Hate speech: Suella Braverman doesn’t like peace marchers. She doesn’t much like the Metropolitan Police but they still seem to do what she tells them.
Suella Braverman’s police rushed to intercept a group who were projecting a message calling for people to participate in Saturday’s peace march on the wall of Parliament.
Braverman herself is in the midst of a political row after she accused the Metropolitan Police of treating left-wing protesters more favourably than right-wingers, but that didn’t stop officers rushing to stop the clip by campaigning group Led by Donkeys being broadcast to the people of London.
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Here’s what happened, along with the conclusion of the clip:
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Complicit in genocide: do you agree with this description of Keir Starmer.
A devastating open letter to Keir Starmer from a group of British Palestinians who are Labour Party members has slammed his response to the Israel/Gaza conflict for opposing their party’s values.
The letter calls on Starmer to “rediscover your humanity”.
It states [boldings mine]:
We are horrified by your refusal to condemn Israel’s current indiscriminate bombing, imposition of a complete siege and planned land invasion of Gaza as war crimes. You appear to be supporting, if not encouraging, Israel in its genocidal actions against Palestinians, especially those in Gaza.
Rather than calling for an immediate ceasefire and lifting of the siege, you keep parroting ‘Israel has the right to defend itself’, a conveniently non-specific phrase.
Is killing more than 1000 children (to date) Israel exercising its right to defend itself? Is cutting off electricity, water, food and fuel following a 16-year siege so that we are on the brink of mass starvation and a collapse of Gaza’s health system examples of Israel defending itself? Is telling 1.1 million people to move from north to south Gaza and then bombing them when they have moved, a legitimate example of self-defence?
Or are they war crimes?
None of these actions are justified by the killing of civilians by Hamas. We teach our children that two wrongs don’t make a right but this simple message seems to be beyond you. Instead, you encourage Israel on an eye-for-an-eye revenge path which will only lead to more violence and deaths on both sides. This is not the way forward to peace.
You also have had nothing to say about the Palestinian villagers in the West Bank who are being harassed and driven from their homes by armed Israeli settlers with the Israeli army standing by to crush any Palestinian resistance. The number of Palestinian fatalities there this year had exceeded 250 before Hamas’s attack on 7th October. Since then, these attacks have increased with at least three villages having been cleared//near-cleared and demolished, and an increase in the body count of more than 50 in a week.
Your statements and actions on the current tragic situation in Palestine-Israel are dramatically opposed to the values of peace, justice, equality and humanity that the Labour Party is supposed to uphold. You have badly damaged the reputation, perhaps fatally, of a Party that claims to support people fighting for freedom from occupation and oppression.
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Even in terms of the base morals of what needs to be done electorally to win power, your actions are irrational. Even if you win the next general election, you will have alienated minority ethnic communities that identify with the Palestinian struggle for freedom.
To add insult to injury, you have now banned elected Labour representatives and branches from attending protests in solidarity with the Palestinian people and said no motions can be discussed which oppose the leadership’s position on the current situation in the Middle East. The leadership’s position is totally at odds with that adopted at Labour Party conference last year.
In effect, you are aiming to silence Palestinian voices, including the estimated 20,000 British Palestinians living in Britain. And you are telling us that we can’t explain to fellow Labour Party members or the wider public how Israel in 1948/9 denied our father the right of return from studying in Britain back to Nazareth, where he was born and grew up, because he was an Arab, not Jewish but a Christian. This was not an isolated incident but the policy that was applied to around 750,000 Palestinian refugees in the same years, often using brutal force, and a policy that continues to this day despite UN resolutions calling for the right of return of refugees.
You are saying that we cannot explain how our Palestinian relatives are discriminated against and are facing threats of ethnic cleansing. You are saying that we cannot argue for support for the non-violent BDS campaign which argues for Boycotts, Disinvestment and Sanctions to be applied to Israel until it ends the occupation and dismantles the Apartheid Wall, gives Palestinian citizens of Israel equal rights and supports the right of return of Palestinian refugees.
We understand that your policies have created an internal Party crisis with many Labour Councillors resigning or threatening resignation. We, however, will not resign, adopting the Palestinian tradition of steadfastness (sumud), and will fightback for Labour to return to the principles of internationalism, anti-racism, equality for all humans, anti-colonialism and choosing peace over war. We will work to have you removed from the leadership of the Party unless you genuinely return to these principles. Even if you expel us, we will continue to fight for Palestinian rights, for the only sustainable peace – peace with justice and equal rights for all who live in Palestine-Israel – and against Israel’s policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide.
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Censored: The Glastonbury Festival has cancelled a screening of a film about the campaign against Jeremy Corbyn within the Labour Party – for what seem unsupportable reasons. But the decision has led to a surge of screenings around the UK as people demand to know what all the fuss is about.
Here’s a sharp comment:
Funny how sleep sharpens perspective. This morning I have woken up to the right-wing establishment successfully deploying exaggerated claims of racism to prevent a film being shown about how the right-wing establishment deployed exaggerated claims of racism for political ends. pic.twitter.com/79hOvEoAwT
The reference is to the decision by the organisers of the Glastonbury Festival to cancel a plan to screen the documentary Oh, Jeremy Corbyn: the big lie after they received complaints from the “anti-Semitism” screamers.
These representatives of the right-wing Establishment have indeed used exaggerated claims of racism for political ends – to stop the screening of the film which explains how representatives of the right-wing Establishment used exaggerated claims of racism for political ends.
It seems that the fake charity Campaign Against Antisemitism exerted pressure on Glastonbury’s organisers, through the festival’s sponsor Vodafone,
So the claim was the old falsehood about anti-Semitism denial. Apparently this fact-based documentary would have “indoctrinated” festival-goers and “alienated” Jewish attendees.
Festival organisers then announced the cancellation, saying the festival is “about unity and not division, and we stand against all forms of discrimination”.
The way this happened leaves a bad taste in the mouth, doesn’t it? It seems the fake charity (in fact it is a highly political campaigning organisation) got Vodafone to threaten a financial loss of some kind to the festival.
I suggest this because it seems the festival asked a lawyer to examine the film before the decision to screen it was made – and that person pronounced it totally devoid of any hint of anti-Semitism.
So the organisers’ comment, which suggests that the film would create division and supports discrimination (presumably against Jews) is in direct conflict with the advice of their own lawyer – on which the decision to screen it was made and that screening was advertised on the festival’s website for around a month.
Isn’t it odd that the screening was advertised for such a long time before the CAA (or whoever) demanded that it be pulled? The film’s producer, Norman Thomas, told Dorset Eye that the lobbyists timed their attack on it to happen just a few days to go before the festival starts, in order to do maximum damage.
It is a claim that rings true to This Writer. In 2017, I stood for election to my local county council (as a Labour candidate – under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership). My campaign was derailed when Labour received an accusation of anti-Semitism against me – in time to appear in a local newspaper the day before the election.
The accusation was later found to have absolutely no validity whatsoever but the damage was done.
(Labour suspended my party membership anyway, and subsequently expelled me. I had to take the party to court to discover that the reason for my expulsion was not anti-Semitism but the fact that, as a journalist, I had written fair, accurate and timely articles criticising the party’s response to anti-Semitism accusations against other members which the right-wing faction in the party’s head office deemed to be undermining it. The obvious conclusion to draw is that nobody working in the media can be a member of the Labour Party without suffering interference in their work from it.)
The damage has been done and hacks in the mainstream and social media have been piling in with highly biased and prejudicial reviews of the film. It seems they feel they have a position to defend. Here’s an example:
.@LabourList join the organised pile on to denounce a well-researched film about how Jeremy Corbyn was demonised and the socialist wing of the @ukLabour expelled or marginalised by an orchestrated campaign to misrepresent the extent of antisemitism https://t.co/zPjXC6OcvU
— JewishVoiceForLabour (@JVoiceLabour) June 20, 2023
You can see a more balanced review of the film here.
And if you want to check the facts, the Al-Jazeera documentary series The Labour Files is a good place to start. Here‘s an article by UK journalist Peter Oborne supporting it.
You can watch the Labour Files documentaries by following the links in the tweet directly below:
And you can watch a short, ‘pilot’ version of Oh, Jeremy Corbyn: the big liehere.
If, after checking all these facts, you feel strongly enough about the injustice being done to the film and its makers by the Glastonbury organisers, feel free to do as Simon Maginn suggests:
Oh, and just one more thing: Glastonbury’s decision not to screen the film has made it more popular.
Here’s Dorset Eye again:
According to Mr Thomas, the banning of the film seems to have backfired in a big way. He said: “Since news of the ban has got out, we have been inundated by people wanting to organise screenings of the film in towns across the country. They want to see what these self-appointed censors don’t want them to see.”
He said: “Since being launched in London earlier this year the film has been taken up and screened by local groups in hundreds of towns across the country, from Penzance to Glasgow. Now the screenings are just going on and on.”
It’s a good result: Glastonbury’s decision not to screen the film to a few people at the festival has led to many more screenings across the UK; the anti-Semitism liars (let’s call them what they are) have shot themselves in the foot badly this time.
AFTERWORD: here’s a thought. I’ve long since come to the belief that the defence against those who scream “anti-Semite” at the first opportunity is hindered by the fact that while they have a word for their victims, there is no corresponding term for the screamers themselves.
But look at their behaviour. It lacks honesty and morality, and one can hardly say that the underhanded tactics used to halt the film’s screening could be described as fair play – in other words, they run against traditional British values.
So, with apologies to victims of their campaign in Northern Ireland, how about labelling the screamers “Anti-British”?
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A big mistake by Rishi Sunak has led to his greatest – possibly only – contribution to UK culture…
And it’s sartorial.
You see, it turns out that he has shockingly bad taste in footwear.
The boots he’s been wearing are … a feast for the eyes, and when he was filmed wearing them on a channel patrol before giving a speech about his “Stop the Boats” policy, well… the public response was predictable:
For those who wonder why there are always attempts to limit the reach of social media posts: it’s because of things like this.
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Rishi Sunak and his priorities: he appears to be apologising for getting them all wrong; if only that were true!
Not only is Rishi Sunak’s government ignoring priorities the public think are important, but he is failing at his own, a poll has found.
Read:
The prime minister set out five priorities at the start of the year, including halving inflation, growing the economy, cutting NHS waiting lists, reducing the national debt and stopping small boat crossings.
But almost halfway through the year, a poll by Ipsos UK found more than 50 per cent of people think the Government is doing a bad job on almost all those priorities.
In worse news for the Government, the poll found that the public tended to think Sunak was doing a worse job on the areas that were most important to them.
The public’s top priority, according to the poll, was easing the cost of living, with 59 per cent listing it as important, followed by ensuring people can get NHS treatment more quickly on 54 per cent and reducing NHS waiting lists on 51 per cent.
But 60 per cent said the Government was doing a bad job on easing the cost of living, with only 18 per cent saying it was doing a good job, and 62 per cent thought it was not delivering on reducing NHS waiting times.
On growing the economy, which 39 per cent listed as one of their priorities, 50 per cent said the Government was doing a bad job.
So the Tories are terrible – not only by failing to acknowledge the right priorities, but by failing at those on which they’re concentrating instead!
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All we need now is another one to stop Keir Starmer’s Labour.
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Uncannily accurate: The Conservative government’s genuine policy towards PIP claimants may as well have been as it appears in this cartoon from 2017. But what will replace the assessment system it satirises?
I should be pleased.
This Site has campaigned against the Work Capability Assessment for sickness and disability benefits, practically since I started publishing it at the end of 2011.
In my opinion, it has been misused, as a tool to force people who are too ill to work onto job-seeking benefits that carry sanctions if a claimant fails to carry out particular tasks – tasks which the long-term sick and disabled are often clearly incapable of doing.
In many cases, the results have been fatal. I know this because it took me two years to force the Department for Work and Pensions to release figures showing that 2,400 people died within a limited period (two weeks) after being found fit for work, between dates in 2011 and 2014.
That’s right – these people had been found fit to go to work by this hopelessly flawed tick-box assessment system, and then they had proven themselves to be nothing of the sort.
And the Tory government carried on as though nothing was wrong.
I also have personal experience of the system’s flaws. After my partner – Mrs Mike; remember her? – was wrongly put in the work-related activity group for Employment and Support Allowance, she appealed in the hope of being relocated to the support group.
Instead, whoever received her letter slapped a “Do Not Contact” tag on her file for no discernible reason and allowed her claim to end after 12 months, while she waited – in considerable confusion and distress – for a response that was never going to come.
Fortunately, I was around to kick up a stink and get the situation sorted out. But that just highlights the fact that many thousands of people don’t have that kind of help at hand.
And now, we’re told, the Work Capability Assessment is to be scrapped.
But we’re not being told what will replace it.
This Independent article has comments from a couple of organisations that have a stake in what happens:
Trades Union Congress general secretary Paul Novak [said:] “Scrapping the work capability assessment will be welcome if it means an end to assessments that cause anxiety instead of helping people achieve their aspirations,” he added, while urging greater investment in public services to get people off NHS waiting lists and reduce barriers to training.
James Taylor of the disability equality charity Scope said axing the assessment was “the minimum change needed to even begin improving a welfare system that regularly fails disabled people”, and stressed the need for “a more person-centred system” offering “specialist, tailored and flexible” support.
“Those that want to work should be supported. But for some, that’s not an option and disabled people shouldn’t be forced into unsuitable work,” he said. “There is a lot of work to do for the government to restore trust in our benefits system.”
Notice that they both mentioned ways of getting more people back into work; this is Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s aim with the changes to the benefit system.
And that’s why I fear for the future of sickness and disability benefits in the UK.
I think the odious Hunt is planning another push to put sick people into jobs they can’t do. If I’m right, his plan will fail on many levels.
This is revealing from Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis – who came out with a naughty word in a Parliamentary committee while discussing online scammers.
It seems the government won’t legislate to stop online scammers because it’s too complicated – but the firms running the big internet platforms can’t be bothered unless it’s worth their while; the cost of being sued for failing to do it is less than the profit from the advertising revenue they get from the crooks.
See for yourself:
And why not employ people to stop the scammers, rather than rely on a tech solution? The tech companies are the biggest and most profitable, so they can afford to do it.
They just need an incentive. If they won’t take the carrot, maybe it’s time for the stick.
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Bombing campaign: these images of explosions caused by Israeli attacks on Gaza were taken in 2020. Israel has been attacking Palestine since the former country was created in 1948.
Here’s another useful post from Beastrabban:
I got this email from Stop the War Coalition this afternoon:
‘Protest for Palestine – This Wednesday
Last week Israel once again launched a bombing campaign of the besieged Gaza strip. Over 3 days it killed at least 44 Palestinians, including 15 children. More than 300 Palestinians have been wounded and hundreds more displaced.
The bombs, for now, have stopped falling on Gaza, but the injustice continues. Palestinians need us to stand in solidarity, to protest and to take action.
Join us this Wednesday (10th August) to call for an end to Israel’s oppression and to assert the right of the Palestinian people to live in freedom with justice and equality.
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Politically closer than comfort allows? Boris Johnson and Vladimir Putin.
Oh what a shame. After all his talk about opposing Russia, someone has pointed out that Boris Johnson imitates the repression of that country.
Labour’s Chris Bryant was pointing out that the removal of ‘Stop Brexit Steve’ Bray’s amplifiers, which he used to protest against the UK’s departure from the EU, was reminiscent of the kind of suppression of the people for which Russia used to be famous.
The equipment was taken under a clause of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act that seems to have been written specifically in order to allow Mr Bray’s equipment to be removed.
In the clip you can hear Andrea Leadsom weakly trying to defend the draconian policy – but even she knows she’s on a hiding to nothing.
See/hear for yourself:
Chris Bryant on Steve Bray getting.his amplifiers taken away by the police.
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