Boris Johnson condemned for ‘appalling’ Tory alliance with neo-Nazi and anti-Muslim parties across Europe
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JVL
JVL Introduction
Rob Merrick in the Independent reports on the Tory Party’s links with neo-facist and anti-Muslim parties across Europe.
Lord Balfe, Conservative peer protested to Boris Johnson when the European Conservatives Group in the Council of Europe invited the far-right so-called Democratic Alliance to join them.
For his pains he was kicked out of the group!
Read more below about the extraordinary company the Tories have chosen to keep.
This article was originally published by Independent on Sat 24 Oct 2020. Read the original here.
Boris Johnson condemned for ‘appalling’ Tory alliance with neo-Nazi and anti-Muslim parties across Europe
Exclusive: Tory peer reveals PM has refused to act – because it is ‘a long way away’ and ‘he can’t be on top of everything’
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I notice senior judges are warning of the danger to UK democracy from the Right. All the evidence is pointing that way.
I am not that at all surprised in view of the Tory government passing the Covert Human Intelligence (Sources) Bill and the Overseas Operations Bill. From my point of view, both of them are fascistic, as they keep the appearance of democracy as they were voted in parliament; while at the same time subverting democracy by giving impunity to crimes committed by agents of the State: police, informants, British army members, British intelligence agents. Both Bills set future illegal actions by agents acting from the State (the government really) outside the remit of British Courts of Law. Hence, no that surprised that the Tories are formalising working arrangements with other European fascists.
Absolutely terrifying. It shows how dangerous the situation we are in is – with such extremists having been elected into power here.It is so important to research the facts before you vote. And the importance of a balanced and unbiased honest media is essential for the population to make informed decisions. Thank you to Rob Merrick for bringing these facts to people’s attention. I haven’t heard about this before and as far as I know I haven’t seen it reported on TV news yet.
What is noticeable is the silence of the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Labour Movement and the Campaign Against Anti-semitism. Not a squeak out of them still less daily briefings, tears and the shredding of clothes. No histrionics from Luciana Berger no walking out by Ruth Smeeth in tears. Nothing at all.
Can anyone seriously maintain that the ‘antisemitism’ attacks on Corbyn and the Labour left had anything to do with ‘antisemitism’? If Corbyn, McDonnell had woken up to what was really happening they wouldn’t have done their best to expel as many ‘antisemites’ thus proving that their critics were correct and that Labour really was overrun by antisemitism.
I fear though, judging by Carrie Murphy’s recent article in the Guardian, that they have learnt nothing.
This is a worrying but curious article by Rob Merrick: worrying because what has seemed to have gone under the radar since the beginning of March 2020, as the Pandemic moved centre stage, is that the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (dominated by the UK Tory Party and Poland’s ruling ultra reactionary PiS party) had invited in a new set of groups including AfD in Germany and Salvini’s far-right Italian party, as well as the Freedom Party in Austria, founded back in the 1950s by a former Nazi minister and SS officer.
Other additions are Vlams Belang in Belgium (minor rebrand of Vlaams Blok which dissolved in 2004 after a trial condemned its racism), the far right Danish People’s Party, and the openly racist Conservative People’s Party of Estonia.
After the Tories/PiS the strongest groups in the alliance by representation are Salvini’s then the AFD.
But it’s curious too, since many of the most unsavoury groups represented in it, such as the Bulgarian United Patriots, who every year play a major part in organising a march through Sofia to celebrate a pro-Nazi general during the war who was assassinated by a Jewish anti-fascist partisan, were part of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the Euro Parliament for several years before the link up with additional far right groups.
In recent years none of the mainstream papers/TV news channels/Panorama were prepared to publicise and condemn these actual links because they were so obsessed with trying to link Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour with antisemitism on the flimsiest “evidence”. They allowed the Tories a free pass on their real, formal, ongoing connections with antisemitic, Islamophobic, far right parties.
I wonder if the EHRC will be interested too. Doubt it.
The Tories have been at it with the extreme-right in Europe for years. Nothing new there at all. The rest of “British politics” has quietly permitted this. After all, who wants to fart in church? Or shine a strong light into such dark places?
Tony Greenstein is absolutely right about the strange silence surrounding this affair and the Murphy article.
As for Lord Balfe, he spent years trousering an MEP’s salary and lavish expenses, thanks very much, as a Labour MEP before becoming a turncoat. A great fighter…for Richard Balfe, no less.
There are a number of people MPs in Labour party who should be considering their position. They went along with obvious false accusation of A/S . The object was to destabilise a Corbyn type Government. Corbyn himself should have been much more forceful in challenging these false claims. It was allowed to fester for too long. The likes of Austen, Streeting, Smeeth, Berger, after swearing directly at the elected leader Hodge, who should have been properly challenged and dealt with regardless of threats to sue.
As it was anti-Semitism became a form of McCarthyism. Yes it was in The LP as research revealed, but only small amount. This was often based on ignorance or misunderstanding. It required fairness education rather than what at times appeared to be a gross over reaction resulting in dismissal rather than a measured careful approach regardless of what pressure, the media LBC newspapers including the Guardian , with Opinion writers like Freedland did or indeed wanted. They would just wanted to look for more scalps, by going through old posts and emails to pick up what they considered was an indiscretion or out context comment, or indeed ignorance.
It is funny that all the allegations about A/S in LP have suddenly become rather quiet.