At the launch of the Shami Chakrabarti report into anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, black activist Marc Wadsworth said:
“I saw that the Telegraph handed a copy of a press release to Ruth Smeeth MP so you can see who is working hand in hand. If you look around this room, how many African Caribbean and Asian people are there? We need to get our house in order.”
You can see the video of him saying it on the Independent website here.
Sky News has been reporting this, I think gleefully is the word, in its headlines all afternoon as an “anti-Semitic attack” on Ms Smeeth. Sky have not however shown what he actually said, although they had cameras at the event, and their journalist who was present described the comments without qualification as anti-Semitic without saying what the comment actually was.
Mr Wadsworth denies knowing Ms Smeeth is Jewish. I have no idea if that is true; I didn’t know myself, nor care. But neither what Wadsworth actually said, not his denial that he knew she is Jewish, is being reported by the broadcast media. What is being reported very widely is Ms Smeeth’s subsequent statement:
“I was verbally attacked by a Momentum activist and Jeremy Corbyn supporter who used traditional anti-Semitic slurs to attack me for being part of a “media conspiracy”. It is beyond belief that someone could come to the launch of a report about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and espouse such vile conspiracy theories against Jewish people.”
Ms Smeeth’s statement contains one stark dishonesty. She puts “media conspiracy” in inverted commas, when Mr Wadsworth did not use the phrase, or even either of those two words separately. Ms Smeeth appears to have deliberately misrepresented what Mr Wadsworth said, which I presume she checked.
I do accept that there is a pernicious anti-semitic meme about Jewish control of the media (plus the banking system, TV and Hollywood, Bilderberg etc etc). And I do accept that these memes are offensive and should be countered, just as the Chakrabarti report states. But it seems to me an untenable interpretation of what Mr Wadsworth said to characterise it as an accusation that Jewish people control the media, as opposed to an observation about a particular action of a particular MP with a particular journalist.
This however is where I may lose some of you. It seems to me not unnatural that, as the Chakrabarti report was the subject of the meeting, the idea of anti-semitic memes was at the front of Ms Smeeth’s mind. It therefore seems to me quite probable that her reaction was genuine, and she read into the remark something not intended.
Nonetheless, I really cannot see any way that Mr Wadsworth’s statement could bear the interpretation that Ms Smeeth put on it. Unless we take the position that nobody can ever be accused of doing anything wrong, lest it further “traditional slurs” against the ethnic group to which they belong.
There is a further point to be made. Given this was an important media event, the organisers really did not ought to have allowed a loose cannon like Mr Wadsworth to get a microphone in his hands, interesting character though he evidently is.
On the Chakrabarti report itself, it seems to me a model of good sense. It is interesting to note that her recommendations on what areas (including holocaust denial and the Nazis) and what language to ban from discourse, end up very closely mirroring the same rules we have adopted over the years on this blog, effectively to bar anti-Semitism.
Ruth Smeeth worked as a PR person for BICOM – a group dedicated to promoting Israel to Britain. She is not a shrinking violet. This stinks of the dirty tricks being smeared over MSM by Corbyn haters. She comes from the same background as those despicable ‘bright young things’ who you exposed recently making hay with an old man in a stupid t shirt. Her constituency is one of the poorest in the country yet has an outsider parachuted in to teach them good manners. Oddly they voted for Brexit. Absolutely nothing to do with MPs being out of touch with their constituents…..no…it isn’t….honest.
She featured quite heavily in one of John Harris’ “Anywhere but Westminster” reports a couple of weeks back, going round stoke trying to convince (unsuccessfully) Labour voters to vote Remain. That was the first I and I suspect any non-constuents knew of her existence, there was no mention of her religion there and only discovered that she is Jewish today, so we might forgive the other guy for not knowing either.
The second issue of whether it was an attack, a genuine misunderstanding or a wilful attempt to confect anti-Semitism remains open until we see the evidence.
Note that he Guardian is also trying to infer that Corbyn compared Israel to Isis, which, watching the video clip he clearly does not and his comment where the two appear in the same sentence gets a healthy round of applause.
There is clearly an agenda on the part of someone to try and confect anti-Semitism where none occured.
Can the Guardian get much lower ? ;
http://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2016-06-30/guardian-sinks-into-gutter-on-corbyn-again/
The first thing I noticed about the video is that the sound seems to have been recorded from a point among the group of two men and two women who are most clearly heard making objections. They are far more clearly heard, even when whispering, than anyone else in the room. The sound certainly seemed NOT to have been recorded from the position of the camera that took the video. The voices of those four people also have the characteristically “dry” sound of being close to the microphone. I state this with the experience of having been a sound engineer.
So either that video was a composite, the image recorded on the camera later re-synchronised with audio recorded on a different device amid that group (a smartphone, perhaps), or, even worse, the camera had a lead or a wireless connection to a remote microphone amid that group. Either way, most likely contrived in advance. Either recording technicians or post-production technicians must have worked “hand in hand” with someone amid that group to capture the audio as heard.
My best guess is that the mic was on the bald man with a moustache and a black tie who leaves, or maybe the younger-looking man with a pink tie. Who are they? Did any of that group know the content of the speech in advance?
Look closely; the bald man seems to have a lapel mic.
You can hear and see the bald man’s papers disturb his lapel microphone as he stands up.
There will be time-codes in both the audio and the video streams (though I don’t know if they’ll be the original ones). Does anyone know if the sync generator could be uniquely identified from these?
Explains why it’s hard to hear the rest of the guy’s comments over Smeeth’s “how dare you” etc – i did think that was strange, but couldn’t explain it before you pointed that out.
If anyone wants to analyse time-codes, I’ve downloaded that video in every format in which it is available on YouTube, including the various audio-only and video-only formats.
As someone who was present at the Liberty fringe event at the last SNP Conference in Aberdeen I have no interest whatsoever in anything she is involved in – ever.
It would be interesting if someone would find out what Mr Wadsworth actually said. Any volonteers?
What are you talking about? The piece quotes precisely what he said, and links to the video of him saying it.
To be fair Craig a phone can be heard ringing, just as Mr Wadsworth says something that offends Ms Smeeth.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-activist-who-berated-mp-ruth-smeeth-says-he-did-not-know-she-was-jewish-and-denies-momentum-a7111366.html
Thank you, RoS.
Of course if we could hear the audio from the camera mic rather than the bald man’s lapel mic, we would hear more clearly what Mr Wadsworth was saying.
After watching and listening to DomesticExtremists link at 17.13 pm I agree with you on what Mr Wadsworth said.
I wonder if there is any truth in the accusation? Or was his presence planned to smear Corbyn.
Will we ever find out the truth of the matter?
“I wonder if there is any truth in the accusation? Or was his presence planned to smear Corbyn.”
This, or variations on it, crossed my mind.
As an aside and stand alone comment, all left wing organisations are infiltrated routinely by security and other entities, as no doubt right wing ones are as well.
Why did Smeeth include these words: “attacked by a Momentum activist and Jeremy Corbyn supporter” in her statement?
Surely this is the give away that her “upset” is just another part of the PR driven anti-Corbyn media campaign that is going on.
Perhaps Ms Smeeth was referring to the mention of the Daily Telegraph by Mr Wadsworth when she use the expression “a media conspiracy”?
find oot yirself
Brian
I know you’re Scottish so there is really no need to address me in a transliteration of a Scottish accent.
you have a wee bit Changed…
Notice the camera (not sure whether it’s BBC?) Is already trained on to Ruth, and that she was followed out of the room by BBC political correspondent John Peenar
Who is the guy sitting next to Pienarr who prompts the idea of anti-Semitism?
McCaffrey, Sky News next to Pinaar.
No that was wrong. McCaffrey is bearded.
Did you see Pienaar get up to follow Smeeth apparently?
Excellent post Tom. This really does smell very bad.
Fuck anti this Anti that.. what the fuck. Children are dying inches from swimingpoolls
Is this a dialect of Jockanese?
Just watched the video – the guy was trying to make a point about potential moles in the room and the fact that al oft the audience were white.
So I would argue that it is a case of Smeeth “making an incident”, which there seems to be a lot of at the moment.
Is that video available anywhere else; YouTube for instance? I’ve enabled a list of Javascript so long it needs a scroll bar and the video still won’t play on my system.
With Javascript from that many sources I have to question the independence of the Independent!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJfBZy4BPBA
Thank you for that link, it to me anyway appears to be a lot clearer.
DomesticExtremist, thank you.
“It is interesting to note that her recommendations on what areas (including holocaust denial and the Nazis) and what language to ban from discourse, end up very closely mirroring the same rules we have adopted over the years on this blog, effectively to bar anti-Semitism.”
Sure Craig, does she also recommend that nobody is allowed to use the J word without being put on pre-moderation ! 😀
No, but she was not running a blog afflicted with both some actual anti-Semite commenters, and some fake anti-Semite commenters attempting to discredit the blog.
You really think trying to pre-mod such a common word is a good idea, or that it will really stop anti-Semites, real or fake ?!
All it as done is to cause several good commentators to leave in frustration exactly because of this absurd policy.
Somehow I don’t think our definition of a “good commentator” is going to be the same!
Don’t wriggle, Macky.
You said that “several good commentators” have left this blog.
Who are the “several”?
As you frequently brag that you read ALL the comments on this blog, you must also know, as they all stated that they either leaving or commenting less frequently exactly because of moderation.
Anyhow what do you think about the J word being a trigger word for a comment going into moderation, and either appearing hours later, or even not at all ?
No, Macky – you made the comment; it is therefore for you to tell us whom you were referring to.
Shall I offer you a way out? Just say “I meant one particular person and not several” and I’ll let you off the hook.
Funny how your memory/record keeping is letting you down; when I say “several” I mean more than one;
Here was the last one;
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/06/clement-freud-part-downfall/comment-page-2/#comment-603412
Fedup also recently stated that he was commenting less because of being moderated again; and there are others but I think the point is made.
So that’s two and a half people, Macky.
I do not however recall anyone – except you – deploring the departure of Giyane or calling for Fedup to resume frequent posting.
That should tell us something, shouldn’t it?
Like you’re in a minority of one.
“Like you’re in a minority of one.”
That’s faulty logic again !
You really shouldn’t assume such Walter Mitty type assumptions ! 😀
Well, Macky, can you name anyone other than yourself who has deplored the departure of Giyane and Fedup’s reduced posting?
If not, then you are a minority of one, aren’t you.
“to assume an assumption” – I love it ….. 🙂
“If not, then you are a minority of one, aren’t you.”
I said several not just these two; I don’t think I need to remind you how many commentators did post in support of a certain ex-Poster who finally left, not because of your constant vile abuse, but because of moderation
“to assume an assumption” – I love it”
Yes it does have a certain charm, maybe I should copyright it or something !
I said that you are in a minority of one as far as Giyane and Fedup are concerned.
Surely you are not disputing that?
The evidence is against you, Macky – as so often.
Craig
I very much hope you are not referring to me (others have) when you write” some fake anti-Semite commenters attempting to discredit the blog”?
Interesting ! Why should you think that Craig may be referring to to you ?!
Because some others on here – perhaps you too – have suggested it.
No, I don’t think I’ve ever been more specific apart from suggesting that some of the anti-Semitic comments may be due to Hasbara, as it is a well known & proven tactic.
We mustn’t forget that the Mod at the time did expose that you made some anti-Semitic posts when you first started here, using a sock-puppet.
No, Macky – again. I made a slightly off-colour joke about sausages in response to a post by some one calling himself Oniel.
Yes an anti-Semitic off-colour joke whilst using a sock-puppet; can’t be bothered to check now, but I don’t think that was not the only suspect comment you made to Oniel when you were sock-puppetting. .
Had I really wanted advertently to sock-puppet, Macky, I think I would have chosen a slightly different handle than “O’Neil” when replying to someone calling himself Oniel.
Anyway, you have successfully diverted from your refusal to tell us who the “several” people who you claimed left the blog were. Well done 🙂
“Had I really wanted advertently to sock-puppet, Macky, I think I would have chosen a slightly different handle than “O’Neil” when replying to someone calling himself Oniel.”
?? Faulty logic alert ! Sock-puppetting is done to hide a usual ID, so how could anybody know that O’Neil was you ?! 😀
“Anyway, you have successfully diverted from your refusal to tell us who the “several” people who you claimed left the blog were.”
Have your glasses stopped working ?!
Habb.
Unless you’re sock-puppeting, you are anything but anti-Semitic.
no, not at all
Thank you, Craig.
Identifying public figures as Jewish get characterised as anti-Semitic. However, criticising someone without knowing they are Jewish also gets characterised as anti-Semitic. Tony Blair definitely isn’t anti-Semitic but I can see how he went mad avoiding it.
Wadsworth’s input had absolutely no relevance with the huge purpose of the meeting in reassuring the world of Labour’s approach to antisemitism and an attempt to define rules for dealing with it. In what should have been an important moment in laying down a credible means to tackle irrational discourses devoid of reason, given the rise of right wing and casual racism in this nation and elsewhere, we have here an activist seemingly entirely without knowledge, reason and context. Instead he hijacked this important meeting with issues of no immediate relevance to this crucial issue at hand. He ought to apologise to Ms. Smeeth for causing her distress and then apologise to Mr. Corbyn for being an incompetent buffoon. An improvement in party organisation is also in order.
Keith,
I broadly agree. As I said, it is extraordinary that he was given the microphone.
Thanks Craig, I did note your point.
As I understand it Wadsworth was the only black person there and had he not been given a chance to speak the media would be screaming ‘Rascism’
What do you interprete in the meaning of the phrase ‘ hand in hand ‘
with the Telegraph mentioned in the same sentence.
I would say that it implies a media conspiracy. Come on .. Let’s have an honest interpretation please..
To say there has been no shortage of leaks from the Labour party would be an understatement. Barely a weak has passed without some negative story about Corbyn appearing in the press from ‘a Labour source’.
Mr Wadsworth appears to have spotted an MP in conversation witha Telegraph journalist and concluded that there may have been something underhand going on.
I am not aware of any specifically anti-Semitic meaning to the phrase ‘hand in hand’, but I am extremely familar with the concept of political party members/spads/MPs (of whatever faith or ethnicity) “anonymously” briefing the press with negative stories.
Craig
I was watching EURONEWS a short while ago when up popped the CEO of the Scottish whisky manufacturers association, one David Frost. He looked strangely familiar, so I thought I’d look up David Frost (diplomat) on Google to check. And lo and behold, it was indeed the former diplomat David Frost.
Did you know him when he was in service and did you know he had moved on to become a big shot in the world of your favorite tipple? 🙂
Yes to both of those questions. O like David, even though he has got the job I covet above all others!
Thanks. I found him rather impressive – that calm, deadpan look and approach! (while at the FCO, I mean. Hope his current close contact with the demon drink hasn’t changed that! He looked well, btw)
Not quite sure where Ruth Smeeth’s loyalties are.
5. (C/NF) Perhaps most damaging of all, however, Smeargate
effectively ended what may have been Brown’s plan to call a
general election this spring, based on the rise in the polls
he received following his solid performance at the G-20.
Labour Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Burton Ruth
Smeeth (strictly protect) told us April 20 that Brown had
intended to announce the elections on May 12, and hold them
after a very short (matter of weeks) campaign season. Labour
had been “just” 7 points behind the Conservatives in some
polls taken right after the G-20 Summit, which other Labour
contacts had told us was close to an acceptable standing from
which to launch a campaign, but the drop in Labour’s poll
numbers following Smeargate forced Brown to abandon his plan,
a despondent Smeeth said. (Note: This information has not
been reported in the press. End note.)
https://search.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09LONDON956_a.html
I am watching, with one eye, a debate on Brexit which is on at the moment on France24.
But one eye is more than enough to enable me to see that one of the participants – Ms Louise Mensch – is a highly objectionable cunt.
Apologies to all if I ever said a favorable word about her on here 🙂
France 24 are a neo-con propaganda outfit, no different from the BBC, SKY, et al.
There’s a revolution going on in France, and since you claim to be a French speaker here’s a brief piece from today’s l’Humanité (which, in the interests of balance, is affiliated with the communist party)…
http://www.humanite.fr/loi-travail-manuel-valls-manoeuvre-pour-lacher-le-moins-possible-610883
Essentially, the French government are backing down and giving in to worker’s demands.
It will be front page news on the Guardian tomorrow.
Not.
What’s the above got to do with Louise Mensch?
Having viewed the film linked in this article a number of times (and using one eye only myself – just for the challenge you understand), I have to confess that I find Ruth Smeeth to be a highly objectionable cunt too.
Now, does this make me anti-semitic I wonder? Does the fact that you find Louise Mensch to be an objectionable cunt make you anti-catholic?
Dear Mr. Anderson,
The answers to your questions are – yes and yes. What you seem not to understand is that anti-Semitic is bad whilst anti-Catholic is not only not bad but broadly commendable. Why else would the Catholic church be so perpetually portrayed as wicked, corrupt, and weak (the latter being whenever a Hollywood-conjured devil is in the offing), and otherwise broadly deserving of whatever it cops? The media is reality and thus the Catholic church is bad and deserves to have shit heaped upon it.
Jews on the other hand, what with only ever being depicted as heroes, or victims, or indeed both, are clearly a people of shining parts. This is why you have never seen a Jewish villain in the media – Arab villains sure, Asians, Europeans, Africans, every nationality, every religion, everything except Jewish. QED: clearly they are an entirely virtuous people against whom even the merest hint of a slur is an unparalleled crime. The media would not portray them thus were it otherwise.
But let’s not be confused, neither Hollywood nor the media is Jewish, or at least not in any meaningful fashion. And anyone who says otherwise, a la Joel Stein in the LA Times, is an anti-Semite.
I hope that clears things up.
“There is a further point to be made. Given this was an important media event, the organisers really did not ought to have allowed a loose cannon like Mr Wadsworth to get a microphone in his hands, interesting character though he evidently is.”
This is an important point especially in the current political and media climate. Besides anything else it distracts badly from the report itself and Corbyn’s speech!
It is said ”Parliament and Government should represent society”.
Can’t recall any Catholic Prime Ministers.
Your best chance is, white, male, Oxford born, Protestant.
Just get a Private Education….and you’ll be running for PM in no time.
P.S. Michael Grove is adopted. So us Catholics may have sneaked on in ! Hahaha
ITV news drawing attention to Jeremy Corbyn’s speech , intimating that, the Labour leader was accused of comparing the Israeli government to Isis.
The sentence has been taken completely out of context, and dressed up to look anti-Israeli.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-isis-islamic-state-israel-antisemitism-speech-in-full-labour-report-latest-a7111336.html
I agree. His comment was, if anything, a defence of the Jewish man in the street (so to speak) and to try and say the opposite by referring in a vague way to the “context” is dishonest in my judgement.
Corbyn plainly implied Islamic State and Israel were two of a kind.
95% of Jews are Pseudo Semites. Palestinians are sons of Shem.
From thelatest.com
“Labour Party lawmaker Ruth Smeeth said the party “cannot be a safe space” for British Jews after Corbyn did nothing while she was verbally abused with anti-Semitic slurs by one of his supporters at the event.”
“I call on Jeremy Corbyn to resign immediately and make way for someone with the backbone to confront racism and anti-Semitism in our party and in the country,” she said.”
http://thelatest.com/story/corbyn-wants-embattled-jeremy-2440247?home=true
Looks like the Corbyn’s address is being pushed as anti-Semitic.
Meanwhile Marc Wadsworth is furious at journo Kate McCann.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Marcwads?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
“I call on Jeremy Corbyn to resign immediately and make way for someone with the backbone to confront racism and anti-Semitism in our party and in the country,” she said.”
Well there you have it, this is what this contrived incident is really all about; laughable that the reports state that she left in tears, whereas anybody who watches the video can see that she flounced out in an apparent angry huff, for full dramatic effect.
Macky.
Indeed, however, it’s what the press can make it appear to be, rather than what it actually is. Corbyn can’t leave the front door of his home, without some sort of impotent accusation, thrown in his direction, or a crocodile tear weeping Labour back or front bencher, spouting Jeremy’s a lovely man but……..
Interesting how ‘racism’ and ‘antisemitism’ are two separate categories.
Am I mistaken in thinking that the “journo Kate McCann” is the person who whispers to John Pienaar “I’m going out to see her”? And where was the microphone which picked up the blatant anti-semitism incitement from the smirking chap two seats along from Smeeth? Looks perfectly staged to me.
Seconded. That group was “mic’d up”. The audio was certainly contrived specifically to capture the voices among that group. I am so certain of this that I have posted my observations near the start of comments.
That would mean that the activist had to be in on it as well, correct?
I can’t see anything here for any normal person to get upset about, except perhaps the bloke who was speaking – who was pointing out that virtually every person in the room was white – which is far from representative of what anyone would normally expect…
Meanwhile is it O.K. to object to the policies contained in this document and promoted by a prospective President of the USA??
“Clinton: Destroy Syria for Israel”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44997.htm
” A newly-released Hilary Clinton email confirmed that the Obama administration has deliberately provoked the civil war in Syria as the “best way to help Israel.”
In an indication of her murderous and psychopathic nature, Clinton also wrote that it was the “right thing” to personally threaten Bashar Assad’s family with death.
In the email, released by Wikileaks, then Secretary of State Clinton says that the “best way to help Israel” is to “use force” in Syria to overthrow the government.
The document was one of many unclassified by the US Department of State under case number F-2014-20439, Doc No. C05794498, following the uproar over Clinton’s private email server kept at her house while she served as Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013.”
Craig
You wrote recently that there was no way that the Establishment would allow Brexit.
Today, Mrs May – a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party and therefore possibly the next PM – said that the British people had voted to leave and that that is what would happen.
Can I once again ask a question which I asked of the general readership a couple of days ago but to which there came no answer? In the hope that I shall have better luck with you.
It is : can the government trigger Article 50 of the TEU of its own volition or does it need the approval of Parliament (through a vote in the HoC) to do so?
According to this Habb, the government cannot invoke article 50 without the consent of the UK Parliament, as a whole.
https://ukconstitutionallaw.org/2016/06/27/nick-barber-tom-hickman-and-jeff-king-pulling-the-article-50-trigger-parliaments-indispensable-role/
Thank you, RoS. That would accord with the often repeated phrase that Parliament is sovereign. And appear to offer some hope.
Legal opinion is divided, but here’s a substantial article on the subject matter that is at odds with HABB:https://publiclawforeveryone.com/2016/06/30/brexit-on-why-as-a-matter-of-law-triggering-article-50-does-not-require-parliament-to-legislate/
Habb,
The legal opinion, which you can find on Twitter, is that the PM constitutionally can use the Royal Prerogative to invoke A50, as its part of the original 1972 Treaty, i.e., because it’s a Treaty change the PM need not get Parliament to consent – the article on this is very long, written by approx. 5 Professors and discusses all options, this in their legal opinion being the best option available under all known legal precedents.
Thank you, but I’m not entirely sure what you mean, Mr Rogers. The UK accession Treaty was approved by Parliament through the European Communities Act 1972. I wonder whether an action such as triggering Article 50 – which would presumably lead, finally, to the abrogation of the European Communities Act – would not also require Parliamentary approval? The same question might perhaps also be asked about the outcome of the exit negotiations would it also need Parliamentary approval? In other words, does the concept of “the parallelism of forms” apply?
I ask the question of Parliamentary approval because it appears that – before referendum day – three quarters of all MPs were in favour of Remain.
Now that’s interesting – I have jusr heard Theresa May saying the the decision of the British people had to be respected by “the government and Parliament”.
The final two words – spoken in something of an undertone – appear to indicate that Mrs May thinks the decision to trigger Article 50 would be for Parliament to approve.
And Michel Gove – the other front runner – has been talking a lot about consulting all interested parties intensively.
“There’s no blacks in here” (shouts Peter)
You calling me a Jew (shouts Jane)
It’s John’s fault (shouts the crowd)
Yep, perfect logic. What a bunch of twats.
Summed up perfectly James.
Prepare for another round of Corbyn “anti-semitism” smears following this fuss started by Ruth Smeeth MP today.
She is a former director of public affairs at the Israeli lobby BICOM and seems to have enjoyed protected status prior to her election from the American embassy, according to this from Wikileaks:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8304495/WikiLeaks-cables-Gordon-Brown-forced-to-scrap-plan-for-snap-election.html
No doubt this interesting character will soon be claiming to better know the mind of Labour voters than Corbyn and party members, a superior knowledge shared with that other all-knowing New Labour parachutist landing in Stoke, Tristram Hunt.
But this was the verdict on the persuasive powers of both of them last Thursday, according to the Stoke Sentinel:
http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/big-issue-what-were-the-underlying-reasons-for-70-per-cent-of-stokies-voting-to-leave-the-eu/story-29449850-detail/story.html
As every hour passes this Portland/New Labour plot to unseat Jeremy Corbyn unravels.
Those running it have bullied those they don’t like for years, usually with the support of big money and the United States.
Now we’ll see if the bullies can take a few punches themselves. I somehow doubt it.
What I don’t get about this incident is what the cause of the attack on Ruth Smeeth was anyway? According to Marc Wadsworth, her crime was to have ‘accepted a press release’ from the Daily Telegraph. In what way did this amount to her ‘working hand in glove with the right-wing media?’ If I had been at a meeting I might have accepted a press release from anyone, which does not mean that I agree with them, still less that I am working hand in glove with them. Then what was the motive for the attack by Marc Wadsworth?
It would appear that the woman is part of the attempt to defenestrate Jeremy Corbyn. This is a movement which, in its latest form, appears to have begun with the ‘anti-semitism on the left’ business from Corbyn’s response to which comes this report.
Given that all those involved in the attempted coup have been ‘working hand in glove with the right wing media’ it can be understood that, from the point of view of a Labour Party activist angered by a brazen attempt to force the democratically elected leader out, with a view to excluding him from future elections, Ms Smeeth will be regarded-quite justifiably-with great suspicion.
I cannot see how Mr Wadsworth, attempting to defend the poor and excluded from agents of those who oppress them, can be faulted. Except by partisans of the ruling class.
Mrs Smeeth must have known that her campaign against Corbyn and the ideas he represents would earn her the enmity of about six in every ten supporters of the Labour Party. Or does she regard the campaign in which she is involved as simply a game at the end of which the poor resign themselves to further insecurity, deeper poverty and permanent exclusion from government?
In short she is using the occasion of the report to smear Corbyn in order to further the Blairite agenda.
The ‘anti-semitism’ nonsense has gone full circle. It began as an attempt to smear Corbyn and frighten him from exposing the fascistic nature of the Likud government. And it has ended in another attempt to smear Corbyn and advance the interests of Blairite-pro Likud- MPs nesting like cuckoos in the Labour Party.
Well Bevin,
If Corbyn hangs in, which a highly placed source indicates will be the case as they have been planning for the moment well in advance – courtesy of McDonnell, and following Chilcot Report release, we may have a Labour Party purged of Blairites.
As far as this Smeeth is concerned, like Tristrum Hunt, their days are numbered, I’m instructed that its possible to deselect these buggers, despite all effort to stop this trigger, by a little know ruse – the Momentum folk are pushing this at a CLP level.
However, was impressed and heartened that the ‘coup’ was not only well known about in Corbyn’s circle, but measures had been put in place to counter the offensive, I’m told we are now in phase two of the counter strike – person who instructed me is very well known academic who knows his stuff.
“Or does she regard the campaign in which she is involved as simply a game at the end of which the poor resign themselves to further insecurity, deeper poverty and permanent exclusion from government?”
That’s exactly what she regards it as. Poor deluded fool.
It wasn’t an attack. Only her idiotic response made it seem to some that it might have been. He was bemoaning racism in the Labour Party and the lack of black or Asian faces in the room. He singled out one white European whom he had seen receiving material from the press that he had not. It turned out that she was jewish (as if anyone gives a damn). The rest is history.
If there was a ‘like’ button, I’d gladly glue my finger to it.
David,
According to the Sky report I saw earlier, Ms Smeeth asked Mr Wadsworth for one of his leaflets and he refused to give her one. He was then incensed because the Daily Telegraph journalist gave her one. I think the motive for Mr Wadsworth was that he is a bit odd, quite simply. That does not make it an anti-Semitic attack.
I have zero tolerance for so called antisemitism, islamophobia or racist statements but this does not mean a devotion to the culture of conformism that is threatening free, open and edgy debate in 21st-century Britain.
The borders of Israel might be secured by an imposing apartheid wall, twice the height of the Berlin wall and occupying around 80% of Palestinian land but this separation does not secure the borders around acceptable thinking, deliberating many troublesome facts, too many to list here so that one must pull an example into view such as the Hizma village disconnected from neighbours and more generally many businesses cutoff from patrons, children hindered from attending school and farmers frozen from their agriculture and harvest.
I myself believe it is all too easy to conflate antisemitism and anti-Israel views. It is perfectly possible to be sympathetic to the Palestinian people and not be anti-Jewish. In 2003 it was perfectly possible to support red Labour while not signing up to Blair’s invasion of Iraq. I cannot condone the Israeli government and their agents’ criminal and oppressive actions of which thirty years ago I was ignorant until taught by a Jewish family friend to remember detail…
http://www.palestineremembered.com/Haifa/Qisarya/index.html
BBC reports Chief Rabbi and former Chief Rabbi criticising Corbyn for his remarks vis a vis “Jewish friends” and Israel and “Muslim friends” and “various self-styled Islamic states”. Sacks called it “demonisation of the highest order”. Apparently you can’t make any public comment about Israel, Jews and Muslims without someone taking great offence and wanting to shut down discussion. Seems to me that will only feed those who are truly bigoted.
And it is intended to do so. Anti semitism is being promoted by Zionists for a variety of reasons. Thus it is invented in order that it can be detected and denounced.
This is a very dangerous game indeed. And it is not unlike the similar game of encouraging wahhabi jihadists to attack secular nationalists on the spurious ground that they, christians, sufis and shia are all anti-muslim.
The aim is to promote intolerance and to prevent the public discussion of critical questions.
It comes close to succeeding, despite its obvious conflict with reasoning itself, because there are many powerful interests who support the idea that certain matters are too important to be subject to popular sovereignty.
Sacks’s assertion is plainly garbage, vilification of the highest order itself and really gives away just who is behind the ‘Get Corbyn’ campaign. Perhaps someone could also ask Sacks who has killed more innocent civilians-Daash or Israel?
Chakrabarti Defends Corbyn Over Antisemitism & gives her account of what happened;
http://www.lbc.co.uk/chakrabati-defends-corbyn-over-anti-semitism-133112
Ruth Smeeth was not only a PR for BICOM but also Nestle and Sodexo (who I believe are taking over probation services). Whether you think politicians that were PRs forget all their contacts is up to you.
Slap Gove
http://games.usvsth3m.com/slap-michael-gove/
enjoy
The incident at the report launch discussed here at 6.07 of this interview with Shami Chakrabarti on LBC
http://www.lbc.co.uk/chakrabati-defends-corbyn-over-anti-semitism-133112
She’s awful….