Tag: Antisemitism

The Fraud by Paul Holden

Think Starmer’s a decent, honest man who has been badly treated? Holden’s coruscating biographical investigation should make you change your mind

In the light of Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation as MP for Holborn and St Pancras, now is the perfect time to review this book and reflect on the health of democracy in the UK. If you are a centrist – a right wing Labour supporter,  a Lib Dem or a Tory wet (if such a thing exists any more) – please read on. You might be susceptible to evidence. Obviously, Reform and Restore supporters are invited to read it as well, but they seem to be immune to all forms of rational argument.

I’ve been struck by the number of civilised and relatively sane people on social media (and in real life, comfortingly) who have misgivings about the defenestration of Keir Starmer. Even those who were broadly in agreement with the need to replace him, if Labour were to have any chance of forming the next government, seem to feel some regret because they see him as a “decent” and “well-meaning” man who was trying his best to cope with the post Tory Shitshambles situation. Admittedly, he’s not in the same league as Johnson, Sunak, Truss, May or Cameron when it comes to duplicity or incompetence, but he seems to have fooled a huge number of people who, against all available evidence, feel sorry for him. 

If you have felt anything akin to this in relation to Sir Keir, I’m prescribing an essential antidote – read The Fraud by Paul Holden, and for a palate cleanser, watch The Labour Files, the Al-Jazeera documentary on YouTube. Both of these modern, seminal texts forensically and irrefutably demolish this, exposing it as one of the great modern myths of our time. The Labour files, in four parts, was broadcast in 2022 and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you had never heard of it.

Or of the Forde report, the independent report commissioned by the Labour Party to investigate anti-semitism within its ranks. The report that, when it did not back up the Starmer backed-official line on Corbyn and the party he led, was comprehensively buried and effectively disowned. And yet still, to this day, Corbyn is routinely vilified in Parliament, in the press and casually, raising a consensual laugh amongst the chumocracy of the British media, for supposedly being Anti – Semitic. If you have any regard for the truth in public life, or the health of our democracy and public life this is something that must be of the greatest concern. 

The book systematically demolishes Starmer’s mystifying reputation for probity, establishing beyond doubt the following facts:

  1. He was associated with the shadowy Labour Together movement that actively undermined the Labour Party’s campaign during the 2019 General Election. In particular, the book documents how Labour Together illegally and covertly channelled party funds to support the election campaigns of leading Labour right wingers, when left wing candidates in more marginal constituencies were far more in need of any additional resources that were available. In this way, Labour Together, under the leadership of Morgan McSweeney, almost certainly deliberately broke electoral laws regarding funding of election campaigns

2. He lied repeatedly during his leadership campaign in order to persuade a left wing mass membership, who had been largely recruited and  invigorated by Corbyn’s adoption of manifesto policies that at the very least were on handshaking terms with Socialism, that he was cut from the same cloth. He even went as far as to describe the Corbyn manifesto of 2019 as “foundational”. All ten of the promises were subsequently broken.

3. He actively pursued a campaign of vilifying predominantly left wing labour members and hounding them under the guise of investigating complaints of anti semitism. Under Starmers’s leadership an extraordinary number of jewish members were accused of antisemitism leading to suspension and /or expulsion.

4. He repeatedly (and to this day) misrepresents the EHRC investigation into Anti Semitism in the party as one which concludes that Corbyn was antisemitic and that the party was institutionally anti semitic. The Left Wing Jewish Voice for Labour, published a pamphlet about the EHRC investigation ( you can get it for free here: https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2915-how-the-ehrc-got-it-so-wrong ) and it concluded there was:

  • no evidence of widespread antisemitism, direct discrimination or victimisation in the Labour Party
  • – no evidence that Corbyn or his office were responsible for the Party’s poor handling of complaints
  • – no evidence that Corbyn or his office sought systematically to undermine antisemitism complainants or protected those accused
  • – a dangerous disregard by the EHRC for the elementary democratic as well as legal principle of free speech. 

5. Having set up The Forde enquiry led by an independent KC of some repute, Martyn Forde,  into AntiSemitism in the Labour Party, he refused to publish it and then when it was finally published, proceeded to bury its contents. Forde’s report concludes that Anti Semitism had been weaponised by the Labour Right and that thee supposed “interference” into ongoing investigations by Corbyn and other senior leaders had been with the intention of speeding up the process, rather than, as the Starnmerites implied, to obstruct the process. Indeed, under Corbyn complaints were investigated at a far higher rate than under the previous leaders’ regimes.

6. Starmer was at the forefront of the disgraceful Government policy on Gaza, refusing to recognise Gaza as a state, refusing to condemn Israeli aggression as Genocide, despite repeated judgements to that effect from respected international bodies such as the UN and Amnesty International, amongst others. Holden provides ample evidence of the Israeli Government’s involvement in lobbying labour MPs and making payments to them or their constituency offices.

There’s much, much more, both in the book and in the Al Jazeera documentaries. It’s really shocking stuff. But what’s more shocking is how long they got away with it. Have a look at The Labour Files by following the link below and spread the word. Thankfully Starmer, because of all of this, and the series of dreadful policy mistakes made from the beginning of his government,  didn’t last in office very long. The arrival of Andy Burnham represents a second chance. His instincts, as represented in the book co-written with Steve Rotheram, Head North, are much more people centered, and left wing. The policies they outline in the second half of the book give a lot of grounds for hope, but we have been let down before. I’ll watch and wait with my fingers crossed. It will be very instructive to watch how they handle the candidate selection for the upcoming byelection and whether Zach Polanski puts his name forward for the Greens. If the new labour incarnation has any sense and it actually means anything substantial, they would welcome back Andrew Feinstein. (watch the documentary for more about him) I’m not holding my breath.

Back to the Future, Part Two: We’re on the brink….

Johnson: Are you sure this will work?

Cummings: It’s the Will of The People…

At the time of writing, it all looks pretty bleak for Labour Party supporters. The last poll put the Tories 19 points ahead.(update at the bottom of this article) Yes, it was similar midway through the 2017 election. Yes, this is an election with, more than ever before, constituency-specific conditions that buck the trend of national polls. Yes, the campaign allows Corbyn more direct access to people to be able to counter the most egregious media bias. Taking all of that into account, it still feels like a mountain to climb, and the ambition of being the largest party in a hung parliament, realistic a few weeks ago, seems unattainable now. The first sign of a closing of the gap in the polls has brought out the big guns of the anti-semitism tactic, a hugely successful plan to discredit the most overtly anti-racist political party in the history of the known universe. You can’t argue against it, if you’re not Jewish, without running the risk of being accused of, at best being in denial about the problem and at worst, being a racist. Even Jewish labour party supporters who have the temerity to contest the MSM version of events are demonised as traitors or not being real Jews. Please, give the tens of thousands of Jewish voices who are pro-Corbyn some air time. Please, when you write these articles, give us some evidence. Please Jeremy, argue your case. Look at some of these links for more: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/mar/07/debunking-myth-that-anti-zionism-is-antisemitic Michael Rosen’s blog: https://t.co/H6kKX1R2b0?amp=1 Jewish Voice for Labour: https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/smoke-without-fire-the-myth-of-a-labour-antisemitism-crisis/

It could still be the case that real people voting on December 12th will show the polls to have been wrong, but I have to be honest, I’m not expecting that and I’m beginning to feel more than a little depressed. Because what is at stake in this election makes it, by a country mile, the most important in my lifetime. Despite the best efforts of the mainstream media to normalise the Conservative Party led by Boris Johnson, to place them in a One Nation Tory tradition, they are really the Brexit party in all but name.

The Selfish, the Sentimental and the Stupid

Consider what has happened in the last year.

Moderate and mainstream Tories have left in their droves. Either they have something resembling principles, and they cannot in conscience be part of a party that is going to inflict such damage on the country. Or they cannot justify, with weasel words, (See James Cleverly, Matt Hancock, Nicky Morgan, Michael Gove) the blatant, repeated and outright bare faced lying and law breaking that is the modus operandi of the current leadership. Whether they have left, or have been ousted by the withdrawal of the whip, or the actions of rabidly right wing constituency parties, they are no longer there, a moderating influence on future policy direction. Look at the names of those who have gone: Rory Stewart, Ken Clarke, Amber Rudd, Dominic Grieve, David Gauke, Nick Boles, Justine Greening, Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen. His own brother, Jo Johnson, has stepped down as a candidate. We have no way of knowing, at the time of writing, how many of his children are standing against him for other political parties. The party is now an unembarrassed coalition of the selfish, the sentimental and the stupid, a mirror image of the voters they now attract.

You just have to look at the current cabinet for a flavour of what a Johnson Government would do.

Priti Patel as Home Secretary: Believes in the Death Penalty. Thinks poverty is the fault of local authorities. Broke Civil Service regulations last year as Secretary of State for Overseas Development by holding secret meetings without the required Civil service officials, with members of the Israel government over illegal settlements on the West Bank. Thinks British workers are “the worst idlers in the world” Has advocated reducing dramatically the welfare state in the UK and imposing working conditions of countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea

Sajid Javid as Chancellor. His main role appears to be as a token person of colour in the cabinet. Has suffered outright and open racism from other Tory members in the way he has been treated and in the torrent of social media abuse he has experienced from many constituencies, members and officials. Played a leading role, before becoming an MP, in Deutsche bank, enriching himself on the back of his trading of collaterised debt obligations (no, me neither), the financial instrument that played a central part in the collapse of the global banking system.

Liz Truss as President of the Board of Trade. Someone with the largest recorded gap between their ability and their own estimation of their ability, coming just ahead of Andrea Loathsome, the person who wants to get rid of all workers’ rights legislation from Europe.

Dominic Raab, co-author with Priti of the book “Britain unchained”, a rag bag collection of lunatic fringe right wing stuff, both on economics and social policy. This is the stuff that passes for the intellectual wing of the party. The compensation prize in this election, if the Tories win, is the prospect of Raab, IDS, and even Johnson himself losing their seats. Most of them, Johnson in particular, wouldn’t be able to find the high street of their constituency without a minder holding their hand, because they don’t give a flying fig leaf for boring old constituency work. That sort of stuff is for social workers.

Matt Hancock, minister for Health, who will say and do absolutely anything he has to, to cling on to power and his ministerial limo.

And that’s before we get onto Jacob Rees-Mogg, Minister for the eighteenth century and Michael Gove whose policy crimes and misdemeanours, and his absolute equanimity about lies and law breaking almost rival Johnson himself. (What a dream team that would have made back in 2016 – The Mendacious Brothers).

So what policies could we reasonably expect to be enacted if the Tories have a working majority, given that the new crop of MPs are likely not to have a single scruple or moral instinct between them? Well, for starters:

  • Savage anti-immigrant legislation
  • Selling off  much of the NHS to USA and a quantum leap towards Health insurance
  • Abolition of all meaningful workers’ rights laws – expect restrictions of sick pay entitlement and the right to paid holidays.
  • Abortion outlawed
  • Increase in State pension age to 75
  • Slashing of public spending on services and infrastructure
  • Increase in unemployment that not even the expansion of the unregulated gig economy can mask.

Most worryingly, once Johnson gets a majority, I don’t think that it’s far fetched to suggest that they will do everything in their power to stack the elections odds against Labour ever getting re-elected. The Boundary commission redrawing of constituencies will go ahead this time, with all that implies for Labour. They will bring in the blatantly partisan requirement for photo ID before citizens are allowed to vote. This will effectively disenfranchise tens of thousands of Labour voters. Johnson has shown his utter contempt for previously accepted norms of public discourse and for the rule of law and the conventions of parliamentary democracy, and will have no hesitation in dismantling anything that is a hindrance to his pursuit of power and his retention of power once he has his hands on it. The most recent heavy-handed threats against Channel four for not just rolling over are a sign of how none of the freedoms we have taken for granted for so long can now be guaranteed.

Lies, damned lies, and the media

Johnson: Won’t anyone notice?

Pa Johnson: Don’t worry -The great unwashed can’t even spell Pinochio

Cummings: Brilliant!

And it is this that is at the heart of this election, the reason it is of such importance. It is conceivable that reasonable, civilized people can vote Conservative because they believe in a smaller state and trickle-down economics. I don’t agree with them and I think that they are wilfully ignoring all the available evidence, but democracy dictates that we must suck it up when The People make the wrong choices.

But absolutely nobody can vote for this particular brand of the Tory party, who has any regard for the truth, for the law and for freedom.

It is possible that some of the apologists can convince themselves that the ends justify the means, that they know they are right so that it is acceptable, ultimately, to bend the truth and the law, to get a Tory Government. That is chilling enough. Even more sinister is the idea that they know they are wrong, but they want power above all else and are prepared to do anything to get it and then hang on to it.

I don’t want to be hysterical about this. I may be being overly susceptible because I watched the BBC4 series, “The Rise of the Nazi Party” a few weeks ago, and I’ve just finished reading the Booker prize winner, “The Testaments”, Margaret Atwood’s follow up to the dystopian nightmare view of the future, “The Handmaids Tale”. But the checks and balances of a mature liberal democracy that we have all taken for granted as guaranteed for ever are under attack, and suddenly it is possible to see how, step by step, populist authoritarianism slides in through the backdoor and slips into a seat on the back row. Before you know it, it’s taken the stage and the audience are all clapping furiously.

We’re half way there. Already Johnson has:

  • Suppressed the report into Russian interference and donations to the Tories
  • Unlawfully prorogued Parliament
  • Misled the Queen
  • Doctored video of Starmer talking about Brexit
  • Produced a fake “Fact checker” version of the Conservative Party website to mislead the public
  • Threatened a national broadcaster
  • Leant on the BBC, with the license fee an unspoken arm twisted behind their backs.
  • Avoided all serious scrutiny by the media
  • Avoided investigation into fraudulently funnelling money to Jennifer Arcuri when London Mayor.
  • Lied about the reason for having the general election

Ten to twenty years ago, just one of these things would have sunk any political career. Now, apparently, the public say that Johnson’s a naughty boy and we don’t trust him, but we like him and we’re going to vote for him because he will get Brexit done, with his “Oven-Ready” deal.

It’s not the deal that’s Oven Ready. It’s us – the long -suffering Turkeys.

Fight back! Vote tactically, even if that means holding your nose and voting for the Lib Dems. Find out who are the nearest challengers to the Tories in your constituency and vote for them.

Ps: Stop press! Latest polling suggests a narrowing of the gap -It’s not over yet and this makes the tactical voting message above even more important.