On these very pages, not 2 months ago (I really can’t remember which blog it was, precisely; I can’t even remember where I put my phone 6 minutes ago. My blogs are like children born on Burnley council estates, I pop ’em out and put them into care, never to think about them again), I wrote the words, along the lines: Jeremy Corbyn may not be an anti-semite but he has created a culture in which those who are feel very comfortable. And now some poxy parliamentary committee has basically nicked my words. Even though they didn’t know they existed. Bastards. Thieves. Plagiarists.
But they’re part of government so they’re allowed. They’re obviously a bit slower than the casual observer too, but we don’t expect speed of thought from the people who run our nation.
They reckon that since Corbyn’s tenure, 50 Labour MPs have been either secretly or openly been sanctioned or cautioned over anti-semitic comments. 50. In 14 months. How could anyone dare to imply some kind of institutionalised ‘safe haven’ for Jew haters? Shami Chakrabarti looked into it. During a coffee break, whilst knowing almost nothing about anti-semitism and gave Labour a ‘clean bill of health’ on that score. Ten minutes later Corbyn bestows upon her the one and only peerage he’s ever given or is likely to give. Hmmmmm.
The parliamentary all party committee went much further. They re-defined anti-semitism, something Chakrabarti didn’t deem necessary. So whilst totting up their anti-semitic incidents, they excluded specific comments about Israeli politics. Because you can criticise Israel without being an anti-semite; its allowed. But you have to be careful. Because Israel’s settlement building (which I disagree with) and its manner of coping with Hamas are indeed worthy of comment. But once you extrapolate to all of Israel, and then blur that to merely, ‘all Jews’, it becomes more of a problem.
Sadly, the new response to any accusation, however true, is to claim a conspiracy. The Trump model. Trump blames the media for his knuckle-dragging reputation even though his knuckles do certainly drag along the floor. And Corbyn claims ‘Blairites’ at the root of every claim against him, however factual and however based on fact.
Its a minefield. Fortunately, Toby Alderweireld appears only to be suffering from ‘bruised nerves’ in his knee. Praise be.
Happy Monday
A xxxx
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