Help the Yazidi women and girls kidnapped by ISIS

My name is Rozin, I'm a 17 year old Yazidi girl living in Coventry. I came here with my family in 2008 when it became too dangerous for us in Iraq.

More than 3,000 Yazidi women and girls have been kidnapped by ISIS in Northern Iraq. They have been raped and tortured by their captors. Last week three girls, who managed to escape, visited London and told their stories.

Now that we have heard the stories of what is happening to these girls, we must help them. There is a lot that the UK Government can do, that's why I have started this petition.

When I hear what has happened to these girls I cry. It is my worst nightmare. I know girls as young as 12 have been taken. If I was there now I would be so so scared.

Many girls have managed to escape but they are scattered in refugee camps and getting little help. They are scared and traumatised, some are pregnant. They need medical help, psychological support and rehabilitation.

Last year Angelina Jolie came to London and the UK Government held a Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. The Government promised to "provide greater support and protection to survivors of sexual violence, including children".

We must ask the UK Government to keep their promise.

Germany has offered some help and brought some of the girls there to recover. I am asking Home Secretary Theresa May, Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening, and Foreign Minister Philip Hammond to meet with me and the Yazidi community in the UK and prepare an action plan.

These girls may seem far away, but they need our help. Every Yazidi woman and girl living in Iraq and Syria is in danger, the entire community lives in desperation.

If no-one speaks up for them who will help them? My dream is to be a lawyer and to spend my life fighting injustice. That starts today.

Please sign my petition for the Yazidi girls.

www.change.org/p/uk-government-help-the-yazidi-women-

The penny drops

Living as we are in an age of "austerity" that hurts some of us more than others, there are those in the establishment who have begun, if only just begun to notice that something is amiss with society.

A interesting report appeared in the business section of The Times (no link £):

Big business must significantly improve its relationship with society if it wants to ward off the threat of a political "lurch to the left"

John Nelson, the chairman of Lloyds of London will tell a gathering of senior financial figures this evening that the reputation of businesses worldwide has reached a worrying low. That could trigger serious challenges to middle-of-the-road politicians and economic policy.

No sh*t Sherlock.

Just look at Greece and the disaster that became. Spain could face a similar problem and Corbyn represents the extreme of a trend in Britain that started with the scandal of the MP's expenses.

Mr Nelson apparently worries about the reaction of "the man in the street" rising up and asking "what is going on here".

Faith in politicians and big business is at an all time low. 

Economic crises always create movements from the extremes of politics, but Mr Nelson should also note it's not just a "lurch to the left" he should worry about. There is a growing xenophobia across Europe that has seen the rise of far-right neo-fascist parties (France and Hungary) and a resurgence of nationalism that could lead to the breakup of national and international stability as we see in Scotland and Catalonia.

What the "man in the street" wants is fair treatment not revolution and social upheaval.

When hard working men and women both working and middle class see their living standards drop while the ultra-rich just seem to accumulate more wealth even when they fail there is bound to be a reaction of some sort.

MP's get a 10% rise. Their low paid civil servants get 1%.

Bankers get huge bonuses even when they don't get results and taxpayers bail them out. Most tax payers can only dream of the amounts of cash going their way.

Nobody except a few recalcitrant communists begrudges wealth as such but those that rule over us do require the proverbial boot up the backside from time to time to remind the establishment that they cannot walk all over us.

People know money doesn't grow on trees but expect that those who contribute more and do more for those less well off than themselves. That's the social contract that our society relies on.

Trouble is will your colleagues listen as they devour caviar and champagne before it becomes too late?

Spoilt middle class anarchist brats

      =     

The scene of so-called "anarchists" laying siege to a cereal cafe in Shoreditch has to go down as one of the more bizarre political protests witnessed in a long time. According to them selling cereal at £3.40 a bowl is a crime against the working class.

Not that most of them know what working means.

As for class, the majority of these black clad masked individuals certainly know about that.

The majority of them come from the comfortable middle classes and think it's radical to go around swearing shouting and causing general mayhem in the name of Class War.

I have never forgiven these idiots for ruining the pensions demonstration by smashing up Piccadilly whilst the majority of us were peacefully protesting about the threat to our livelihoods.

These "anarchists" hid in our ranks, masked up as we entered Trafalgar Square and then acted in a violent way scaring many ordinary men and women on the march, some of whom had their children with them.

The only class they represent is that of an unruly fourth form with even less of an intellect.

Their protest (if you can call their behaviour that) was ostensibly about the "gentrification" of parts of London. "Social cleansing" as they put it. Whilst there is some truth in what they say this was no way to go about it. The ones most likely to be put off would be real workers.

Not that they probably ever mix with any.

There was one more sinister element to their protest.

They claimed the area was being ripped apart by "Israeli scumbag property developers".

Jews to you and me.

No truth to that at all.

Just the normal prejudices of today's anti-Semitic radicals.

Anarchists?

Strasserites more like.

Scum.

Labour Party Conference: The struggle begins

The Labour Party is currently meeting in Brighton where the first battles between the Corbynistas and the moderates will take place. I suspect this week will see just the beginning of a long period of internecine warfare inside Labour as even the left is not yet fully prepared to take control.

The Sunday Times reports that some left wing organisations are preparing to enter Labour in various forms while winding down their "public faces":

The Alliance for Workers Liberty (AWL), a Marxist and Trotskyist organisation, last week asked the Electoral Commission to wind up it's electoral activities, freeing it's members to join Labour which does not permit membership of another political party.

Left Unity, a socialist party founded at the behest of the film director Ken Loach will discuss winding up as a political party in November.

 


Meanwhile the former Militant Tendency is offering "pact" in which it will not stand candidates from the Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition against anti-austerity Corbynites at the next general election according to a statement made by it's leader Dave Nellist.

However the left are not going to find taking over Labour a walkover. Labour First has started organising a fight back.

Labour First

Luke Akehurst writes in an e-mail issued to supporters today:

Labour First has had an amazing start to Labour Party Conference.

There has been a very visible demonstration that there is a huge appetite for balance and a strong moderate voice within the party.

We handed out over 2000 copies of our briefing for delegates this morning.

The first test of opinion on conference floor was an attempt by the left to reject the Conference Arrangements Committee report in order to force a debate on their proposed rule changes. This was heavily defeated and in fact the CLP whose proposal about easier deselections was particularly concerning did not try to question it being ruled out.

Then this lunch time what we had thought would be a low key fringe meeting turned into a huge rally of several hundred people. It was so big we had to leave the venue we had booked and hold an impromptu open air rally in the street outside.

For a while Labour First was even a UK-wide "trending topic" on Twitter!

Speakers were Tom Watson MP, Yvette Cooper MP, Seema Malhotra MP, Rachel Reeves MP, Liam Byrne MP, Vernon Coaker MP, Ruth Smeeth MP, Conor McGinn MP, Richard Angell and myself, with Keith Dibble chairing. They were united in expressing the need for Labour to take the fight to the Tories, to reconnect with ordinary voters, for moderate voices to be proudly heard in the party and for an end to the sectarian abuse and bullying seen this summer.

This huge energy feels like we are at the start of the creation of a powerful movement that will restore Labour to common sense and electability.

We need to build on this momentum and spread our network out across the country. I hope you are ready to be part of what seems here and now at conference to be the start of something very exciting.

Join the fightback: https://labourfirst.wordpress.com/join-our-mailing-list/

The new fascism in Student Unions

In an astounding attack on free speech the Students Union at Warwick University has banned ex-Muslim and secularist Marynam Namazie from speaking.

The statement issued by the brats that run the students union states:

This is because after researching both her and her organisation, a number of flags have been raised. We have a duty of care to conduct a risk assessment for each speaker who wishes to come to campus.

There a number of articles written both by the speaker and by others about the speaker that indicate that she is highly inflammatory, and could incite hatred on campus. This is in contravention of our external speaker policy:

The President (or equivalent) of the group organising any event is responsible for the activities that take place within their events. All speakers will be made aware of their responsibility to abide by the law, the University and the Union’s various policies, including that they:

• must not incite hatred, violence or call for the breaking of the law
• are not permitted to encourage, glorify or promote any acts of terrorism including individuals, groups or organisations that support such acts
• must not spread hatred and intolerance in the community and thus aid in disrupting social and community harmony
• must seek to avoid insulting other faiths or groups, within a framework of positive debate and challenge
• are not permitted to raise or gather funds for any external organisation or cause without express permission of the trustees.

In addition to this, there are concerns that if we place conditions on her attendance (such as making it a member only event and having security in attendance, asking for a transcript of what she intends to say, recording the speech) she will refuse to abide by these terms as she did for Trinity College Dublin.

In effect this bans all debate on religion, unless you are an Islamist of course, can't prevent the religion of peace from spreading the word about throwing gays of tall mountains, treats women as men's property, killing apostates, those who insult the Prophet and those that dare leave the "perfection of Islam.

It's not just Islam(ists). On the PCS Union Face Book page one Christian took offence to the proposition there is no god and the left administrator subsequently took down the post which was about defending free speech against those who murdered the Charlie Hebdoe journalists.

The left are complicit in the new censorship along with  most of the liberal Guardianistas.

I fear for the future.

I do not believe. 

There is no god. It is my right to say so and to expose religion for the falsehood I believe it is.

So here's a little skit from Dave Allen which will probably upset some soppy po-faced lefty student type somewhere!

Stop the War Coalition's mask finally slips.

An article on the Stop the War Coalitions hatesite website makes this statement:

The only intervention likely to work in Syria just now is from Moscow.

This in an article cross-posted from the Guardian, paper of the lefty luvvies. It's written by Simon Jenkins a long time supporter of the supposed "anti-war" coalition.

This is an organisation that condemns every intervention by the West, opposes military intervention to save the Kurds, Yazadi's and other minorities including Muslims, calls for the destruction of Israel...all in the name of peace. Not.

I've often referred to these charlatans as appeasers and now will add to that the charge of "quislings".

All these stop the war types are just a Trojan Horse for Russian imperialism and Islamist expansion.

They are not peace activists in any shape or form.

Remember one of these leading comrades, a certain John Rees sat alongside the CAGE spokesmen as they called the mass murderer Jihadi John" a nice man.

They talk about "bombing being immoral" but oddly have never condemned Assad's air force in Syria or Putin's MIGs in Chechnya. and appear on Press TV, the TV station of the clerical fascist Iranian government.

No longer can they or the articles author be taken seriously when it comes to war.

Stop the War support Russian intervention.

That's it. Games up.

The changing farce of British politics

After what seems an age British politics has become both interesting, dangerous and amusing all at the same time.

Over the last week we saw Jeremy Corbyn elected as leader of the Labour Party and the Prime Minister became a laughing stock as (albeit uncorroborated) revelations were made about his student antics.

The Liberals are led by a man who takes a dim view of gays getting married and are variety of Trotskyist groups have returned to their old ways by setting up shop inside the Labour Party. They are not alone in changing their allegiances. 

It's not that long since Tim Farron claimed that "distraught" Labour MP's were ringing him about the dangers they faced from the rise of the "Corbynistas", and talk began of at least a few defecting to the Liberal Democrats.

Unlikely given that the civil war inside the Labour Party has only just started. Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyns anti-Western and pro-appeasement politics have brought him some "Liberal allies". 

First up was former Lib-Dem Peer Jenny Tonge who told the Sunday Times (no link £):

“I know that lots of Lib Dems are contemplating supporting Jeremy Corbyn, including me” 

Given some of Corbyns "unsavoury friends" Tonge would seem a natural ally.The algemeiner. describes the woman in no uncertain terms:

....a member of Britain’s House of Lords with a long record of inflammatory, often antisemitic, statements against both Israel and the British Jewish leadership..

So far just one Liberal Democrat has defected to Labour. The Richmond and Twickenham Times  reports:

A Liberal Democrat councillor has defected to Labour in support of Jeremy Corbyn, becoming Richmond's first Labour councillor in more than 13 years.

Teddington Councillor Jennifer Churchill, partner of the borough's former Lib Dem leader and fellow Councillor Stephen Knight, said new party leader Tim Farron "doesn't seem to stand for anything".

Churchill will find herself alongside some rather strange new "bedfellows" in the form of Workers Power (British Section of the Fifth International) who rant in their unreadable rag:

For a revolutionary socialist, the purpose of a programme is to meet the immediate needs of the mass of the working class, to mobilise a mass movement to resist the ruling class’s attacks on our living standards and our futures, and to link measures addressing the needs of the day with the fight for a revolution that can end capitalism and create a new socialist society. We support anything that works in that direction.

For these reasons Workers Power supports key elements of Jeremy Corbyn’s programme. We believe all socialists should join the Labour Party, defend and promote Jeremy’s progressive demands, and work to extend and deepen these policies in a revolutionary socialist direction.

Until recently the couple of dozen or so members of this tiny group were involved in Ken Loache's still born Left Unity Party, having taken over one of the Leeds branches. 

Better pickings inside Labour it would seem.

Moves have already begun to try and oust those that might oppose Corbyn. The Mail writes:

Simon Danczuk said a ‘concerted effort’ by the new leader’s far-left supporters had now begun to ‘silence’ people like him and ‘drum’ them out of the party.

It came as left-wing party members plan to issue a formal complaint to Labour’s ruling NEC about the conduct of the Rochdale MP, who has been highly critical of Mr Corbyn’s brand of politics.

An online petition calling for Mr Danczuk to have the whip withdrawn has gathered thousands of signatures.

Mr Danczuk said: ‘My advice to moderates in the party is: watch your back. Be careful, but don’t give in to these people.’

One of Mr Corbyn’s most loyal supporters, new shadow energy minister Clive Lewis, warned the ‘forces of establishment’ within Labour that they would be ‘unwise’ to oppose the new leader.

Just like the eighties when Labour was made unelectable by the same types of activists that are rallying to Corbyn now. 

To be fair Corbyn opposes mandatory reselection of MP's but as he appears to be weak and unfit to lead anything but a rabble in the street he may not be able to control the comrades on the ground.

The Press may be less than interested in the seaside outing of Farrons Lib Dems but they will be at Labour Party conference in droves to see the internecine warfare erupt as the left jockeys for position.

Can the moderates fight back?

Only time will tell, but to do so they must organise fast and hard.

Now, before it becomes too late!

Musical Interlude: The Piglets ~ Johnny Reggae (HQ)

I don't think there's anything I can post tonight that would even begin to compete with Lord Ashcrofts revelations about a certain posh boy, a dick and a pigs 'ead. My Face Book time line is full of stuff from every corner on the subject.

So I thought, what the hell... here's The Piglets with a little number from the seventies.

Saudi Arabia gets UN Human Rights panel whilst crucifying dissident

In yesterdays issue of The Times (no link £) it was reported that:

A young Saudi Arabian man is facing crucifixion after beheading for attending an anti-government protest in 2012 when he was 17...

Mr al-Nimir, a student was convicted of participating in illegal demonstrations against the state, attacking security forces, possessing a machine gun and armed robbery. He has said the verdict was based on a confession extracted under torture.

This is the same Saudi Arabia that sentenced blogger Raif Badawi for writing about Human Rights to 1,000 lashes. 

This is the Saudi Arabia that bans women from driving and effectively runs a true gender apartheid in their country making women second class citizens with few if any real rights.

And yet today the Independent reports:

The United Nations has been criticised for handing Saudi Arabia a key human rights role - despite the country having “arguably the worst record in the world” on freedoms for women, minorities and dissidents.

As UN Watch states:

“Saudi Arabia has arguably the worst record in the world when it comes to religious freedom and women’s rights, and continues to imprison the innocent blogger Raif Badawi,” Neuer added.

“This UN appointment is like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief, and underscores the credibility deficit of a human rights council that already counts Russia, Cuba, China, Qatar and Venezuela among its elected members.”

Yet this is the body that makes all these international laws everyone quotes. How are we to take their resolutions seriously when the worst nations on earth have a say on on basic matters such as Human Rights and Free Speech, which none of these countries believe in anyway.

Saudi Arabia along with other "Islamic" countries demands constant protection for it's "faith" and ants world-wide "blasphemy law" to prevent criticism of their medieval beliefs. 

Yet selling Bibles and building Churches is banned in Saudi Arabia.

Along with every other Human Right you can think of.

The United Nations has no moral authority whilst it's bodies are dominated by Saudi and other charlatans.

Real Human Rights mean democracy, free speech, equal rights for women, and end to the persecution of all minorities including gays, freedom of worship and the separation of religion and all states.

If your blind faith finds that a problem then you are an enemy of Human Rights.

There is a way forward. 

Neither the Vatican or Mecca! Forward to International Secularism!

Bad news day for Corbyn

Whilst the activist "half a percent" may have coalesced around Jeremy Corbyn, the public certainly have not. The Independent leads with a story outlining how Labour has lost one in five of it's voters already.

A survey of 2,000 people found that Mr Corbyn’s election as Labour leader has made one in five people who voted for his party at the May general election more likely to vote Conservative next time. Some 37 per cent of Labour voters say they are less likely to back the party at the next election.

Add to that:

Almost three in four people do not believe that Jeremy Corbyn looks like a prime minister-in-waiting, according to a poll for The Independent.

At the same time Corbyn just keeps scoring "own goals" with ridiculous appoints like this reported in The Spectator:

Given that Jeremy Corbyn is a Hamas sympathiser with an IRA sympathiser as his Shadow Chancellor, I imagine he didn’t think too much about promoting a little-known Scot named Mike Watson. He is a Labour peer, who now takes a place in Corbyn’s frontbench as education spokesman. He is also a convicted arsonist, who quit the Scottish Parliament in disgrace after being caught drunkenly setting fire to a set of curtains during the Scottish Politician of the Year ceremony 2004. He was sentenced to 20 months in prison, which he served in HMP Edinburgh.

Way to go to building confidence in the Labour Party comrade.

At the same time  Corbyn is having "trouble" keeping all of his "commitments" as the Guardian reports:

Jeremy Corbyn has pulled out of a planned appearance at the annual Stop the War coalition conference, his final as chairman of the group.

The Labour leader has been a leading member of the group for more than a decade and had been expected to deliver a speech at the meeting on Saturday.

A spokesman for Corbyn, who a week ago won the party leadership in a landslide victory, said he was unable to attend because of his busy schedule.

“His diary is now obviously very busy and today he is preparing for Labour party conference,” the spokesman said. “He has made a clear commitment that he will find time to attend an event with Stop the War in the future. He is still very much committed.”

Nothing to do with the potential bad press from addrssing a bunch of political misfits, bigots and anti-Western "anti-imperialists"?

Couldn't get much worse anyway.

What with his Shadow Chancellor having to make forced apologies for his support for the actions of the IRA and a "wish" to "go back in time and assassinate Margaret Thatcher he really could do without sharing a platform with the likes of Trotskyists Lyndsey German and friend of CAGE John Rees. 

There will be a lot of anti-Western rhetoric, Israel bashing tending on anti-Semitism by some of the Stop the Wars more wild eyed participants. 

Not good for the image perhaps Jeremy old boy?

The battle inside the Labour Party is far from over but unless the moderates organise they will be swamped by the Corbinistas. As that happens more people will drift away from Labour.

The far-left are ensuring another decade of Tory rule.

Not that they care. It's all about "the fight". Never mind who suffers so long as they don't budge an inch.

Corbyn is unfit for power.

Corbyn, Labours Crisis and anti-Semitism

Left-wing thought has shifted towards movements it would once have denounced as racist, imperialist and fascistic. It is insupportable (Nick Cohen)

The election of Jeremy Corbyn continues to cause waves across the political scene, but it's not just affecting Labour, though the party remains in disarray. The Times (no link £) reports that one of Labour's biggest donors has described Corbyn as "the beginning of the end":

Assem Allam, the multimillionaire owner of Hull City football club said he would financially support moderate figures prepared to launch a centrist party or defect to the Liberal Democrats.

Allam considers that Labour is a "dead horse".

The Evening Standard reports:

Jeremy Corbyn faced a threat of Labour defections today after days of turmoil over his leadership.

In a dramatic interview, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron revealed he has been called since last Saturday’s election result by Labour figures distraught about their new boss.

Mr Farron told the Evening Standard: “I’ve had various unsolicited texts, some of them over the weekend, where I felt like I was being an agony aunt rather than anything else.

“People who have been members of the [Labour] party for as long as I’ve been a member of mine who feel that they don’t recognise their party anyone and feel deeply distressed.”

However the Jewish Community is also alarmed at the rise of Corbyn, a long time supporter of the less than savoury "Palestine Solidarity Campaign".  In a brilliant article at Algemeiner, Paul Bogdanor writes of Corbyn "placing himself at the head of "Palestine Solidarity lynch mobs":

In Warrant For Genocide, Norman Cohn’s classic study of antisemitic conspiracy theories, he made an astute observation: “There exists a subterranean world where pathological fantasies disguised as ideas are churned out by crooks and half-educated fanatics for the benefit of the ignorant and superstitious. There are times when this underworld emerges from the depths and suddenly fascinates, captures and dominates multitudes of usually sane and responsible people, who thereupon take leave of sanity and responsibility.”

Such a moment is now upon us with the landslide election of left-wing extremist Jeremy Corbyn as the leader of Britain’s Labour Party, the official opposition to the Conservative government. Corbyn, who was chosen by a quarter of a million Labour members, is the embodiment of the half-educated fanatic described by Cohn.

Continue reading: here.

I'll leave the last word to Nick Cohen who wrote of his resignation from the left today in The Spectator:

The half-educated fanatics are in control now. I do not see how in conscience I can stay with their movement or vote for their party. I am not going to pretend the next time I meet Owen Jones or those Labour politicians who serve in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet that we are still members of the same happy family. There are differences that cannot and should not be smoothed over.

I realise now what I should have known years ago. The causes I most care about — secularism, freedom of speech, universal human rights — are not their causes. Whatever they pretend, when the crunch comes, they will always put sectarian unity first, and find reasons to be elsewhere.

So, for what it is worth, this is my resignation letter from the left. I have no idea who I should send it to or if there are forms to fill in. But I do know this: like so many before me, I can claim constructive dismissal.

John McDonnell: The WRP link

Photo: Wikepedia Kolrobie

The national press are digging deep into the past lives of Jeremy Corbyn's henchmen. The Labour MP for Harlington and Hayes has already come under fire for once referring to the IRA as "being brave much to most peoples consternation, but The Times has reminded us of one of McDonnell's other dodgy links, to the Workers Revolutionary Party.

Older readers may recall a rather colourful newspaper, the Labour Herald which was run by Ken Livingstone between 1981 and 1985. Despite it's claims to be "independent", it was standing knowledge on the left that this paper was a front for the Workers Revolutionary Party to get a foothold inside the Labour Party.  Not only was it printed on the WRP presses paid for by Qaddafi, but the Labour Heralds only full time reporter was a member of the WRP's Central Committee.

The paper was very similar to The News Line, the daily paper of the WRP, especially in it's "anti-imperialist" outlook.

The Workers Revolutionary Party was basically a cult run by Gerry Healy who was not only the most sectarian Trotskyist leader imaginable but was notoriously paranoid and always had a car ready at the Party's HQ for a quick get away should the state ever come after him. The WRP fell apart after revelations about the sexual abuse of female cadre by party boss Healy himself.


Gerry Healy: photo:  by Неизвестный автор -

McDonnell says he never met Healy, though as The Times reports:

Mr McDonnell was championed by Gerry Healy, the notorious leaders of the WRP. Healy who had a reputation as a thug, rapist and purveyor of anti-Semitic propaganda intervened to save Mr McDonnell during a row with Ken Livingstone.

Healy's private lobbying was disclosed by Mr Livingstone in his memoirs You Can't Say That, recalling a time when he was leader of the Greater London Council and Mr McDonnell was his deputy.

Odd that.

Why would Ken Livingstone be swayed by the leader of a small and irrelevant cult of Trotskyists that was openly hostile to Labour and stood candidates against the party at general elections?

Livingstone was not the only Labour figure with ties to Healy. There was also Ted Knight, leader of a London Council. Labour Herald was the connection between these men and the far-left WRP.

Of course this all came to an end in 1985 when the scandal about Healy became public. The WRP fell apart and Labour Herald ceased publication, though the WRP's daily newspaper was published for a while by both sides, the standing joke being that the WRP had split just to sell newspapers.

The WRP is long gone (except for a tiny rump that still publishes the daily News Line to this day), both Healy and Knight are dead and buried, but Livingstone and McDonnell remain the far-left activists they have always been.

Previous articles on the WRP:

Last Gasp of the Healyites

Passing of a political gangster (Michael Banda, General Secretary of the WRP)

Hold the Iranian government responsible for the death of Shahrokh Zamani

Cross-post from Workers Iran



Shahrokh Zamani, one of the most well-known and respected imprisoned labour activists in Iran, died on Sunday, September 13, 2015 in Gohardasht (Rajai Shahr) Prison in the City of Karaj. Shahrokh was a member of the Founding Board of the Syndicate of Paint Workers of Tehran and the Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Workers Organizations.

There are currently a wide range of reports related to Shahrokh’s death. What we can confirm at this time is that other prisoners found Shahrokh unconscious on the bed in his call. They took him to the prison’s medical centre and doctors announced him dead. The authorities claimed that a stroke was the cause of his death; however, according to Shahrokh’s daughter and others close to him, Shahrokh was generally healthy and used to exercise regularly. There are confirmed reports that there were visible bruises on his body. It is a well-known fact that the medical reports issued by the authorities of the government of Iran have no credibility; in addition, there is a growing belief amongst labour activists and the public as well as in social media that Shahrokh was killed in prison. We will issue other updates on the circumstances that led to his death.

It is crucial to emphasize that this is not the first time that labour activists have died in prisons of the Iranian regime. As we have reported previously, Rajai Shahr is one of the most notorious prisons with a very high security in which we have witnessed numerous deaths of political prisoners in past few years. Many prisoners go through severe torture, medical neglects and gross mistreatments by security guards and prison authorities. Afshin Osanloo was another labour activist who died under similar circumstances in June 2013.

Shahrokh Zamani was originally arrested, along with Mr. Mohammad Jarahi, in June of 2011. Branch 1 of the Tabriz Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Shahrokh Zamani to 11 years and Mohammad Jarahi to five years imprisonment after conviction on charges including “acting against national security by establishing or membership of groups opposed to the system” and “spreading propaganda against the establishment”. The "trial" did not meet international standards for a fair adjudication of the charges, and the charges themselves violated internationally recognized standards for freedom of association and expression and the right of workers to organize into an organization of their choosing free of government interference, harassment or retaliation.

Shahrokh’s most basic human rights were violated throughout the past few years in prison, and his mistreatment by authorities while incarcerated was extensive. He faced extreme forms of interrogation and was subject to physical and mental tortures in prison. However, he continued to be remarkably courageous, militant and resisted ever-increasing pressures on him to stay silent. He repeatedly issued statements about his own situation and also in support of workers’ and teachers’ rights and struggles, against the capitalist exploitation and corruption, and in opposition to the anti-worker policies and practices of the Islamic Republic of Iran. While in prison, he faced new charges by the judiciary.

We have had a wide range of campaigns for the freedom of Shahrokh and many other labour activists in recent years. We firmly believe that we need to see much stronger and broader global mobilization against increasing repression of workers’ rights and the persecution of labour activists in Iran. There are currently many other imprisoned workers and teachers in the country and some of them require urgent actions for their safety and well-being, including Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, who is facing new charges in prison and Rasoul Bodaghi, who’s also facing new charges in prison even though he has finished his six-year prison sentence; many teachers are in jail, and Mohammad Jarahi, another labour activist and close friend of Shahrokh Zamni, continues to be imprisoned despite serious health problems and previous surgeries for his cancer.

IASWI holds the Islamic Republic of Iran fully accountable and responsible for the sudden death of Shahrokh Zamani. We call for an independent international inquiry into the death of Shahrokh Zamani and the conditions of other jailed labour activists and political prisoners in Iran. IASWI urges labour and human rights organizations and concerned individuals around the world to urgently express their strongest condemnation of the death of Shahrokh Zamani.

We are also calling on all labour and progressive organizations around the world to increase pressures on the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately end all executions, torture and mistreatment of labour activists and political prisoners and immediate and unconditional freedom for all political prisoners in Iran. We need to continue pressuring the Iranian government to recognize and respect the right to organize, assemble and freedom of association and expression as reflected in internationally recognized labour standards.

International Alliance in support of workers in Iran (IASWI)
September 14, 2015

Jeremy Corbyn forms his first Shadow Cabinet

Jeremy Corbyn's "Minister for Jews"?

The new leader of the Labour Party is well known to have more than dodgy friends, especially in the Islamist world. His victory yesterday was welcomed by Hamas who wrote:

He is one of the most prominent figures who voiced solidarity with the Palestinian cause and his rejection of the war on Gaza.

Actually like most of the left, Corbyn refused to accept the aggressors were Hamas using Palestinian civilians as shield whilst 11,000 rockets were fired at Israel and badly needed construction material was wasted on tunnels leading into Israel so that terrorist could emerge and murder Jewish civilians.

All that took time to prepare and yet Israel is to blame for the "crime" of defending itself.

As Corbyn prepares his shadow cabinet from the toadies prepared to serve under him the Jewish Chronicle reports:

Rumours emanating from the Corbyn camp within the last 48 hours suggested he wanted to appoint a “Minister for Jews” – an emissary to work with the community. Is that a proposal that is likely to help?

While apparently designed as a measure to improve relations and build bridges, unveiling religion-specific portfolio holders – there would also be a Minister for Muslims it is understood – could be yet another PR disaster for the 66-year-old leader.

Would he, for example, give the Jewish minister job to a Jew? Or would it go to a non-Jew who was friendly towards the community? What about a Jew who was unfriendly towards the community? It would be a minefield.

I cannot imagine a more stupid idea, but this is Jeremy Corbyn we are talking about. I wouldn't trust Corbyn or any appointee of his anyway, besides the fact that having Ministers for religions goes against the grain of a modern secular society. 

Personally I find the idea quite sinister.

Who is a Jew anyway? I don't get counted because of my long standing atheism but to an anti-Semite I am and will always be a Jew.

As for the Muslim community? Which one? Islam is divided between more than just the Sunni & Shia divide. Who is going to decide who is a Muslim? 

Will the Ahmadiyya be counted? They are rejected as heretics by other Muslims.

Religion and the state must always be kept separate.

You'd think this so-called radical would be looking towards the disestablishment of the Church of England and the repeal of all blasphemy laws.

Secularism seems lost on today's faux-left.

As does reason.

Corbyn wins, Labour loses

 


It was with great reluctance that I tuned in to see the news of the Labour Party leadership election as the result has been clear for some time as the left rallied and organised to get their man in. Jeremy Corbyn won, quite overwhelmingly.

That's bad news for ordinary working people and any and all that are vulnerable in our society. The reason being that this man will not be (and should never be) Prime Minister, let alone the leader of the main opposition party which will now drag itself into an extended period of internecine warfare.

Regardless of what he says, Corbyn will not be able to control the monster he has unleashed. The left will now be organising to take over the constituency parties and begin the process of purging those MP's they consider either not socialist enough or as many of their opponents were labelled "Tory lit".

Labour will cease to be a broad church over the next years and the hard line left will implement their own Robespierre like terror on those that dare oppose them.

An exaggeration?

Whilst this will not happen straight away and there are many who would resist, I have seen this process in action before, albeit on a different scale inside the PCS union following the election of Mark Serwotka as General Secretary.

Those that opposed the far-left were sidelined, bullied, censored and pushed out of posts. The structures of the union became geared to the priorities of the activists regardless of members real interests.

PCS is now itself a pale reflection of what it was and what it could have been under the reckless stewardship of the anti-austerity activists, who almost laughably had to both make and justify sweeping cuts including to Pensions and benefits of their own employees.

In addition the union geared it's activities towards the anti-imperialist agenda, particularly the Palestinians which under the influence of Hugh Lanning, PCS Deputy General Sercretary (now retired) and Chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign this issue became "central to PCS's international work", a phrase now removed from their website.

The SWP pushed the union into the Stop the War Campaign and the Socialist Party (the major force in PCS) slowly took control with bureaucratic manoeuvring that has left countless numbers of it's members in highly paid positions on the union.

Some did try to fight back, myself included but following the breakaway of a whole department from PCS to form a new union the possibility of reclaiming the organisation was no longer achievable. Too many were leaving and dropping out.

Changing unions was the option I went for as did many of my colleagues. Others simply allowed their membership to lapse after the end of check-off in major departments such as the DWP & HMRC, hence the huge drop in PCS's membership to under 210,000 with more to go as the Tories end similar arrangements in other areas of the civil service.

The parallels with the rise of the Corbinistas is clear.

Serwotka is already on record as saying he would affiliate "his" union to Labour of Corbyn won. Of course he'd have to put that to the membership, but given the low turnouts that may be a forgone conclusion.

The old Militant Tendency will have a "back door" to return to Labour. One of their leaders Dave Nellist has openly called for co-operation with Corbyn. Their TUSC electoral project has been an abject failure so a change of line is probably due from their Central Committee some time soon.

Of course there plenty inside Labour who will try to organise a fightback. Labour List has already issued an appeal this afternoon..

I am not a member of the Labour Party but this blog has always called for a Labour vote since it's inception.

No more.

I was luke warm to selection of Sadiq Khan as the London Mayoral candidate yesterday, but Corbyn's election has made my support for Labour to evaporate. Whilst there may remain good people in Labour like Liz Kendall and Caroline Flint, I cannot bring myself to call for a vote for a man with so many unsavoury friends.

There is a difference between being in government and having to deal with some unsavoury regimes as part of real politics, but to voluntarily share platforms with Hate Preachers, Homophobes, anti-Semites and refer to genocidal maniacs in Hamas & Hezbollah as "friends" is totally unacceptable.

To call for peace but only by the West and ignore Russian aggression in the Ukraine and support for the brutal Assad regime as Stop the War does, and then to question "what was the point" of taking out two British terrorists who were part of the criminal ISIS gang makes Corbyn a dangerous appeaser.

Unless Labour comes to it's senses before the next election I and many, many others will not vote for or support a party led by such a man.

Fossils in the news....

It's the calm before the storm tonight as the world waits with baited breath to see if the Labour Party has signed up for electoral suicide by electing Jeremy Corbyn as leader. In London the news that Sadiq Khan has become Labour's Mayoral candidate was met with complete disinterest.

Meanwhile back in the real world scientists have discovered a new species of human in South Africa which may change our conceptions of makings evolution and the BBC has dug up one of it's old fossils in the form of Citizen Smith, an old 1970's comedy series that took the proverbial Michael out of the lefties who stalked our streets in those dark times.

No doubt the new series will be set in Tower Hamlets with the new "Citizen Smith" wearing the obligatory Palestinian scarf shouting Stop the War slogans and ignoring Russian intervention in the Ukraine and Syria or ISIS atrocities in Iraq & Syria blaming the worlds problems on those damned Jews Zionists.

Oh wait that's the real world of Jeremy Corbyn's supporters.

So here's an episode which sees comrade Alfie's election result in Tooting.......

Anti-Semitism at anti-Netanyahu Demonstration

The so-called anti-imperialists of the likes of the misnamed Stop the War Coalition, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and their rather less than charming supporters rallied outside Downing Street today.

The following post (including video) appeared on the Face Book page of the Zionist Federation UK.

When it was announced that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was going to visit the UK, anti-Israel groups organised a protest against him. Within minutes of pro-Israel supporters setting up our own solidarity rally, we were approached by this gentleman. Despite the claims that anti-Israel activists are only motivated by concerns for “justice” and “human rights,” he soon began brandishing a penny at us. “Here’s a penny...that’s all you understand...you understand money!” he said – proving that it was open anti-Semitism, not anything else, which motivated him to be there.

We are pleased to report he was later taken away in handcuffs.

It was right to take out UK Jihadists

The news that two so-called British "Jihadists" or criminals as they really should be called has been welcomed by most people. These two "men" were part of a movement that has been committing murder, rape and genocide on an unprecedented scale in modern times. Their individual crimes will probably never be known in full but we do know what ISIS has been up to in both Syria and Iraq.

They get no sympathy from me or any decent people in this or any other country.

You may recall an organisation called CAGE, the ones who had the audacity to try and claim mass murder "Jihadi John" was a nice man whilst John Ress of the mis-named Stop the War Coalition and Marxist organisation Counterfire sat chairing their blatant nonsense.

CAGE have been at it again.

In a press release the Islamist organisation states:

London - CAGE condemns the extra judicial killing of Britons Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin.
The strike marks a new milestone in the UK’s history. It is particularly pertinent in the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta.....

“The UK government has not released a legal justification for the killing of two British nationals in Syria. This may violate safeguards put in place to assess how soon someone is about to make an attack. We question whether Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin posed a “continued imminent threat”.

These two men were part of a gang that has committed untold crimes and CAGE has the audacity to question whether they were a threat.

Not a word (as usual) about the victims of ISIS, many thousands of whom continue to suffer from the brutality of the actions of men like these two.

Anyone who joins ISIS is a threat not just to us but the ordinary Syrian and Iraqi men and women that suffer at their hands.

The anti-imperialist brigade continue to oppose proper intervention in Syria and in one of the daftest tweets I have ever seen from a member of parliament Diane Abbot writes:

I remain strongly opposed to military intervention in Syria. It is only a matter of time before civilians are hurt.

Excuse me? Has Ms Abbot not noticed a war has been raging in Syria for some years now with estimates of deaths ranging from 120,000 to 450,00 already?

Who are these refugees we see in Europe fleeing from exactly?

It's certainly not the West as the left tries to pretend. It's not just ISIS, there's also Assad's forces but have we seen a single demonstration from these comrades calling for an end to this war?

Not one.

Yet tomorrow the anti-imperialists will be on the streets attacking the Israeli Prime Minister who only acted to stop Hamas rockets being fired at his civilian population.

Their silence on acting against the real murderers of ISIS, Assad, Hamas and Hezbollah in the Middle East is a disgrace.

These people are not anti-war at all.

And just remember who is Chair of the Stop the War Campaign, involved in the self righteous Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Jeremy Corbyn.

The BBC reported:

Jeremy Corbyn attended a conference after the Iraq war that called on Iraqis to engage in "military struggle" against coalition forces, the BBC's Panorama programme has learned.

Some 179 British soldiers, who were part of the coalition, died in Iraq.

Mr Corbyn, who is tipped to be the next Labour leader, attended the event on behalf of the Stop the War Coalition....

Its 2003 conclusions committed the conference to support "resistance against the occupation forces with all legitimate means, including military struggle".

At the time, Mr Corbyn was on Stop the War's steering committee.

In a mealy mouthed response his supporters retorted:

"As for the the Cairo conference, it was a separate organisation from StWC. Publication of its statement does not mean StWC endorsement of it.

Bit like them saying his comments on Hamas" being his friends was apparently "taken out of context".

Far too many excuses comrades.

The left is not to be trusted.

Demand Asylum for Fauzia Ilyas in the Netherlands now!

Press Release:

Ms Fauzia Ilyas, who founded Atheist & Agnostic Alliance Pakistan (AAAP) affiliated to the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, has been forced to flee to the Netherlands after a Lahore court initiated criminal proceedings under Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy law and issued an arrest warrant. Her ex-husband has custody of her 8 year old daughter because she had left Islam.

Fauzia’s colleague, A. Gilani, who is the current spokesperson for AAAP, is also in hiding in Pakistan.

Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain urges the Dutch government to grant Fauzia protection. Her life and freedom are at risk if she were to be returned to Pakistan.

Moreover, the Pakistani government must end the persecution of those exercising their freedom of expression and belief. There is no place for blasphemy laws in this day and age.

Follow this and related issues at: http://ex-muslim.org.uk/

Return of the far-left

   

The rise of Jeremy Corbyn has led to a revival of sorts for the various far-left groups and activists that have been inhabiting the fringes of British politics since their fall back in the eighties when Labour finally saw sense and kicked out the Militant Tendency, dropped the outdated Clause 4 section of their constitution and went on to win, that's right win three consecutive general elections under Tony Blair.

Now I can't say I agreed with everything that Blair and his government did and was heavily involved in strike action against Alistair Darlings policies in the civil service. That said over-all Labour had become of age and was once again fit for government.

However the far-left have begun to rise once again and threaten not just the future of the Labour Party but the survival of a democratic left of centre opposition in British politics for a decade or more under Jeremy Corbyn.

I dare say Corbyn doesn't see things that way. He even says  that he has no intention of deposing sitting MP's. Just like he says he "can't remember" meeting certain unsavoury figures in the Islamist world or thinks that some of these people are "friends". Of course he excuses himself by saying he's being diplomatic.

Those close to him say he's a "nice bloke". Irrelevant if you oppose his politics. My main concern that he is beyond naive and having never had any major role in government or opposition has spent too much time in left-wing circles where the comrades live in an ideological bubble.

His views on defence are untenable (see previous post) as is his stance on international issues.



However his supporters are not so generous. I have previously reported the view of the Alliance for Workers Liberty (a small Trot group) that purges should take place. These were of course dismissed. A further report of a Unite official talking about such purges was said to "not be the unions policy" when challenged.

Now the sinister Socialist Action group is entering the fray. An organisation that almost denies it's own existence despite having a website and organised membership. These people were Ken Livingstone's "Lieutenants" when he ran London. Now they are lining up behind Corbyn.

Some like Simon Fletcher are said to be "ex-members" but even so will be well versed in the same political tactics used by Socialist Action.

 One former SA member Atma Singh told the Sunday Times that:

...the groups Trotskyist agenda would be "very dangerous" for Britain and no member should be allowed such a powerful position in Labour.

Just as a reminder Socialist Action is one two affiliates in the UK of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International, a world wide organisation of Trotsky's modern day followers and committed to revolutionary politics and the establishment of what they call Communism. Hence their symbol is the Hammer & Sickle with an added number 4 to distinguish them from the Stalinist currents that also still exist.

Of course such niceties are not always followed. Inside the Labour Party there there is an organisation called the Labour Representation Committee. The LRC is is a right old mix of old fashioned Labour "lefts", Trots and non Labour supporters including the pro-North Korean New Communist Party.

Talk of "mandatory reselection" by Corbinstas such as Jon Lansman who t has set up a "company" to "process internal Labour information" is a further sign that the left intend having a purge whether Corbyn wants one or not.

I get the impression Corbyn will be a very weak leader. He's full of (useless) rhetoric but actually has little of substance to offer. The comrades of the far-left will simply walk all over him and like Chamberlain will wave a "piece of paper".

The fall of the the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism world wide should have ended this pretentious nonsense years ago but like the Islamists they find common ground with on international issues they are stuck in a time warp.

Labour cannot be abandoned to these people.

The far-left contains some very unpleasant individuals. Fighting back will be rough but if we are to both have a credible opposition party and remove the Tories from power then stand up and be counted we must.

Time to intervene against ISIS to end the humanitarian crisis.

They say "a picture is worth a thousand words" and in the case of the poor Syrian child lying drowned on a beach in Turkey this becomes  not only accurate, but a "game changer". The attitudes of so many people both here and across Europe have changed. The crisis in Syria and it's human cost can no longer be ignored.

The civil war in Syria has been going on for so long and been overshadowed by the rise of ISIS in both that country and Iraq that nightly reports have numbed us to the extent of the humanitarian crisis that it all seemed so far away until now.

And yet Europe remains paralysed in it's response.

The immediate need is to ensure the physical safety of those who have arrived on our shores, the second and more complex problem is what to do about the root cause of the crisis that has sent people in their thousands across the ocean.

One post I saw on a Labour Party forum suggested that the bombing of Syria was the cause and that the West should not intervene this way. I would concur only in the fact that bombing alone will not spread the poison that is ISIS and their criminal gang who have driven so many to flee as they murder, rape and enslave their way across the Levant.

There is a need to intervene on the ground sooner rather than later to end the threat of ISIS.

The Russians have intervened, albeit to support their client Assad. The Business Insider reports

Russia is providing “serious” training and logistical support to the Syrian army, Vladimir Putin has said, in the first public confirmation of the depth of Russia’s involvement in Syria's civil war.

Commenting on reports that Russian combat troops have been deployed to Syria, the Russian president said discussion of direct military intervention is “so far premature,” but did not rule out that such a step could be taken in future.

Meanwhile the anti-imperialist brigade as represented by the misnamed Stop the War Coalition have not said a word about Russia's involvement, despite constantly telling the democratic West to not intervene. This blatant hypocrisy is now of more concern as the Chair of the StWC is a certain Jeremy Corbyn who looks like becoming leader of the Labour Party and has said quite clearly that he "cannot envision any circumstances in  which he would send British troops abroad".

Remember the StWC contains some of the worst elements of the so-called "left" who refused to condemn the Russian invasion of Crimea, the continuing Russian aggression in Ukraine and support the terrorist group Hamas despite their genocidal anti-Semitic leanings.

The softness of of the StWC on ISIS was so worrying their main leader, ex-Trot Lyndsey German even started off one of her Blog rants with a denial that she or the StWC were in any way supporters of ISIS. I have no idea why any of us should have gained that impression....

The focus of the Stoppers and let's be frank the Corbinistas now on the rise in Labour, has always been on the democratic West and it being to blame for everything bad in the world as if Islamism was only a reaction to "imperialism". 

In many ways their ideological outlook is inherently racist as the anti-imperialists cannot accept that history does not start with the rise of Western imperialism and totally ignore the imperialism of Islamism which erupted from the Arabian peninsula 1500 years ago and imposed their way of life on indigenous peoples across North Africa and the Middle East, now claiming these are "Muslim lands". they were not then and the Christians, Yazadi's, Jews and other non-Muslims have suffered ever since.

Non-Muslims are facing genocide as part of ISIS as are Muslims that don't think like them. Add to that barbaric dictators such as Assad and we see a completely different picture to that painted by the anti-imperialists.

If we are serious about solving the refugee crisis then the roots of the conflict must be tackled. The first step must be to deal with ISIS. The Anti-imperialist/Corbinistas should be ignored. They are not only too soft on dictators and terrorists their attitudes would leave not just the current refugees but us at risk from would be aggressors.

The so-called left cannot be trusted. Corbyn is not fit for government. It is the stoppers that must stop and be stopped.

The world must intervene now even if it does mean putting troops on the ground. There is no alternative, only the cowards and appeasers will try to prevent this.

Act Now! Poland: Stop sackings and union busting at port

Cross-post from LabourStart



Maciek Konopka has been sacked from his job at Deepwater Container Terminal (DCT) in Gdansk. Why? Ostensibly because he's a committed and active trade union leader. It's the latest in a line of union-busting actions by management including intimidation, threats of dismissal, and nine other workers being forced to leave.

Despite the growth of the NSZZ Solidarnosc union, management has repeatedly failed to adequately address members' concerns over important issues including pay, temporary contracts, meaningful negotiation and holiday working. It also brought in a legal firm to handle negotiations with the union over a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) which has ground progress to a halt.

Management employs workers on rolling temporary employment contracts seemingly to maximise a culture of fear and job insecurity.

Please help us to tell management, board members and investors at DCT Gdansk to reinstate Maciek Konopka and that dismissals and other anti-union activity must stop. DCT needs to come to the table and negotiate directly with the union in good faith over a collective bargaining agreement that will raise standards at the terminal.

Please sign this appeal: http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=2818

Chuka Umunna is wrong. Corbyns politics are not Labour principles

There's still two weeks to go before the final result of the Labour leadership election is known. The moderates and modernisers of the party are in disarray for the most part, except for Liz Kendal who alone has stuck to her clear alternative vision for Labour in the 21st Century.

Former favourite to be leader of the Labour Party Cuka Umunna has already raised the white flag in the face of the rise the Corbinistas. The Guardian reports:

Chuka Umunna, a leading Labour moderniser, has urged his wing of the party to work with a Jeremy Corbyn leadership and not to make the mistake of giving the impression that electability requires the party to ditch its principles.

Umunna’s remarks are likely to be taken as an olive branch, if not a white flag, to the Corbyn side although there may also be a calculation that if Corbyn, the clear frontrunner, is to fail, Umunna’s wing of the party must not have done anything to make it responsible.

A white flag indeed.

Corbyn will fail regardless of what the modernisers will do or not do because he will never be and frankly never should be Prime Minister. He will lead Labour to electoral disaster and we the working people will suffer the consequences of another unfettered Tory government. Already the Tories are way ahead in the polls because of the self-inflicted wounds Labour has placed upon itself.

Nick Cohen writing in the Spectator has wise words for Mr Umunna:

Chuka, baby, don’t you get it? The far left will blame you whatever you do, if they don’t purge you first. The excuses are already prepared. However loyal Labour politicians are, however toothless and servile, failure will be their fault (and the media’s fault, I should add). The far left never takes responsibility for its defeats. It can never admit that its ideas are wrong and alliances with Islamists and Putinists repellent. The failure of the true faith is always the fault of the heretics, and never of the godly.

I do not and will never accept that the Marxist, anti-imperialist brigade of anti-Western appeasers can ever be trusted. Their support for dictators, unsavoury regimes and groups regardless of their being undemocratic, homophobic, misogynistic,anti-Semitic or down right genocidal so long as they oppose the our democratic way of life is appalling.

To me the far-left and Corbyn do not have core Labour values.

To raise the white flag of surrender is not acceptable. 

Power in politics within democracy relies on compromise with those who do not and will never agree with every dot and comma of the "programme" these people would implement, which is why the far left is not and will never be democratic.

They always impose and oppress.

Fine words on some issues appealing to the poor and the downtrodden are just smoke and mirrors for a dangerous and intolerant ideology.

Thank goodness Umunna did not become leader of the Labour party.

There can be no surrender of democratic values to the far left.

That includes the foolish Jeremy Corbyn who would appease and leave us defenceless in a hostile world.

The modernisers and moderates within the Labour and trade union movement need to regroup, rethink and start the fightback against this vicious tendency that in society is such a minority but has been allowed to hijack Labour.

Failure to take back the Labour Party is not an option. 

Unite against the extremists now.

Cultural Interlude: Harp Twins - Camille and Kennerly

A "cultural interlude"? What next you may well ask!

One of my favourite all time tunes is Don't Fear the Reaper by the Blue Oyster Cult and whilst you can never beat the original, this take by the Harp Twins is beautiful.

Never heard of them. Me neither but came across these two by accident of You Tube and just had to share.

Normal blogging will resume tomorrow, so just enjoy a wee bit of culture for a moment!