Starmer faces backlash from some NEC members over the leaked report
JVL Introduction
Labour’s leaked report revealed that some party officials had been sending extraordinarily racist, sexist and otherwise abusive messages.
Last week Labour’s press office provided a statement to journalists covering the story, defending the comments.
It described criticism as “po-faced” and said: “These were messages exchanged between co-workers in the expectation that they would remain private and confidential and the tone of the language used reflects that.”
Just imagine if such a defence were offered to an allegation of antisemitism?
Take the MacPherson approach seriously: record the allegations and investigate them as hate crimes. Whether they are or not is to be determined by the evidence, not by who shouts loudest or who is friends with whom.
It is not encouraging when those in charge of ensuring these appalling messages are investigated have decided in advance they were just harmless fun.
This article was originally published by the Independent on Sat 4 Jul 2020. Read the original here.
Keir Starmer faces backlash from Labour’s ruling committee after party defends ‘racist, sexist and abusive’ WhatsApp messages
Statement prepared by party lawyers said criticism was ‘po-faced’ and that officials had an expectation of privacy
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I can’t help wondering whether these party lawyers are the same (or have any relationship with) the anonymous party lawyers on the GLU who send out Notices of Investigation to Labour left wingers critical of Israel, including Jewish party members such as George Wilders and Jo Bird?
They certainly seem to have a conservative political agenda, in making such aggressive remarks in defence of obvious racism and sexism.
It also makes one wonder about previous links
with the Labour bureaucrats being ‘investigated’.
It sounds to me that at least some of the members of staff in the press office issuing this statement – and indeed the lawyers that provided it – must be used to using language similar (in private) to the appalling stuff in the WhatsApp groups. Why else would they think such behaviour so routine?
Ok a lot of people are nasty and its sad that its an integral part of the human race. Getting accused of been snowflakes and thin skinned. Statements like get a grip its not serious. Where though do we say enough is enough? The labour party are supposed to be better than that. The people responsible need to be held accountable. Enough is enough..
Just trying to brush things under the carpet. Predicable.
I despair over this racist Party led by Keir Starmer and am disgusted with his belittling of Black Lives Matter.
I think it is worth posting a link to the Open Democracy article by Peter Oborne, Justin Schlosberg and Richard Sanders, referred to above. It shows that those in the LP office responsible for all this abuse and plotting are fighting back hard:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/were-labours-antisemitism-failures-really-corbyns-fault/
“We take these matters extremely seriously.”
This is one of those phrases which immediately set off my internal bullshit alarm.
The other principal contenders are: “Customer safety is our first priority”; and “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims at this difficult time.”
When Trump talked privately about “grabbing pussies” he tried to shrug off accusations of misogyny by referring to “locker-room talk”. This defence was rightly dismissed by people on the left. Now what do we see? Labour Party officials adopting exactly the same approach to these vile messages. But worse, in that the term “po-faced” suggests that anyone with a sense of humour would not make a fuss. Disgraceful!
Perhaps the leadership need someone to point out the similarity of the Press Office’s statement to the explanation of Trump’s words about grabbing women by the ….. as “locker room talk”.
Starmer has so far failed in his duty to cleanse his Augean stables.
Someone should warn Keir Starmer: Once you lose your moral compass you will eventually end up drowning in a bog.
“Dianne Abbott should be put in a box” I recall was suggested in the “private” banter. This jumped straight out at me when I read it. I grew up in East London and suggesting someone should be “put in a box” meant one thing only. Maybe I’m reading too much into such a comment, but given the the vicious, unrelenting and ignorant purge of anyone who has dared to utter anything on social media which can remotely construed as anti-Semitic, why should this mob be given the right of privacy, or the benefit of the doubt?
if these comments were about antisemitism imagine the fury and outrage.
I was told , nothing on line is private, especially social media, it could be there forever. Think on opposition front bench. Some of you , grow up!
yes this is one of the important issues to be dealt with in that report – there are many – and until they are dealt with I will continue to be as vocal as I can be
I await to hear the outcome of the inquiry into the leaked labour report in which some awful comments have been reported to have been said about others with whom they disagreed with such disrespect,such arrogance.Do we really want that sort of behaviour in the Labour party.Should it be ignored,brushed away.Not in my book.we must keep speaking out,highlighting the truth.
There is nothing unconscious about Starmer’s bias against the Palestinians and their supporters…whether simply through cynically grovelling to the Zionist lobby or through genuine desire to see the Palestinians ethnically cleansed. I trust the results of this enquiry will be made public…
Remind me why RBL was sacked … Oh! yes re-tweeting a part antisemitic post from one of her own constituents, which she took down … so WHY are these staff members still in post when confirmed antisemitic, racist and threatening posts have been proven in the report???