What Really Happens in Blackburn 87


When I stood in Blackburn against foreign secretary Jack Straw in 2005 as an anti-Iraq war candidate, Jack Straw’s campaign manager was Ibrahim Master. He is now the campaign manager of “Independent” candidate, vote-splitter Adnan Hussain.

This is him on the right campaigning with Adnan.

When I attended a meeting with Adnan until 2.30am three nights ago to try to resolve the vote split that could let Labour back in, Ibrahim Master was in the meeting as Adnan’s second, and did much of the talking.

Jack Straw was the Foreign Secretary personally responsible for the war in Iraq and the death of a million Iraqis, with the blatant lies about Iraqi WMD which he personally told as Foreign Secretary.

Yet in 2005 Master openly campaigned for Straw on the basis that the war in Iraq was not important in Blackburn.

Master drew great criticism for this pro-Straw stance from the wider Muslim community outside Blackburn, but the Muslim community here was under such tight control they voted overwhelmingly for Straw.

Now consider this.

When my candidacy for Blackburn was announced in March, Jack Straw issued an attack on me on 3 April, stating that I had “no cause” to stand in Blackburn.

Then lo and behold, two months later after the election was called Jack Straw’s old fixer turns up with an “Independent Candidate” to split the pro-Palestine vote.

Now you can believe that the man who thought that at least 1 million dead Iraqis was not important enought to oppose Straw and Labour, has had a conversion and is desperately concerned for the children of Gaza.

Other explanations are available.

We are still fighting very hard here. We need help. Come and join us as a volunteer here in Blackburn. Floor space is available.
Contact [email protected].

We are also now completely out of funds! Please donate.



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MURRAY CJ
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MURRAY CJ
Account number 3 2 1 5 0 9 6 2
Sort code 6 0 – 4 0 – 0 5
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BIC NWBKGB2L
Bank address Natwest, PO Box 414, 38 Strand, London, WC2H 5JB

 

 


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87 thoughts on “What Really Happens in Blackburn

1 2
  • MrShigemitsu

    It’s hardly surprising that funding has dried up after the announcement of a coin toss for who will be the Independent candidate in Blackburn

    It was a daft idea in the first place; fight on the merits of your case, and try to win.

    Otherwise, it sets a very poor precedent for future independent candidates, many of whom could be persuaded to follow the same path to premature exclusion, by bad actors.

    • Mitch

      I agree, but if your opponent is refusing sensible options like debates, and it’s imperative to not split the “independent” vote, what can Craig do?

      Thankfully, Adnan and his team have now rejected any proposed solution out of hand, clearly demonstrating that they are running for either their own egos or for Labour.

      Now everyone can focus on the brilliant reasons why Craig should win, not the musty, dead, backroom discussions of Adnan and his family…

      GO CRAIG!!!!

    • Daniil Adamov

      It is an honest and expedient way of settling things, akin to choosing leaders by lots, as practiced in many historical democratic traditions. Even before reading this post, I thought it spoke poorly of the other candidate to pretend that this was somehow an insult to the cause. It said to me that, at best, he put his ambition and sense of self-importance above the same cause.

  • will moon

    So a man who helped Jack Straw get elected while “Coalition Forces” were killing the citizens of Iraq is now helping an “independent” split the anti-genocide vote while Israel kills the people of Gaza.

    This man, Ibrahim Master, would not be able to convince me he was a religious believer nor that he is aware of common decency

    He and his ilk are the real problem, locally enforcing the will of the Uniparty over any hint of democracy or democratic behaviour, over any opposition to the killing

  • Ian

    Good, I am so glad you are back on track and have exposed the dirty tricks against you. The whole thing sounded extremely fishy, especially when Adnan refused to put your joint case in front of the public, instead insisting on some murkly local group with no accountability. That they then refused to issue a video of you making your case only confirmed the attempt at vote rigging and hijack. The thing is that it is very difficult to smear Craig because he has the virtues of openness, transparency and honesty, and that is easily seen and heard when you listen to him. So i hope that is valued in Blackburn and you continue to make your case as the only candidate raising one to fhe most important foreign policy issues since Suez or before. We cannot stand aside and ignore the butchery, the wholesale slaughter taking place behind a veil of silence. Like Pol Pot, or Rwanda it is incumbent on everybody to take a position on this and denounce the depravity of the fascists around Netanyahu, none of whom speak for ‘Jews’ as if there any such monolithic culture or religion which worshipped the wholesale death and destruction of defenceless people.

  • joel

    Oh Craig, the moment you knew who was puppeting Hussain you should have highlighted it on any election literature you were distributing. It is not too late to get new leaflets printed. Force the electors to think about who Master/ Hussain really are. Who else is going to make voters in Blackburn question this pair? Catherine Hollern?

  • Goose

    20 years later! He’s back!!

    Couldn’t make this shit up.

    I’d imagine Muslim communities are riddled with spies and spooks. All this talk of countering foreign meddling & interference. We need a domestic law against election interference by our own agencies. I don’t like how Bellingcat, Paul Mason and others associated/connected to the security establishment are in full campaign mode against Farage, either. I raised the Question Time, Billy Mitchell scandal previously.

    Foreign meddling is being overstated : https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/11/deepfakes-ignore-alarmists-elections

    Here, Ciaran Martin states how politicians exaggerate.

  • Squeeth

    The coin toss was a good idea to end the split and coincidentally to smoke out anyone who was in bad faith because they wouldn’t agree. Beware the postal votes….

    • Goose

      He has to be careful making any such claims, lest risk putting himself in legal jeopardy.

      It’s like that scene in the film Training Day (2001), in which corrupt undercover detective, Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington), explains the situation, to his rookie partner, Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), who’s threatening to expose his nefarious activities :

      It’s not what you know, [or what you think that you know]; it’s what you can prove.

      A microcosm of how secrets are kept in the US and UK systems, and the mutually assured destruction that awaits. And why whistleblowers (with proof) are treated like mortal enemies.

      • M.J.

        No doubt you remember Tom Cruise saying to Demi Moore in A Few Good Men: “It doesn’t matter what I believe. It only matters what I can prove!”

        • Goose

          For conspiracy theorists, The Pelican Brief (1993), is another good film.

          That’s the nightmare scenario for any conspiracy theorist; what if you get something precisely correct?

          No doubt why the intel agencies are so concerned about conspiracies. Many are nonsense, some are utterly absurd, but some will not only be true, but very dangerous. With the power to reshape not only agencies, but how certain politicians are perceived..

          • will moon

            “ No doubt why the intel agencies are so concerned about conspiracies. ”

            You could have fooled me here Goose. They didn’t seem interested in some recent long running conspiracies both here in Britain and of course in our sullen master, America. A recent one in America wasn’t even investigated, with many co-conspirators not even being questioned.

            ps I thought it was a law student who uncovered a conspiracy not a conspiracy theorist in the film, Julia Roberts I think. The film is also interesting as Denzil Washington’s movie persona is not fully formed in this early big role

          • M.J.

            Thanks, this sounds like a very interesting film, I might check it out.
            Mind you, we need a healthy measure of scepticism about conspiracies.

          • will moon

            MJ the main thing that we should focus our scepticism on is the current political dispensation

            I remember a vid of a Tory vice-chairman selling access to David and Sam Cameron for a quarter of a mill a pop on video

            The vice-chairman was denounced as a “lone wolf” who was acting alone. There was no conspiracy. Now where I have heard that line before lol

            ps I watched the film recently and it really struck me how much the world had changed since this movie was made.

          • M.J.

            Will Moon, you’re right, the world has changed. I mean, Fergie only got paid 40k for access to a prince. That’s inflation for you.

          • will moon

            Not necessarily inflation MJ – if the goods are soiled one pays a lesser price

            I think it was maybe the Sunday Times who filmed this guy telling “business people”from Luxembourg the price list, during Cameron’s early years at the top of the “Greasy Pole” – dinner, tennis etc. When the footage came out, it turns out the vice-Chair of the Tory party had gone “rogue” and seized the business opportunity afforded by his elevated position – a “lone wolf” vice-Chair we were told lol – you can’t make this up

      • joel

        Craig has already stated the facts above. Why do you consider these mere claims? Which of the facts are you unwilling to believe?

  • Jon

    Just as a idle ponderance, it’s certainly odd that a Muslim fixer would get behind a war criminal like Straw, but you get opportunists everywhere. But if 5 Pillars have grilled you Craig as you have previously reported, and subsequently gone easy on Hussain, it would suggest they’re in on the game. That would be a lot of turkeys in the Islamic community who appear to be keen on Christmas.

  • Peter B

    He supported Jack Straw as a candidate but not Labour or their policies ? Really!

    In 2007;

    “Mr Master said the council was non-political and would not be endorsing any party in the election.
    He added: “On the personal front I will be supporting Mr Straw. I have been a Labour Party member for 20 years and the contact we have had with Mr Straw has resulted in many improvements for Muslims in Blackburn where there are now 30-odd mosques. We do not want to burn our bridges and ruin the work of 20 years just because of what is happening in Iraq and Palestine.””

    https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/labour-lord-attacks-lies-1063456

  • Lapsed Agnostic

    Now here’s the thing, Boss: If I were to donate £60 to your campaign via bank transfer and you spend it on more leaflets or whatever, that’s a breach of electoral law, because it’s more than £50 and I’m not currently on the electoral register*. To avoid potentially serious legal ramifications, you need to make sure that every penny donated comes from eligible donors – which is easier said than done. Crowd funding is not a particularly good method of funding election campaigns in the UK, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing like Andrew Feinstein in Holborn & St Pancras. He’s raised around £75k on GoFundMe for his campaign, but the combined spending limit for the long & short campaign is a lot less than that, so that could easily be construed as fraud by false representation. What’s the betting he’ll be on plane back to South Africa shortly after the election’s all over?

    * I was going to register to vote Green had they stuck with their land-value tax proposals from 2019 in their manifesto but, unfortunately, they’ve gone with a wealth tax on billionaires & multi-millionaires instead – which most of those will be able to get around fairly easily, if maybe at the cost of having to spend January to March inclusive in some Caribbean bolthole. All in all, I think it’s fair to say that Jonathan Bartley & Sian Berry got the brains, but Adrian Ramsay & Carla Denyer didn’t get the looks.

    • will moon

      What is your take on the money pumped in by Trevor Chin and his ilk?

      Electoral Law seems fairly strict at the level of small donations but the wealthy can interrupt the democratic process with cash donations indirectly eg Chin bankrolling Starmer?

      • Lapsed Agnostic

        Thanks for your reply Will. My take on ‘Trevor Chin [sic] and his ilk’ is that I can barely believe you can essentially ‘buy’ the leader of a major political party in the world’s fifth largest economy for £55,000 (or whatever similar sum it was – can’t be arsed looking it up) but, that said, I’m sure that everything that went on was above board. As you say, though, the rules aren’t always applied to the major political parties (most egregious case: the Lib Dems and Michael Brown):

        https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49370692

        • will moon

          Yea, it is the behind the scenes that is the real threat. Overt corruption is always prone to interdiction – reform movements, public outcry etc but structural corruption is always subsurface.

          I was stunned by Blair “acquiring” such a large fortune. I was aware after he left Downing Street that he was giving an hour long speech to Goldman Sachs and the rest of the creeps. His fee was in the tens or I think hundreds of thousands of pounds! Nice work if you can get it

          • Lapsed Agnostic

            Thanks for your reply Will. I wouldn’t say that the Michael Brown affair was particularly covert, though. For that sort of thing, you need to look at things like Mrs Nicholas Clegg* being appointed to the board of directors of Acconia SA between 2010 and 2014. Unfortunately for them, Nick Clegg had about about as much influence over the Cameron government as Hunter Biden’s ex-Mrs did over his antics. To be honest, though, compared to most other countries, it’s the general lack of corruption in UK politics that’s the notable thing.

            * Despite being born and raised in the UK, Nick Clegg’s kids all have Spanish names – that should tell you all you need to know about that particular relationship.

          • will moon

            I saw a claim recently that valued Blair’s assets at over 100,000,000 pounds/dollars

            I suppose he helped destroy Iraq with lies, so that must be worth something in some quarters. He has certainly profited handsomely for his efforts

          • Laguerre

            “Despite being born and raised in the UK, Nick Clegg’s kids all have Spanish names – that should tell you all you need to know about that particular relationship.”
            You joke. Naming the kids is always the mother’s decision, unless she is totally submissive. Sometimes it’s called a “mutual decision”. That means the father agrees with the mother’s decision.

          • Lapsed Agnostic

            Thanks for your reply Will. Blair didn’t get the big bucks for helping destroy Iraq – he got them not taxing the banks etc to **** when he was PM. As I’ve said before, there is bribery in British politics – it’s just that the bribes come afterwards (see also George Osborne).

          • Lapsed Agnostic

            Thanks for your reply Laguerre. Not sure about that: there’s plenty of Juniors about, and not just in the US. My niece & nephew have proper British names even though their mother’s Spanish – and she’s not exactly submissive.

          • will moon

            Maybe but I think the destruction of Iraq was the bonus. The Banks don’t expect any changes they don’t write

            Without Tony Blair, Jack Straw and the rest of crew, Halliburton and friends would not have enjoyed all those profits. The lecture money is proper structural corruption. I remember the article stressed that a “famous man” such as Blair, was worth the huge fee because the leading lights of the financial world would always pay to hear his opinions. It is a club of corruption with similar elements to the “revolving door”syndrome, where the division between corporate leaders and political leaders becomes blurred by the vast oceans of cash concentrated in the hands of so few.

    • loki

      Well that’s SNP well and truly stuffed then seeing as the link – Wings Over Scotland: Outside the Fence – takes you to 50 or so “nationalists” looking to crowd-fund their way back to London.
      They wouldn’t all be daft enough to break the law … or is it a case that laws don’t apply to those unwilling to rock Westminster’s boat?

      But yeah, you really need to get that info about Labour taking the piss on every billboards, bus stop or wall out.
      Because Palestine isn’t a Moslem/antisemitic issue, but something that sickens us all.

      Possibly a campaign saying “this guy is taking the piss; Vote for Palestine, not for excuses” – which doesn’t specifically mention Craig – would do the job.

      Especially if someone else was to come along 48hrs later and “vandalise” by pasting a banner saying “THIS is why we’re voting for Murray” at a 30 degree angle.

      • Lapsed Agnostic

        Thanks for your reply, loki.

        Re: ‘They wouldn’t all be daft enough to break the law’

        Are you sure about that? It’s been alleged that law-breaking in the SNP has gone right to the top, including amongst people who were once lawyers. If the SNP elite had any sense, they wouldn’t have managed to fall out with Colin *and* Christine Weir, so wouldn’t have had to crowdfund this election in the first place.

  • portside

    Why Blackburn when you knew in advance that its Muslim community is tightly controlled by Jack Straw (and presumably Genocide Keir) supporters?

  • someone from Blackburn

    Craig – you are too good for Blackburn. I am ashamed to say this as a Blackburn resident. What on earth possessed you to come here? Blackburn is one of those godforsaken places which anyone with any sense, and who is able to, leaves as soon as they can. This is irrespective of ethnic background or belief. You once commented upon how shocked you were that it had no bookshops. You ought to have remembered that. Little has changed in the intervening period, other than perhaps that the previously largely illiterate population who knew themselves to be so, has brought another generation of equally illiterate people, but who have been somehow convinced that they are not so. The manipulation has not changed, merely the ways of manipulation.

    You said that Blackburn’s Muslims are not stupid. You are wrong. They are (to a large extent). It is a great failing to confuse your fantasy – what you think and hope should be the case – with irrefutable evidence that is in front of you. (I suppose I oughn’t be too harsh as I concede it wouldn’t be a good look for you to say that, but I can I suppose, primarily on the basis that I’m one of them). You should not have placed any hope in the “Muslim” vote, or on an assumption that a cultural superficial attachment to Palestine would override the personal desires and ambitions of most people. When personal interest is at stake, inevitably most humans will fall on the side of personal interest. People want to forward a few messages on Watsapp or shout a few slogans – in this case, the average literacy and/or intelligence and/or interest in meaningful action precludes the ability of the average resident of Blackburn to even read one of your posts, or make a reasoned decision regarding who to vote for. They will do as they have always done, or as they are told to do.

    People don’t like you because even though you don’t say it, you make them feel stupid. (Many “cultural”) Muslims don’t like you because you remind them of what integrity is, and what muslim values they ought to embody, whilst having the audacity to not even be Muslim. You induce, unconsciously I think, a sort of cognitive dissonance in many people that they simply can’t tolerate. There has been an interesting turn to AH’s campaign – a turning of ‘Muslimness’ into some sort of ‘chosen people’ narrative. Their illiteracy with regards to scripture is both stark and ironic – there were (and remain!) another people who played that game with God, and He distanced Himself from that sort of behaviour in no uncertain terms. For the rest, the general white population and not particularly ‘religious’ brown population, you haven’t mastered the art, that both Jack Straw and Kate Hollern did, of making unintelligent, vacuous middle manager types feel important. And deep inside, your integrity is terrifying – a man who would give up his palace and servants for himself, is hardly going to keep his eye closed to the low level dodgy deals and corruption that Blackburn council and local politics are replete with. God forbid!

    I have been watching this drama play out over some weeks. I don’t think you’ll win, because you strike me as a thoroughly honest and kind sort of person that ultimately can’t truly comprehend the depths to which these people will go. Or perhaps you do (you’ve been around longer than I have!),but you insist you won’t play a game without rules, so when playing against people for whom rules don’t matter, you won’t win. You can’t win. And you don’t have the depth and nuance of understanding required to play politics in the Muslim community at least, perhaps having compared it to Rochdale, where there is a primarily Pakistani community and lots of young people came out in support of GG and to campaign for him.

    AH despite being entirely unimpressive in terms of the substance of what he says, has the benefit over you in that he knows his audience and what they want (and it’s not about Palestine). They don’t want substance or a track record; they want superficial stuff – slogans, pictures, emotions, suavity; someone who can make them feel good about themselves. AH does that – the debonair young man for the Instagram generation, and the brown young man who tells his ‘elders’ that he always wanted to be a religious scholar. I am told that he has managed to “convince” many local influencers on Instagram etc. to support him – their many thousands of followers lapping up their advice. I believe he has managed to convince at least several imams and religious scholars to follow him, though who exactly this “consensus” consists of, apparent from the councillors who can’t get their story right, is not entirely clear. They certainly don’t feel strongly enough to publicly put their name clearly to it. I certainly don’t think they are all malevolent or hypocritical, but the term ‘useful idiots’ comes to mind. This is particularly so when it comes to religious leaders, long resentful of their increasingly marginalised role in their own communities, perhaps they saw this as a way to come out of their inconsequentiality, and which man of God could ever resist such a charming, concentrated assault to the ego? You are not unimportant: nobodies of a nobody mill town that nobody knows; I would have loved to be a like you! (Why aren’t you then? No time like the present. I can quite easily provide a list of historical muslim scholars who turned to scholarship when they were significantly older than you, my dear man). There are local scholars endorsing him to their many blind followers, whose loyalty is based on a name and a beard (Qur’an 2:78 onwards feels apt).

    You cannot cleanse the Temple, Craig, because the Temple leaders won’t allow it, and you don’t know what you’re up against. What do you have against the faux outrage of flipping a coin and claims of “our people”? (I love, almost above all things, scripture brought to life, because it reminds me of God’s hand in all things, and the unintended parallels with the Judgement of Solomon was particularly ironic!) What do you have against people too distracted by the vapidity of their lives to be able to read a paragraph or two, people too blinded by their own narcissism to consider that positions of responsibility require qualifications and experience, people who don’t know how to stay in their lane, people unable to construct a basic argument, besides resorting to their forefathers and elders? (and this latter ‘argument’ is treated repeatedly in scripture with the contempt it deserves).

    In any case, thank you for trying. Thank you for bringing amazing people to Blackburn who would never otherwise have come. Sorry that Blackburn is so rubbish. Sorry that you’re a decent guy being treated like this. Keep your head up, and carry on exposing them.

    • Scott

      Illuminating post, thanks for taking the time. Your reference to cognitive dissonance, and the tribal way communities react to outsiders sounds like a fair analysis.

      To raise the profile of the Palestinian struggle in parliament, on paper at least, Blackburn appeared to be a good choice, due to the demographics, for an outsider to create an upset in national politics. Do you think it was ever possible that Craig would have been able to obtain local endorsements from those key individuals in the local Blackburn political scene? I get the inference from your post, that the answer is ‘no’

  • DunGroanin

    Go’orn Craig!
    Happy to send another donation if our resident legal eagle doesn’t object😇
    Am stuck in London for duration. Jezza must win.
    If you have the youth and Corbynites on side from the North West that will help.
    Stick it to the Old Master.
    I’m going to have to look into that character a bit.

    • will moon

      Hey DunGroanin you do know Mr Murray is standing under the banner of the Workers Party?

      The leader and founder of this party is George Galloway. You have said that GG is some kind of “red/brown” thing, a mirror image of Farage.

      How do square your support for Mr Murray in view of what you say about Galloway?

      • DunGroanin

        Hey will moon, do you still beat your wife?
        1) Yes or no?

        That’s the answer you gave about JC on the previous thread in response to my providing a clear example of GG’s perfidy that you demanded from me.
        Your retort was a simple risible cut and paste of those who tried to blame JC for being monstered and pilloried in the whole of mainstream media and much worse on social media.
        That tone deaf reply is just the snide narrative perpetuation of the invention that JC’s failure was down to him failing to defend himself (something of that biblical JC about that don’t you think?)
        It’s a method that Piss Moron has been deploying about the Hamas atrocities from day one of all he goads onto his ‘show’. See?
        Probably not so let me make it plain:

        ‘Are you still a AS/Terrorist Lover/N*****Lover Jeremy?’

        Should he have answered that question?
        2) yes or no?

        How about a clue old saying to guide you? Would you advocate getting into a mud wrestle with pigs? You know they actually love it and you get covered in more mud and shit and will never win.

        I have no doubts that many disillusioned real Labour supporters will vote for any independent candidate against an imposed Labour or a fake Labour one. We will see how many soon enough. As a long time Labour voter and never a member I wholly support the genuine candidates CM and JC regardless that they aren’t standing as Labour. I equally despise and campaign against Starmer and every other blairite Zionazi supporting Labour candidate. I candy despise GG and yet endorse some of his candidates. See?

        Your simplistic notions don’t apply – it is critical thinking.
        I know that JC and CM are amicable. And JC and GG are not – perhaps that ought to have made you consider my point previously – but you doubled down. Which helps me decide your true intentions or maybe it’s just wanton stubborn ignorance of children that you cling to.

        You completely ignored the direct evidence of GG’s disparaging goading of JC – just totally blanked it!
        And instead retorted with the dumb AS narrative.
        Wtf does that say about you?
        You are not the first nor will you be the last on this and other blogs who I will call out for such … bs.

        NB – it should be plain to everyone I didn’t carry this conversation over to this thread – that is wholly down to you.
        I have not wholly written you off yet will moon, you come across as an ingenue and perhaps will learn the hard way.
        I am always happy to help a genuine truth seeker.
        But I am equally wary of slippery snakes with fork tongues.

        So go ahead will, answer the two simple questions 1) & 2) honestly, yes or no.

        Either way this particular conversation is over for me in this thread.
        Anyway I am busy being happy and apprehensive about the developing news of Julian, the greatest political prisoner of this century so far. An equal to Mandela and Gandhi of the last.

        • will moon

          You single Galloway out for special treatment yet publicly vouch for Murray. At this moment they walk together. So Mr Murray according to you walks with, what was it? Ah yes “red/brown” that is quite a statement and you seem unable to explain your thought here.

          If you are real, do what I do – learn from Corbyn – forgive, unite and move on

          I haven’t heard Corbyn moaning about Galloway – just not Jezza’s style; but it is yours. He did a good interview with Matt Kennard recently discussing the very things you speak about. It was shot in a great location, proper art house, great photography. If you haven’t watched maybe give it a look. I have the greatest respect for Jeremy Corbyn. I have never made a judgement about the conditions of his downfall, though I will in time. I don’t slag people of until I have enough info. I’m from the gutter and I live on the street. Don’t get fresh with me or I will show you up. I have nothing to lose, unlike yourself.

          Jeremy Corbyn talks to Matt Kennard:
          https://inv.tux.pizza/watch?v=XbmcNI0My_0

          As Matt Kennard has said, he has provided an example but for whatever reason could do no more. I will take this and apply the template to other prospective leaders, but at least I now know what they look like or act like. I am applying this template to Mr Murray and the others.

          None of us know what Corbyn went through “running the gauntlet”.

    • Lapsed Agnostic

      I take it that by ‘our resident legal eagle’, you were referring to me*, DG. If that’s the case, I can inform you that it should be fine to donate to our host’s campaign provided that, should your donation be over £50, you give him your (real) name and address, and that you’re currently on the electoral register.

      As regards your comment relating to a prominent political figure on the previous blogpost (which has fortunately now been deleted by the mods): One screenshot of that being sent to the wrong person, and our host would likely at some point be looking for a new (much smaller) house. There’s precedent for blogs having to pay out five-figure sums (six-figure when you include the legal costs) for anonymous comments which defamed UK politicians – and the defamations in question were much less egregious than yours.

      To everyone: The moderators can’t monitor everything here 24/7 – so please, even if it’s meant as a joke, think about what you post before pressing ‘Post’.

      * I’m not a lawyer, though I appear to know more about UK law than the government’s chief legal adviser:

      https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/attorney-general-russell-brand-publishing-channel-brand-b2418032.html

      We really are living on the thinnest of thin gruel.

      • DunGroanin

        LA, thanks for your input.
        I don’t donate to CM’s campaign.
        I donate to this blog to keep it going.
        He can use my donation as he sees fit; I don’t put any conditions upon it.
        I don’t donate to any political party or campaign.
        I trust that is absolutely clear to any pedantic interlocutor.

        As for your preciousness about the blog and my previous deleted comment – I have no problem with that or the deletion or any editing that the Blogger makes.
        It is his blog.

        But Hey Ho, Fartage and his one man private limited company – not a political party – is happily splitting the Tory vote and getting the Kipper Gammon crowds looking for an independent pure England – which would lead to an actua surprise default independent Scotland – as they say from the Leftfield or in this case the Far Right One? (Is that joke allowed ?)

        • Lapsed Agnostic

          Thanks for your reply DG.

          You wrote: ‘Happy to send another donation if our resident legal eagle doesn’t object’

          You didn’t write: ‘Happy to send another donation to keep this blog going’

          In the blogpost, our host directly appealed for funds for his campaign and then gave his bank account details. You might not mind to what purpose your donation is put but, if it’s over £50, the powers that be might. Our host may not be able to legally use your donation as he sees fit because, under UK election law, he’s not allowed to put any contributions over £50 to his bank account towards his campaign without establishing that they have come from permissible donors.

          As for your previous grotesque* and (almost certainly) libellous comment about Farage: I don’t care whether you have any problem with your comments on here being deleted/edited or not. I do care that you seem happy to post ones that, even if they’re only up for a few minutes, could easily see our host losing just about everything of value that he currently owns (as could you, if you have less than a million in assets and were posting under your real name). Look up what happened in the recent Jeremy Vine vs. Joey Barton case, and remember that Jeremy Vine is a fairly generous man – Farage and his people are not.

          As well as being a limited company, Reform UK is a political party because it is registered as a political party with the Electoral Commission. A Labour supermajority in Westminster would be very unlikely to lead to an independent Scotland. The best chance of that would be a hung parliament in which the SNP hold the balance of power.

          Re: ‘as they say from the Leftfield or in this case the Far Right One? (Is that joke allowed ?)’

          Sorry, was that a joke? At least it’s not libellous.

          * According to a survey, most people in the UK would rather be convicted of a murder they didn’t commit and have to serve 20 years in jail, than be falsely accused of being a child abuser *after they die*.

          • will moon

            What is it about J Vine? He seems harmless enough and yet people defame and harass him. There was another clown awhile ago who harassed him and I think ended up in jail but I don’t remember the details. Now Barton gets stuck in. I don’t get it. Vine was some kind of journalist when I last heard of him twenty years ago but I don’t know what kind. I don’t know what he has been doing in the interim but it all seem bizarre. At least he is in the position to seek restitution in the courts but even so, it makes me dislike Barton and supports the “yobbish” stereotype rather than salt-of-earth type he was billed as on QT

  • Ophelia Ball

    “My People”

    Firstly, what has Adnan ever done for Palestine? EVER? He is a Lawyer – was he in Court during the ICJ hearings? Has he provided South Africa with tactical support for the ICC Arrest Warrants?

    Secondly – “My People”. The elected MP for Blackburn will be duty bound to represent the interests of ALL constituents – whether they have voted for him or against him. We know who “My People” are, and Craig is conspicuously not “My People”. However , Craig has integrity, principles and a track record to back his candidature, not just dog whistle racism

    Bring it on, Adnan

  • Patla®i

    These “Lord Patel” Muslims are actually more hindu patel than Muslim. Theyr known for stealing and falsehood eg modi patel, and allying with the enemies of Islam ie jackstraws!! Unless some miracle happens, they will vote on a patel tribe basis for their candidate.

    • Squeeth

      Taking notice of people’s labels is less enlightening than taking notice of their behaviour. By looking at the walk it’s easy to see that zionism is an antisemite ideology and that Liarbour is a racist, fascist, antisemite, bourgeois partei and always has been.

  • AG

    This show is absurd. But I assume they figure voters don´t know history and think they can pull such a stunt off.

    So I guess Craig should do what any good card player does and call a ridiculous bluff.
    I mean Mr. Hussain´s public statement and adding who his manager is makes his moral outrage so hollow, no wonder he delivered this forced urge for Craig to step back. Barking dogs.

    p.s. No surprise that this site was difficult to reach in recent days. Don´t tell me that´s a coincidence.

  • Alyson

    Gosh!

    “ …positions of responsibility require qualifications and experience, people who don’t know how to stay in their lane, people unable to construct a basic argument, besides resorting to their forefathers and elders? (and this latter ‘argument’ is treated repeatedly in scripture with the contempt it deserves).

    In any case, thank you for trying. Thank you for bringing amazing people to Blackburn who would never otherwise have come. Sorry that Blackburn is so rubbish. Sorry that you’re a decent guy being treated like this. Keep your head up, and carry on exposing them.”

    We really do live in a multi cultural, multi ethnic country, and this two-way street of freedom to vote and debate as you see best, is like opening windows on another world, doorstepping linguistic barriers as well as ideological conceptual security and faith.

  • DiggerUK

    The basterds don’t give up, do they, I wonder if Jack Straw will be on the door knocking. Such crookedness as Jack Straw took advantage of when you ran against him last time, will be harder to replicate this time.

    With this blatant political skulduggery, the coin toss was an atrocious suggestion. Go for it, donation on it’s way…_

  • Republicofscotland

    Good for you Craig, stand your ground don’t let Straw’s puppet put you off, I’m sure many, many folk in Blackburn will have read up on you by now, and are willing to give you a go, you can do it.

  • Peter

    Wow!

    Seek ye the truth for it shall set ye free.

    As I have no doubt you will be aware, Craig, you must now make sure that this is as widely heard across Blackburn as possible.

    I understand that George Galloway will be on Piers Morgan tomorrow. Has it been recorded already? Does it go out live? I equally have no doubt that you will both be aware about the need to go large with this there – assuming you know/knew about this at the time of the recording and that Morgan doesn’t pull the invitation.

    Will the “former Labour, independent” councillors now pull their endorsement of and support for Hussain? Surely, if they wish to maintain their reputations, they must.

    Tiger Patel has apparently agreed to stand down if Hussain does – is that purely personal or does he know something … ?

    When you pull at this thread who knows where it leads?

    Take care Craig, they will start to fight like rats in a sack now, but gird your loins and get on the front foot – you have the means to complete the job – Godspeed.

  • will moon

    Just watched a vid with David Miller and the candidate Mr Murray speaking in a venue in Blackburn

    Mr Miller is excellent – I like his speaking style, easy on ear and mind. He talks about the recent industrial tribunal case, which he won and his early exposure to the debate about the nature of Zionism. Great personal snapshot on the nature of Zionism, supported by some historical reportage

    Mr Murray speaks for ten or so minutes at the end in a riveting performance brimming with intellect and emotion. I can only guess where he finds the energy

    This is good stuff

    https://rumble.com/v53fzk0-the-zionist-lobby-and-the-war-in-gaza-with-david-miller-and-craig-murray.html

  • Mark Esward

    Really glad you have decided to keep going Craig. Donation sent.

    If i can find anyone to vote swap with me then i will do!

  • Rosemary MacKenzie

    S.L.Kanthan is announcing on Twitter that Julian Assange has been freed. I can’t verify it anywhere else. Quite like Kanthan’s post but I don’t know from where he got this. Anyone have any information. If true, it is very good news!!


    [ Mod: Video confirmation here (X/Twitter).

    There are links to news bulletins about the announcement in the Assange thread of the discussion forum. Any comments about this extraordinary development should be posted there. ]

  • AG

    sry!
    (Certainly not intended in a bad way. But if this news is correct may be rules should just be rules, this one time. But I won´t mention the topic again here. Promise 😉

  • zoot

    Adnan Hussain must have been pretty certain you would not remind people of the politics of his Master. how could he have run otherwise?

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