A new wave of independents can save British democracy
JVL Introduction
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, whose weekly column for i is a delight to read, is worried about the state of British democracy.
Here, post-election she reflects on the positives, particularly the emergence of a large number of independent MPs who “cannot be whipped and bullied into voting for government policies or opposition positions”.
So she is rightly contemptuous of those like Stephen Pollard, Jewish Chronicle columnist, who described the victories of those who challenged and defeated the unconditional support in Parliament for Israel as the result of “sectarian voting”, of Muslims “not integrating”.
She also expresses her pleasure at particularly obnoxious Tory MPs who are no longer with us – and her delight at Diane Abbott’s vindication!
RK
This article was originally published by inews on Fri 12 Jul 2024. Read the original here.
In Conversation: a new wave of independents can save British democracy
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“Corbyn was a poor leader with bad judgement”
While that is arguable, what really matters and is top priority for a leader of the LP is that the leader’s policies, formulated by his/her team, are those which give justifiable and fulfilled hope to those at the bottom of the heap, in particular the children and their families now in poverty, without a permanent home, food, warmth and health. Justice introduced to the tax system by realistically setting the tax take from top ‘earners’ eg bonuses to failed CEO’s and execs. of failed water companies, Post Office charlatans and the like. Given the humanity of Corbyn the results of his ‘bad leadership’ would have had such a profound beneficial effect of those in real need. The wealth that a country should strive for is the well-being of its people.
It’s the policies, stupid.
yup, well said.
I am considering forming a SoS group locally(Scrutiny of Starmer). He does remind me a bit of Mosley……. before Cable Street.
Wonderful article! Thank you for writing it as it is.
I am glad that Dianne Abbott was re-elected by her constituents. However, after what she went through – including antisemitism training provided by JLM – and after what many of her long-time comrades including Jeremy Corbyn went through, I would like her to resign from the hijacked Labour Party and lend her support as Independent to Jeremy Corbyn in Parliament.
I do not like this article. I deplore the casual smearing, which is unrelated to the facts, of Jeremy Corbyn as a ‘poor leader with bad judgement’. This is a grossly untrue statement. This smug opinionated rot is so typical of regular columnists and is why I stopped buying the publications in which it appeared.
I agree with most of what Yasmin Alibhai Brown says (as usual). However, had she spent time in Leicester South, she might not have brushed aside comments about sectarian voting so lightly. There was a toxic social media campaign, anonymous leaflets, intimidation and even misogyny (the Green Party candidate was a Moslem woman) in support of the independent winner, whether or not he had anything to do with it.
There is something in John Bowley’s criticism of Ms Alibhai-Brown.
There is a tick-box element to the writing of the latter part of her career, that might go down well at middle-class dinner parties but factually is not much use. She writes of Jews experiencing ‘visceral antisemitism’ – really who and where? In the United States synagogues have been firebombed and Jews targeted but that is by the extreme right, and varies from nation to nation. But Ms Alibhai-Brown is not being specific and instead builds on the current false orthodoxy that anti-Semitism is more likely to be found in equality movements in this country – a particularly foul smear that has helped obscure the homicidal crimes of Israel against Palestinians and their children.
By contrast you can actually name Black victims – often of lethal racism. If Ms Alibhai-Brown wants to invoke Jewish victimhood, she might start with those who have experienced abuse, been driven out of public life for their human rights and equality activism, some of whom are members of JVL. Socio-economic data tells us that many western Jews are doing disproportionately well in comparison to other groups, so when considering victimhood, we should always remember, that class, capitalism and institutional relationship to power are relevant issues. The latter is something of which abused JVL members have frequently suffered from been on the wrong end.