"oh you don't get me I'm the end of the union": lol brexit is how we're all gonna die

BREAKING: Tories Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston resign Conservative whip to join Independent Group

— Ben Glaze (@benglaze) February 20, 2019

er...xp

lol

One of Hedges' greatest achievements is I now can't think of Soubz without singing this in my head

Woke Soubz (woke soubz) she'll stop brexit
Woke Soubz (woke soubz) always votes this way
Woke Soubz (woke soubz) wokest Tory by miles
Woke Sooouubz alwaaayys shiiine

— Simon Hedges (@Orwell_Fan) January 19, 2018

Where’s Boles?

in the next wave

obviously 'antisemitism' is largely a jumped-up pretext at this point (despite some real actual problems which could be dealt with like adults by all concerned)

I know there's a lot going on, but I think it's important to take the time to ask you to fuck off with this shite - Luciana Berger has been receiving police protection as a result of her abuse from the left (and the right, but also the left) - there isn't some magical adult thing she could do that would set everything to rights.

I suppose the good bit about not being part of an officially-registered political party is that the Israeli embassy can deposit the money directly into your bank account without having to go round the houses.

I know you're usually good with the receipts, so I'll have to ask you for them, because without some evidence this is a pretty disgusting thing to say here.

hard to see this as more than a long overdue blood-letting. be nice if the party could lock the door to these types ever coming back in.

I'm assuming this angle wasn't particularly on your mind here, because you're an arsehole, but you're not a complete arsehole, right?

VONC now pls

I know you're usually good with the receipts, so I'll have to ask you for them, because without some evidence this is a pretty disgusting thing to say here.

There's video of Joan Ryan discussing getting a million quid off the Israeli embassy in the next post. The defense the embassy put up is that Shai Masot, the guy who she was talking to, was a junior staff member who wasn't authorised to offer the money - which you may or may not believe. Ryan certainly thought he was for real.

I would like to double down on my earlier post which was clearly a call for the expulsion of Jewish people from the Labour Party.

Andrew Farrell otm

anither defection

anne meadows (brighton councillor) defecting from labour due to racism and joining... *monocle pops off* the conservative party

by christ ilx is back

Just Etch-a-Sketch the whole Commons at this stage frankly. Extend Article 50, mandatory reselection of literally everyone in Parliament, General Election then start again.

Luciana Berger has been receiving police protection as a result of her abuse from the left (and the right, but also the left)

You can't but "and the right" in brackets like an afterthought. All three people who have been jailed for abuse of Luciana Berger were fucking nazis - that's why she received police protection in the first place.

by christ ilx is back

all it needed was an overspill of anger issues

Christ I know this post moves fucking fast but it’d be really good if people could acknowledge a point I made earlier in the week, which is that the LP concealed a threat from Berger, and that she shouldn’t have to put up with this shit from her own side. Just so this isn’t so novel every time it comes up? Either that or I’m just killfiled so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So obviously like most people I Wikiepdia'd Joan Ryan this morning to try and remind myself who she was and apparently she was high up in the campaign against electoral reform, which might have actually helped a new party.

Who's saying she should have to put up with this shit? xp

anne meadows (brighton councillor) defecting from labour due to racism and joining... *monocle pops off* the conservative party

tories now the largest party on the council! no overall majority though

You can't but "and the right" in brackets like an afterthought
Context matters. The point is she’s been dealing with anti Semitism from the LP during a period when Neo-Nazis have been jailed for their actions towards her. It’s a complete failure of duty of care on the part of Labour.

I really need to stay out of this thread, but McDonnell & listening was bullshit. Like I know we disagree on the anti Semitism charges against the Labour Party, comrade alphabet, but last night the Jewish chair of young labour was dogpiled by a bunch of other YL numbers for objecting to the official YL account retweeting Asa Winstanley. He had targeted her personally and claimed she was an agent of Israel. The time for action is way, way overdue.

I don't think we disagree that AS is an issue in Labour (as is Islamophobia). Its about monitoring and kicking out the cranks that spout this stuff. Putting processes in place and carrying them through, which I hope is going on, that's more important than listening as we know there are issues. What I don't need is what looks like some kind of concilliatory gesture to people who chose to resign from Labour. Most of those MPs don't care about AS at all and their disagreements are due to the party being more keen on taxing millionaires.

I suppose the issue is that weeding out individuals doesn't help if the organisation or a significant part of its upper level has become institutionally antisemitic - that's where the problem lies. Given there's a straight-up antisemite on the NEC then you can't just rule that out.

Whether it's any more institutionally antisemitic than other parties I'm not sure about, but then I think British society is institutionally antisemitic.

Sure, but it’s the least he can do given that one of them is Luciana Berger.

Anyway this stuff is toxic and with good reason and shrugging it off because you don't think it will have an effect at the ballot box, or because the wrong people are complaining about it, is a terrible look for anyone on the left and just profoundly unhelpful. People like John Lansmann and Rhea Wolfson understand this, but whether the wider left does I don't know.

xp this is otm and I would say a part of this is Europe’s failure to reckon with the causes of the Holocaust as a lesson of where the politics of hate lead - like you have people seeing Nazis as a one-off and not the inevitable outcome of nationalism and racism. Political education too - a lot of the twitter cranks you see are lost causes because they don’t understand what the fuck they’re alluding to and the discourse is nigh-on impenetrable to them. Anti Semitism is so embedded in Europe over centuries that people legitimately cannot see or understand exactly what they’re amplifying.

Honestly although leadership sets the tone on these things they're not able to simply "kick out the racists". The issue is that the Party's disciplinary processes are abominably poor and not politically independent. Members of the NEC have far too much sway. https://t.co/9kaAFUwnj6

— Bloonface (@bloonface) February 19, 2019

this was a good thread

xp I'm not disagreeing with the LP's fuck up but there seems to be a tendency to concentrate on the Labour dickheads when actual fucking nazis are running around actually doing physical harm. I know the point Andrew was making and he's right but please don't put that shit in brackets. It's just as real (opens brackets) if not more (closes brackets).
Sorry for the swearing.

Yes, love that account (he’s the author of the Chris Leslie piece & his drunk Corbyn post on medium was incredible). Difficult not to conclude that Lansman would’ve been a better chair.

In other political news, who knew that importing dog meat wasn't illegal?

xp point taken and never apologise for swearing to someone whose acronym username contains the word cunt. But I hope you understand where I’m coming from? It’s a pretty heated day - already been called a centrist & it’s not even lunchtime.

British society is racist, so Labour as a party has to be cleaner and better than that if they are to be an instrument of change. So to me it is kicking out Islamophobia and AS amongst its members.

McDonnell's words felt like listening to people who just want to wreck the chance of a left-wing party taking power and that's what I was posting about. He didn't (from what I read) acknowledge Berger's special case either way but Corbyn did and did Watson.

xp = that thread on Lab procedure is good and helpful.

I'm sorry I just can't picture Anna Soubry in the same party as Mike Gapes.

― Wee boats wobble but they don't fall down (Tom D.), Tuesday, 19 February 2019 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That's me taught.

Rip up what you know about politics its gonna be wild.

Soubry + Gapes, British politics new dream team.

I dont understand why the three tories didn't wait a bit before joining? Doesn't that give jitters to any Labour mp thinking about it? Why not wait a while until they've been smoked out, and then join? Also keeps it in the news longer

um

This suddenly looks like it might be Corbyn’s Ceausescu-on-the-balcony moment: stuck in the 1970s, utterly out of touch with the opinions even of his own supporters https://t.co/lkfsxYR0eX

— Robert Harris (@Robert___Harris) February 19, 2019

it's a great day for moderates to let out some of their repressed bitter anger

Mike Gapes(Mike Gapes) he’ll fight the Trots!
Mike Gapes (Mike Gapes) he’s still in jail!
Mike Gapes (Mike Gapes) he loves dairy
Mike Gapes always shiiine

Seems they have more in common than previously thought.

Doesn't that give jitters to any Labour mp thinking about it?

xps to gyac - totally understand. Sad thing is I can't see any end to it. I mean look at that Harris bollox, does everyone have to imagine horrible violence being done to people they don't like or only second rate thriller writers?

It also makes it harder for the Tories and Tory press to make political capital out of it.

it’s totally normal to fantasise about having ur political opponents taken out back and shot

I can imagine a few wavering Labour MPs thinking, "Fuck getting into bed with Tories for the sake of Chuka Umunna's career".

the calls for by elections are going to get VERY loud now surely

Make it stop pic.twitter.com/2vGwBJJVA8

— Natalie 🌹 (@nataliefaulkner) February 20, 2019

omg

Not sure why Heidi Allen was ever in the Conservative Party in the first place tbh.

Christ I know this post moves fucking fast but it’d be really good if people could acknowledge a point I made earlier in the week, which is that the LP concealed a threat from Berger, and that she shouldn’t have to put up with this shit from her own side. Just so this isn’t so novel every time it comes up? Either that or I’m just killfiled so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I did actually miss that and only read about it just now - concealed from her and from the police until someone just took a copy and handed it to a radio station. Anyway you've been otm!

I would like to double down on my earlier post which was clearly a call for the expulsion of Jewish people from the Labour Party.

I'm taking that as close to "Yeah I didn't think of that" as you're physically able to express.

There's video of Joan Ryan discussing getting a million quid off the Israeli embassy in the next post.

No, fair enough - I misread that as referring to the whole lot, including Berger.

I know the point Andrew was making and he's right but please don't put that shit in brackets. It's just as real (opens brackets) if not more (closes brackets).

No hang on, it's not more real - she'd already been told to kill herself so "an actual Labour MP can take your place". I'm not trying to minimise that it's louder and worse from the right, but it's already bad enough from the left.

I'm taking that as close to "Yeah I didn't think of that" as you're physically able to express.

I was writing that post for most of an hour, over which time my thinking has evolved and I would like to recant my earlier comments.