fuss about Labour, as if we are trying to somehow "save" it. He's right, to an extent. But those of us who were on the receiving end during the Corbyn years need this final catharsis.
Another Labour Files documentary appeared two days previously. Here’s the blurb for The Purge:
An investigation based on the largest leak of documents in British political history. The Labour Files examines thousands of internal documents, emails and social media messages to reveal how senior officials in one of the two parties of government in the UK ran a coup by stealth against the elected leader of the party.
The program will show how officials set about silencing, excluding and expelling its own members in a ruthless campaign to destroy the chances of Jeremy Corbyn becoming Britain’s prime minister. Candidates for key political roles were blocked and constituency groups suspended as the party’s central office sought to control the elected leadership.
And here’s the programme:
I present it without any comment of my own. Make up your own mind.
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This Writer was on TV last night – albeit TV on the internet.
I was on a programme set up to discuss the new documentary Reaching Over The Noise: Is Labour Really Antisemitic? that was made to counter the false claims made in a BBC Panorama programme a little more than two years ago (at the time of writing).
If you didn’t see it, here it is:
Our YouTube broadcast tonight, was immediately demonitised! We discussed the indy film ‘Reaching Over the Noise’, in response to the Panorama programme, ‘Is Labour Anti-Semitic’. We heard insider’s stories from Siân Bloor & @MidWalesMike. Watch now! https://t.co/XsFCNdtszm
— 🇵🇸 RESIST: Movement for a People's Party (@MFApeoplesparty) December 15, 2021
I have to say I was very impressed with the easy wit of Jason Cridland, of Dorset Eye. I wish I could think up genuinely funny – yet pertinent – comments on the spur of the moment like that.
I do tend to take issue with one of the things he said, though. On the definition of anti-Semitism, he put forward the view that people with power and influence define the terms of debate. I think he was referring to the reliance on the IHRA working definition of A/S that is often used to demonise the innocent.
There is certainly truth in that, but I tend to think that ordinary people, looking for an accurate definition, are more likely to go to a source they know they can trust – like a dictionary.
And if you want to see the film we were discussing, here it is:
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Make a note in your diary: Channel 4, Friday, December 17 (tomorrow), 7.30pm, Dispatches: The Truth About Disability Benefits.
The Department for Work and Pensions doesn’t want anybody to see it, apparently.
It’s a documentary investigating the unexpected deaths of disabled benefits claimants, including those who have taken their own lives.
It’s been scheduled at short notice – but the DWP will be taking very careful note of viewing figures for this programme, hoping that it attracts a smaller audience than usual, as this can then be shown as proof that there really isn’t any great public interest in the lives and deaths of benefits claimants.
As the website Benefits and Work states,
If that’s the case, they can carry on denying there’s a problem and keep on covering up the suffering inflicted on disabled claimants by a heartless system.
But the more people who watch the documentary, the harder it will be for the department to brush aside its findings.
And the more likely that others will begin investigating the secrecy surrounding almost everything the DWP does.
Long-term readers of This Site will know that I spent more than two years fighting for the DWP to release up-to-date death statistics on people claiming the sickness benefit Employment and Support Allowance (and its forerunners).
The Information Commissioner’s Office eventually forced the government department to release its figures in August 2015 – but it could only provide those for people who had died within two weeks of having their benefits cancelled as civil servants do not follow up on what happens to people beyond that time.
This means that a lot of information about the fate of claimants whose benefits have been cancelled is hidden from the general public – but the little I was able to secure was damning, as it showed that thousands of people had died for unexplained reasons within the three years covered by my Freedom of Information request.
I would have pursued the matter further but we all know what happened next: I reported on false claims of anti-Semitism against members of the Labour Party and was then accused of anti-Semitism myself. I’ve spent the last five years fighting those falsehoods in one form or another.
So I’m glad that John Pring of the Disability News Service has been pushing matters forward.
It seems he was the one who contacted TV production companies around three years ago (2018?) calling for a documentary to be made, and the Dispatches film will apparently tell the stories of the DWP’s disabled victims.
Benefits and Work quotes Mr Pring as saying:
“Those stories are shocking. What is almost as shocking is that we are still waiting for an in-depth, independent inquiry into DWP’s repeated failures over the last decade – and even earlier than that – to learn from its mistakes and make its assessment system safe.
“Countless disabled people have died because of that failure. We need an inquiry now.”
The documentary is filmed and presented by disabled film-maker Richard Butchins, who has had personal experience of the DWP’s ways.
Relatives of deceased claimants will be speaking out on television for the first time, to explain how the system contributed to the deaths of their loved ones.
And there is testimony from a DWP whistleblower who describes a dismissive and mocking attitude toward claimants among staff at the department.
Allow me to reiterate: the Tory government wants this show to get low viewing figures so it can put out propaganda saying the British public don’t care if a few (hundred)(thousand) cripples croak it after being denied the payments they need to live.
So we need as many people to be told about it as possible.
If you can tell your family and friends, please do. Let’s make sure this is something the Tories can’t lie about.
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It’s taken years but at last a group of independent media outlets – and yes, This Site had a hand in it – have released a documentary debunking claims by the BBC’s Panorama that the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn was anti-Semitic.
And it is still topical, three years after the Panorama attack piece was aired.
In the Panorama programme, interviewees alleged that The Labour Party is institutionally antisemitic. After Labour, led by Jeremy Corbyn, strenuously denied the claims, these people sued – and new leader Keir Starmer paid them a six-figure sum, despite having been told the party could win if it mounted a defence.
The new documentary takes a hard look at the allegations in Panorama, examines whether they were really justified, and comes up with an honest answer.
It balances the Panorama piece by interviewing British Jews who approved of Jeremy Corbyn and his leadership of the Labour Party – and revealing the abuse they have suffered as a result.
It examines the individuals whose testimony formed the backbone of Panorama – were they entirely honest or did they have a shared interest in putting forward a particular interpretation of events?
And it asks whether the narrative put forward by the BBC documentary was the whole story – or missed out vital information.
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Don’t expect too much from this: it’s a Panorama documentary from the BBC and, judging by Is Labour Antisemitic that was produced under the same banner, is likely to be biased towards the Tories and full of falsehoods.
However, even the fact that an attempt is being made to bring this to public attention means it has to be worth watching. Right?
According to the BBC’s publicity,
As the government faces mounting criticism that well-connected people made millions out of Britain’s PPE crisis, Panorama investigates who won out.
More than £12 billion was spent in the first six months of the pandemic on contracts to provide personal protective equipment.
Reporter Richard Bilton meets one man who made £40 million on a deal and speaks to others who felt ignored in favour of less-experienced suppliers.
As the government refuses to reveal the full details of all its so-called VIP deals, the programme reveals the high-profile connections to one lucrative contract.
Wow – £40 million on a single deal.
I suspect the conclusion will be one we know already: success depends not on what you know, but who; the Old School Tie opens doors that would otherwise be closed.
Panorama: Cashing in on Covid is broadcast on BBC1 tonight (March 15) at 7.35pm GMT. It will be on BBC iPlayer soon afterwards.
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Every time I write about Tory rules on sex in the Covid-19 lockdown, Google Adsense tries to penalise me for “extreme content”.
I kid you not – twice now I have been forced to demand a review, and twice it has come down in my favour.
I feel like the late, great Peter Cushing, whenever he was asked to justify the latest Hammer horror film. People would say, “Peter! This film is awful! The script is diabolical, the monster is creakier than the script… How can you be involved in something like this?”
And he would respond: “We’ve made another.
Well, here’s another article about lockdown sex – although in my defence, it’s about a TV show that somebody else has made.
According to my brother, the Beast, Channel 4 is getting on the bandwagon and on Friday (June 12) will screen Sex in Lockdown: Keep Shagging and Carry On.
He quotes the show’s blurb as follows: “Anna Richardson delves into the ways sex in Britain has altered since we’ve been in lockdown. People from across the nation talk to her about their experiences as she gets to grips with all things love, sex and romance in these unique times, from a separated couple who created a replica penis, to a singleton breaking the rules to have sex outdoors.
“Well, there’s a title to thwack you between the eyes. Most of us are coping with social distancing, but how does sexual distancing work in these restrictive times, if you don’t actually live with your lover? If you crave an outlet for your desires, but Tinder, Bumble, Hinge and Grindr have ground to a halt? If you’re just craving a bit of romance?
“Anna Richardson, the writer, host of C4’s dating show Naked Attraction and partner of Sue Perkins, grapples with this topic – virtually, one hopes – and talks to Brits up and down the land, from a separated couple who created a replica penis to a singleton who flouted the rules to revel in sex outdoors.”
Personally, I’m not up for being thwacked between the eyes – certainly not with a separated couple’s replica penis. But I wonder whether any of the celebrity shaggers mentioned on This Site over the last few weeks will get a look-in.
Will boffin Neil Ferguson be mentioned, who resigned from a scientific advisory role with the government after he broke lockdown to boff his married lover?
Will questions be asked about Labour MP Rosie Duffield, who quit as a Labour whip to disport herself with a married man?
Will the show unearth other high-profile shagamuffins?
Will I get another rap on the knuckles from Adsense?
Yes, that seems most likely.
I may as well announce my soon-to-be-published porno bodice ripping classic Legover Crisis: Why I Must Spend More Time With My Family by The Hon. Willie Poker MP.
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Propaganda: it seems people have moved on from avoiding mainstream fake news providers like the BBC, and are now physically attacking reporters in the street.
Let’s get this right.
In the week that a Downing Street advisor resigned because it had been revealed that he is a white supremacist racist who considers black people to have lower IQs than whites…
… and prime minister Boris Johnson’s spokespeople refused to deny that he holds the same opinions…
… because they can’t; he has already apologised for them…
… the BBC – which is being attacked by the Conservatives – inexplicably advertises for white people to take part in a documentary with the premise that they are the ones facing discrimination:
Straight out of the fascist's handbook, promotion of the idea that white people are discriminated against and are suffering…..😏 https://t.co/7nlI8RUJD3
To say that this is tone-deafness by BBC commissioners would be an insult to understatement.
Meanwhile, the Corporation’s own reporters are being attacked in the streets.
Bloody awful. I’d suggest mailing your dry cleaning bill to:
Mr Alexander Boris DePfeffel Johnson, care of Mr D Cummings The Bunker 10 Downing Street https://t.co/EQCnlmfDX9
— Kerry-Anne Mendoza 🏳️🌈🏴 (@TheMendozaWoman) February 19, 2020
This is what happens when you allow your national purveyor of independent news to be overrun by supporters of a ruling party that is not only racist but, at its heart, fascist.
Baddiel: how can we accept pronunciations on racism from the man who subjected black footballer Jason Lee to racist mockery as a “pineapple head” back in the 1990s?
Holocaust denial was one of the accusations against me when the Labour Party accused This Writer of anti-Semitism.
And I have clashed with David Baddiel on Twitter. He came across as a man with an agenda who was not interested in reasoned arguments.
So it is hard to adequately describe my disappointment when I heard that he had made a documentary on Holocaust denial for the BBC.
I have long since been exonerated of the Holocaust denial charge – by press regulator IPSO – and am currently engaged in a court battle with Labour over its use of false information to expel me from membership.
But Labour is currently embroiled in a leadership election and the vexed issue of alleged anti-Semitism in the party has again reared its ugly head.
In this context, don’t you find the timing of a documentary on the subject questionable?
And as for the presenter – well, my brother Beastrabban raises a very interesting point about his own past, which is arguably racist itself:
Baddiel used to appear in blackface wearing a pineapple and dreadlocks in order to mock the appearance of the Black footballer, Jason Lee, who was then playing for Nottingham Forest. He was taking the mick out of Lee’s hairstyle, which was a mixture of the corn rows and dreads. But this led to ‘pineapple head’ being used as a racist insult against Blacks with a similar hairstyle.
Maybe Baddiel would say it isn’t his fault that others picked up his characterisation and used it in a racist way – but the mere use of blackface is taken to be racist these days; and would racists have picked up on his character if they didn’t see racism in it already?
Note that the programme where this appeared
The Beast also points out that Baddiel’s arguments about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party aren’t very strong. Consider this attack on Jeremy Corbyn:
He also wrote a piece in the Guardian claiming that Corbyn was a terrible anti-Semite because he pronounced Jeffrey Epstein’s name ‘Epshtein’. This was supposed to be an attempt to make the deceased magnate and paedophile less English or, rather, American, by stressing his non-English-speaking origins.
It’s a rubbish argument. Unless you’re aware that Epstein, or others with the same name, are Jewish and pronounce it differently, the name looks German. And Corbyn gave it the German pronunciation. There’s nothing inherently racist in that. Consider the number of gentile Brits with foreign names, like the Eurosceptic politico Mark Francois. Presumably his surname is given the French pronunciation, but this is not taken to mean that Francois is less British.
So the documentary – Confronting Holocaust Denial with David Baddiel, February 17, 9pm, BBC2 – has questionable timing, a questionable presenter with a questionable past, and may expose its audience to questionable ideas.
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