Kneeling is not enough
Published
by
Richard Kuper
JVL Introduction
Aneesa Akbar is a Labour councillor for Central Ward in Hull and a member of Tribune’s advisory board. She is currently a candidate for Momentum’s National Coordinating Group (NCG).
In this important article published in Tribune she explains why, as a BAME Labour member, she feels deeply let down by the Labour Party.
It really is time for Labour to wake up!
This article was originally published by Tribune on Tue 9 Jun 2020. Read the original here.
Kneeling is not enough
Two months on from the leaked Labour report and its revelations of racism, no-one has been suspended – even pending investigation. For BAME Labour members, kneeling is not enough.
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Must say that picture of those two is ridiculous. It will be wheeled out to haunt them for years.
Sad to say that you’re likely to wait forever for the “justice “ yo refer to. Now the labour party’s job is to maintain the status quo for the “establishment “ and give the people the illusion of an opposition. I have seen all the don’t leave organise but don’t see how they can change matters. After leaving labour I considered joining momentum but apparently you have to be a Labour Party member. I cannot bring myself to giving money to Labour Party parasites.
Thank you Aneesa for a thoughtful and powerful piece. It is hard to see a transformation in Britain without the Labour Party supporting it. Each will contribute in their best way. I appreciate your and every other activist speaking out and organising within the Labour Party to support the shift needed.
Stomach-turning hypocrisy from the ethics-free zone of the labour leadership.
Well said. I thought the photo opportunity by Kier Starmer and Angela Rayner was embarrassing. Without robust action about the wrongs revealed in the report, and much else, it looks too easy and insincere.
I found the picture of Keir Starmer, kneeling in splendid isolation, distasteful, particularly in light of the leaked report exposing the racism of some in the higher echelons of the Party and him doing nothing about it.
The revelation that we could have won the 2017 election, if we hadn’t been betrayed by a self entitled, anti democratic cabal, felt like a punch in the gut to anyone who’d been out leafletting, knocking on doors and getting out the vote. The racist and sexist behaviour is no less shocking. Had it not been for the election the report would presumably have gone to the NEC for approval and action, but at the moment it’s a leaked internal document with no legal status. I don’t see that Starmer – who knows rather more about the law than most of us – had any choice but to launch an inquiry to validate the findings before taking action, and can’t now comment without prejudicing the outcome. It’s due to report in July. Wait to see what he does then before passing judgement?
This was stomach-churningly patronising and an attempt to capitalise on legitimate anger. Most people see right through it. But the person who will be most harmed by this will be Angela Rayner and not Starmer. He is ‘an operator’. Anything he does will be understood as ‘necessary pragmatism’. Rayner will be blamed.
Starmer said the overthrow of Colston’s statue was “completely wrong” — there is nothing equivocal about that.
I feel let down by every party. Have we seen worldwide mixed-gender protests against continued financial disparity – despite idecades of illegality; unequal chances of professional success; daily murders and assaults; and worlwide endemic misogyny? NO WE HAVE NOT.
I react to the image of Starmer and Raynor kneeling – what a very comfortable carpet! – much as I do to images of Boris Johnson applauding the NHS: debasing a cause through meaningless gestures when they actually have the power to do something useful.