love* in the time of plague (and by love* i mean brexit* and other dreary matters of uk politics)

Until the left 1) articulate these issue properly and 2) actually expel the cranks out the things that were so difficult for Corbyn etc. will come out in an awkward form, hence RLB's posting today.

Pointing out that the US police gets training / tactics directly from two occupying armies (its own and Israel's) seems relevant tbh.

That's fine but that's different from saying "it was learned from seminars with Israeli secret services". I'm not even accusing her of antisemitism but the way in which you phrase these things matters.

Not exactly irrelevant to point out that police brutality is exported and practices shared worldwide. US police definitely took interest in the things that were considered acceptable for Catholic citizens in Northern Ireland, after all.

The rubber bullets that US police officers have been firing so freely were initially designed for use by the British security forces in Northern Ireland, where they killed 17 people. RUC patrols carried weapons, wore flak jackets and drove around in armour-plated vehicles, foreshadowing the militarisation of US policing.

they don't give a shit about Antisemitism, its just a game to them.

I thought we were supposed to be ignoring noise over content.

Easier said than done apparently.

YouGov polling of furloughed workers (total population of 8.4 mil):

65% are scared of losing their jobs
36% are scared of being unable to pay rent/mortgage

If their fears are even half-way justified, this will be an almost unparalleled catastrophe. pic.twitter.com/QEvZxA9qGL

— Callum Cant (@CallumCant1) June 25, 2020

Some of the biggest arseholes on Labour A/S Twitter are in a FB freelancer group I use for journalism and they are already very busy saying M Peake’s statement about Israeli military is really about All Jewish People, even though it...isn’t?

will be interesting to see how starmer handles the issues around human rights abuses by the israeli state given his strong connections to amnesty

and yes, the white brit rock crit people belittling mere *rolls eyes* ~actors~. jesus guys go and sniff your george harrsion records or something

I thought both Starmer and RLB seemed to make it quite clear they wouldn't even say boo to Israel at the Jewish Labour hustings back in Feb, although Starmer does have some form in tailoring what he apparently believes in to play to different audiences, like with Fabian Society knobbers or Scousers!

new party on my desk by 5pm pls

NEW: “This afternoon Keir Starmer asked Rebecca Long-Bailey to step down from the Shadow Cabinet. The article Rebecca shared earlier today contained an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

— Sienna Rodgers (@siennamarla) June 25, 2020

"As Leader of the Labour Party, Keir has been clear that restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority. Antisemitism takes many different forms and it is important that we all are vigilant against it."

— Sienna Rodgers (@siennamarla) June 25, 2020

Lol first opportunity

🙄

not the sacking i expected to see when i woke up today tbqhwy

Cos he showed her so much respect in the role previously.

just an absolute idiotic kneejerk-off move, but predictable really she was odds to be the first to go. Hope Starmer dies tbh.

odds on!

finally some strong leadership

conspiracy theory my arsehole.

The worst you can say about it was that it was dumb and she should have seen the row coming but definitely not a sacking offence FFS.

and meanwhile...

https://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/racial-equality-commission-munira-mirza-against-banningbhate-speech-1-6717058

A video has emerged in which the woman leading the government’s commission on racial inequality challenges a Black youth on whether the use of the “N word” is different from calling someone “fat”, and questions whether he is playing the victim.

my hot take is that this makes total sense for Starmer from a realpolitik perspective but it's not like i was gonna vote for the lad anyway

what we really need now in this moment of crisis is a Party run by twitter furores and mortal terror of the media, a political home for the previously politically homeless category of 'cowards and wankers'

— Owen Hatherley (@owenhatherley) June 25, 2020

operation make the left quit labour going full steam ahead

Successful in my case, as of today.

I can't see how they can avoid kicking Peake out if this is the line they're going to take.

Who knew outsourcing your internal disciplinary policies to *checks notes* one of the Guinness Four would end up like this?

this was happening anyway, getting Reeves and Phillips to undermine her Education brief was probably an oh so subtle attempt to make her walk, he was just looking for any excuse.

4.I wished to acknowledge these concerns and duly issued a clarification of my retweet, with the wording agreed in advance by the Labour Party Leader’s Office, but after posting I was subsequently instructed to take both this agreed clarification and my original retweet down.

— Rebecca Long-Bailey (@RLong_Bailey) June 25, 2020

where's the link to quit

fuck this rump Conservative party.

fuck this shit

There is no link to quit. Delete your direct debit and e-mail the chair of the local CLP.

might join up now just so i can quit them

idk lads with this one sacking Starmzy may have won the next general election

I'm going to join a neo-nazi party and change my name by deed poll to Kier Starmfront!

dammit my annual membership renewal went through just three days ago

Christ he’s awful

5.I could not do this in good conscience without the issuing of a press statement of clarification. I had asked to discuss these matters with Keir before agreeing what further action to take, but sadly he had already made his decision.

— Rebecca Long-Bailey (@RLong_Bailey) June 25, 2020

gosh imagine the Labour Party being the parliamentary wing of the trade unions https://t.co/waghxLqOH8

— Owen Hatherley (@owenhatherley) June 25, 2020

She'd probably have a case for constructive dismissal, given the way every member of the Shadow Cabinet except her has been pushed to the fore on education

— 𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐀🍊𝐏𝐇𝐏𝐁𝐁🍊𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐔𝐌🍊🅰🅳🅼🅸🅽 (@TypingOfTheRed) June 25, 2020

Just going to remind you that Rachel Reeves enjoys a warm welcome at the top table despite praising Nancy Astor.

Yep, that's how much they really care abut AS. A fucking statue of someone who wanted the holocaust to reach Brooklyn.

Starmer struck me as an overindulged Tory boss wanker he isn't used to being told to stfu when he is boring everyone to death, especially after that comedy skit on his valentine's night adventure in Newcastle. But he is actually even worse than that, much much worse.

he who

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EbXamegWsAIWM7Y?format=jpg&name=large

Now we can get back to urging the schools to open in peace!

opposing Tories in any way = giving Tories ammunition

fuck me the last thing we need is Labour MPs being close to the unions

Throughout discussion of antisemitism it’s always been said criticism of practices of Israeli state is not antisemitic. I don’t believe therefore that this article is or ⁦⁦@RLong_Bailey⁩ should’ve been sacked. I stand in solidarity with her https://t.co/rhxuKGfFEG

— John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) June 25, 2020

This is great timing for the Tories as well, as RLB dominates the news cycle instead of Jenrick who has been ketched bang to rights, knee deep in corruption. some real fucking forensic opposition there Starmzy!