The
Guardian all but ignored the leaked review showing that Labour's
Blairite officials sabotaged Corbyn's chances at the 2017 general
election. But it gives front page billing to a new Labour report
suggesting that the party needs to swing dramatically rightwards to
win in 2024.
Jonathan
Cook
His
rivals know that Corbyn's egalitarian policy proposals could easily
resonate with Britons of all races, religions and ethnicities. This
is why instead of attacking his ideas and policies, they are
attacking him personally
Tony
Greenstein
With
the destruction of Jeremy Corbyn Northern European social democracy
failed to re-establish itself in the UK. I find it rather troubling
that Keir Starmer seems more interested in suppressing this report
than acting on its alarming findings.
Craig
Murray
I
would like to refer you to Craig Murray’s analysis on the
Labour Party report on anti-semitism complaints. Yes the report that
is being buried by Sir Keir Starmer. This is an abbreviated version.
“With
the destruction of Jeremy Corbyn Northern European social democracy
failed to re-establish itself in the UK. I find it rather troubling
that Keir Starmer seems more interested in suppressing this report
than acting on its alarming findings. The report conclusively refutes
the accusation that delays were occasioned by Jeremy Corbyn or his
office, or that his office displayed any sympathy for anti-semitism.
In fact, the opposite is the case. Corbyn’s office showed a proper
hatred of anti-semitism, but also an alarming willingness to throw
good people under the bus on very flimsy allegations of
anti-semitism.
"Labour HQ was staffed by right wingers so
vehemently anti-Corbyn that they actively wanted the Conservatives to
win elections. Senior members of staff were messaging each other
opposing any increase in corporation tax and opposing
re-nationalisation of the railways as “Trot” policies.
'The case
of the very right wing Gen Secretary, John McTernan, is instructive.
McTernan had taken to writing articles in the Daily Telegraph
praising the Tories and attacking Labour, but the Governance and
Legal Unit of Party HQ refused to take action against him. His
abusive language on Twitter and elsewhere, included describing Labour
MPs who nominated Corbyn as “morons”; tweeting that Corbyn was a
“traitor”; describing “Corbynistas” as racist; calling Corbyn
a “Putin-hugging, terrorist-loving, Trident-hater”; and writing
in the Daily Telegraph that all of Corbyn’s supporters were “online
trolls”.
'Meanwhile left wingers were being thrown out of the
party for having advocated a Green vote years before they joined, or
for calling MPs who supported the Iraq war “warmongers”. The
report makes an overwhelming case that the Governance and Legal Unit
of the Labour Party failed to take action on accusations of
anti-semitism because it was devoting all of its energies to a
factional effort to remove Corbyn supporters from the party.
'These
right wing staff were hoping for Labour electoral defeats in order to
get rid of Corbyn. HQ staff set up another organisation based in
another building, to divert party funds and secretly channel them to
the campaigns of their favoured right wing MPs.
Support for
British military attacks abroad appeared to be the touchstone issue
for who was “in” and who was “out” with Labour Party HQ
staff.
'Corbyn correctly, stated something that had been
unsayable in mainstream UK political discourse – that British
invasions abroad provoke terrorism at home. Labour Party HQ staff
hoped and believed this would sink Corbyn and were actively wishing
Labour to fall in the polls.
"The Labour HQ staff had been
inherited from the Blair years, and factional loyalty and a history
of right wing political activity were much more important in
employment decisions than qualifications or competence.
"The
Governance and Legal Unit, which handled the complaints of
anti-semitism, was staffed by vehemently anti-Corbyn right wingers
and was also useless. The report hints throughout that the failure to
deal with anti-semitic Labour Party members was a deliberate act by
party HQ staff in order to make Corbyn look bad. The report proves
conclusively that allegations of unwarranted interference from
Corbyn’s office to block anti-semitism action are malicious
lies.
"John Ware, a freelance journalist, was hired by the BBC to
make the panorama programme “Is Labour Anti-Semitic” despite his
history of anti-Muslim, and specifically anti-Palestinian,
propaganda.
"Corbyn failed to be sufficiently ruthless in
clearing out the quite extraordinarily right wing Blairites that he
had inherited as Labour Party HQ staff. Corbyn lacked the
ruthlessness required in a leader to spot enemies and be rid of them.
But then, his not being a ruthless bastard is why so many people
flocked to support Corbyn in the first place.
"Corbyn’s tactic
of attempting to appease the media on anti-semitism was never going
to work. The right wing press and TV had no genuine interest in
anti-racism, other than as a tool to prevent the possible election of
a European style social democratic government. Neither the media nor
the Blairites were ever going to reconcile to Corbyn.
"We will
never know what would have happened if he had come out and denounced
the witch-hunt as an attempt to stifle supporters of the
Palestinians, and spoken openly of Israel’s move to apartheid. He
had the nerve to take on the establishment narrative when he stated
that British military invasions cause terrorist blowback at home, and
won public support. Whether a firm line on Palestine and calling out
the witch-hunt would have had a better result than giving way before
unfair attacks, we can never know.”
Craig
Murray's full report is here:
,
NOTE: If only we had more Craig Murrays and Marcus Rashfords. I have known Craig ever since I read "Murder in Samarkand". As a fellow whistleblower, but one who sacrificed much less than he did as a UK Ambassador, I have followed the great work he has done to advance honest politics. I recommend following his work at ...
Rowena
Mason in the Guardian writes, “The
decision to set out an ambition to reopen schools and some shops in
June and some hospitality venues in July – without the epidemic in
care homes and hospitals yet under control – also shows Boris
Johnson has also been swayed by the hawks in his cabinet.’
I wouldn't give the man credit for anything more than being swayed by a personality shaped by membership of the Bullingdon Club in Oxford forty years ago.
Harriet
Sherwood interviewed a woman in The Guardian who recruited members to the Bullingdon
Club at Oxford in the 1980s when Boris Johnson was a member.
The
woman said: “The whole culture was to get extremely drunk and exert
vandalism. Every time someone was elected, they had to have their
room smashed to pieces. People talk about the Bullingdon Club
‘trashing’ places, but it was serious criminal damage.”
One
former member told The Daily Beast how they sprayed the walls of the room of the person they were
initiating into membership with champagne, tearing photographs, and cutting
up mattresses.
An 'initiate' classmate of Johnson told how he endured the ritual.
At the end of it, he shook Johnson’s hand, was congratulated and
told, "you have been chosen.”
“We always hired whores,” he
added,
“but there is not really much point in hiring a prostitute if you
consume two bottles of champagne.”
Today
as Prime Minister, Johnson is exerting vandalism on a far greater scale
and trashing the whole country. In following the 'hawks' he is no longer spraying walls with
champagne, but our lives with death.
How many of you are happy to
have been ‘chosen’?
www.davidwilson.org.uk
The Guardian's extraordinary account of Jeremy
Corbyn’s visit to Bristol on 9 December is for
me, as the cliché
goes, the last straw. Here is a video clip of the reception given to
Corbyn and how it was explained in that newspaper.
We
are living at a critical moment and the choice on Thursday is stark.
Are we going to choose
a government that will
reverse ten years of austerity or one led by our very own
Trump-with-a-worse-haircut?
If
we end up with the latter some
of us will not just be
blaming the ignorant
many, but worse than
that, the conscious
manipulation of truth
by the knowledgeable few.
Ex-Ambassador Craig Murray, ('Vauntie
Cybernat, Former Ambassador, Human Rights Activist') spoke at
the Waterstones launch of 'Left Field' – we share the experience of
being whistleblowers . Here is an excerpt
from my book.
"I am often asked whether
the War Child saga has left its scars. Of course it has, but I know
there is a law applying to whistleblowers that requires a formula. It
goes like this. The whistleblower discovers wrongdoing in an
organisation. He/she is faced with ostracism, claims that they are
ill and need to rest. If that tactic isn’t successful, they are
informed they should retire and when that is not possible, sacked.
The wrongdoers will then hide behind conventions and legalities to
prevent information leaks. Finally, the whistleblower will achieve
minor reforms, the wrongdoers will be exposed, but it will be too
late. The wrong has been done, the wronged have been sacked, and the
wrongdoers have quietly manoeuvred themselves back into positions of
influence." I only managed to get
exposure because I had powerful people Like Pavarotti and Brian Eno behind me, the front page of the Guardian and the lead story on Channel 4 News." Left Field is available
from Waterstones and on Amazon. More about the book at www.davidwilson.org.uk
Last week I went to the the launch of
the new Left Book Club at Conway Hall. Their first publication is
Kevin Ovenden's 'Syriza, Inside the Labyrinth'. As a fervent
follower of Kevin's insightful blogs on Greece and much else I am
looking forward to reading this one. Set up in 1936 the first LBC had
57,000 members, and 1.500 discussion groups in workplaces and
communities. Writing in today's Guardian, Ian Jack wonders, “could
anything like that success happen again? At first sight, it would
seem mad to think so. A book is an antique method of political
dissemination ... But too many recent examples suggest the case is
far from clear-cut. Thomas Piketty, Richard Wilkinson, Naomi Klein,
Bill Mckibben: it was the printed book that contained their ideas,
rather than social media. A form devised in the 15th
century is proving remarkable resilient. A book, lke a fire, is
something people can gather round. It can be - see reading groups and
literary festivals – the focus of a good night out, or the first
provocative stage in a more serious process. Or both.” Well said.
My own upcoming memoir is a great coming together of social media –
which has raised more than enough funding to publish – with a
traditional physical publication at the end. Not forgetting the
E-book. So, read Kevin's book and check out 'Left Field'.
The Guardian (21 Sep 2015) says that there are moves to bring to a halt police investigations into child sex abuse amongst Establishment figures. The role of Exaro - the news organisation whose work played a major part in bringing about the police inquiries - is being brought into doubt. The Guardian says "One complaint came last November over the presence of its journalist, David Hencke, a former Guardian reporter, at a private meeting for survivors and their representatives. A second complaint was made to another senior inquiry official three months later, alleging that the role Exaro was playing – 'seemingly with the assistance of panel members' –was 'causing havoc' among some survivors." If you check out the Exaro website you will see that they work meticulously in their exposure of corruption and bad practice at the highest level. What's more they conduct their work more honestly and rigorously than the corporate media. I have known David Hencke since he was a Guardian journalist and led the investigation into my allegations involving War Child. He was incredibly thorough and would not commit anything to public notice until he was sure he had a watertight story. He even investigated me and was right to do so. This is what Exaro itself says about David: "David Hencke led our exposure of senior civil servants who were able to avoid tax by working off payroll. The story won David the title of political journalist of the year. David was at the forefront of Exaro's exposure of secret recordings of a meeting where Rupert Murdoch made clear that he was aware that some of his newspaper journalists had paid bribes." Check out Exaro's work for yourself.
The Guardian's Michael White says, “... I know that Westminster-based pundits are supposed to be an unimaginative bunch of sheep who take dictation from the 'establishment' ”. Where did he get that idea from? Perhaps it's the memory of his support for Tony Blair and the Iraq slaughter. “It's disappointing for the pack that always gathers where Blair goes, not least because the Get Blair crowd are looking for something that isn't there – the smoking gun that proves Blair's villainy.” Working from an office 'embedded' inside the Westminster parliament, White finds his targets amongst the “romantic beardies who wear sandals and socks to the office.” Who can he be referring to? Pity he couldn't have been at UNITE'S offices last night where I went to help the Jeremy Corbyn campaign. Three rooms packed with volunteers on the phones. At age 70 and beardless, I was probably the oldest there, surrounded by young people, many of whom have never been involved in political activity and hopefully have never read Michael White. None of them were wearing sandals.(I visited MW's Westminster office when working with David Hencke on my WarChild memories. You can read more about David in 'Left Field')
