Chuka Ummuna’s 7 Dwarfs Represent a Cancer That Must be Cut Out

Luciana Berger’s Resignation Proves that Wavertree CLP Was Right – Tom Watson Must Go For His Attack on Ordinary Members

We should welcome the fact that Seven Political Pygmies have resigned from the Labour Party.  They will not be missed and hopefully they will not be the last. Their concern about anti-Semitism was demonstrated to be the hypocritical cant it is by the performance of one particularly obnoxious member of the group – pro-privatisation Angela Smith – who spoke about Black people having a ‘funny tinge’.

No one should be surprised. I have been criticised by a few people for calling Chuka Ummuna an Uncle Tom. Some people have even suggested that it is racist.  The dictionary definition is ‘A black person who is overeager to win the approval of whites (as by obsequious behavior or uncritical acceptance of white values and goals) or ‘a person who is overly subservient to or cooperative with authority.’

It is difficult to think of a more apt description of the lugubrious Chuka. Far from being racist, it is a term used by Black anti-racists for collaborators within their own ranks. Chuka Ummuna’s concern about ‘anti-Semitism’ is in marked contrast to his attitude to racism against Black people.  In the Independent last year he wrote:

We can’t attack the racism that may lie behind the Tories’ mistreatment of the Windrush generation when we don’t get our own house in order on hate (my emphasis)

Windrush and ‘hostile environment’ was the quintessential example of British racism – the deportation of Black British citizens happened because and only because they were Black but to Chuka the Tories may be guilty of racism. Chuka and the rest of the 7 abstained (i.e. supported) Theresa May’s 2014 Immigration Act which led directly to the Windrush scandal. The idea that this gaggle of misfits are anti-racist is for the birds.

But we should also be clear that this resignation is, if handled correctly, likely to fizzle out. For one thing the 7 individuals are nonentities without exception. Bill Rodgers, one of the remaining members of the SDP Gang of 4 may have come out in support of the 7 political midgets but that is where the resemblance ends. The resignation of the Gang of 4 in 1981 represented a significant section of the Labour Party.  David Owen was a former Foreign Secretary, Roy Jenkins was a former Deputy Leader and Home Secretary, Shirley Williams was a former Education Minister.  The current crop represent nothing.  They entirely lack any gravitas or base.  

Their most prominent member, Chuka Ummuna was caught out in 2013 on an elite social networking club ASmallWorld complaining that

‘Most of the West End haunts seem to be full of trash and C-list wannabes, while other places that should know better opt for the cheesy vibe. The millionaire former lawyer then called for recommendations for "a trash-free, decent night".

This antisemitic cartoon attacking George Soros was created by Yair Netanyahu

Trash is an apt description, not only for Chuka Ummuna but the whole group. They represent the interests of capital within Labour. It can do nothing but good that these vipers have voluntarily quit. However for every snake that left, there are plenty that remain – Joan Ryan, Ian Austin, Wes Streeting, Margaret Hodge, Ruth Smeeth, Peter Kyle, Gareth Snell, John Mann, Keith Starmer, Hilary Benn – the list is almost endless.

We should consider the 7 Dwarfs as merely a down payment. There are plenty more who will do their utmost to sabotage Labour’s chances at the General Election unless they are removed now.

However Corbyn and his advisers, Seamus Milne in particular, bear a lot of the blame. They have allowed the anti-Semitism smear campaign and the nonsense that the Labour Party is an institutionally anti-Semitic party to take hold.

Their continued silence as these attacks mount is demoralising and counter-productive.  The campaign won’t go away.  Those who thought by adopting the IHRA that they had bought peace were, as we said, mistaken. The purpose of the anti-Semitism smears is the removal of Corbyn and it is only his own sullen stupidity that fails to recognise what it is really about.

It isn’t too late, even now, to take this bull by the horns and say loud and clear that the Labour Party is not overrun by anti-Semitism and that the idea that Labour is institutionally anti-Semitic is an utter nonsense, nothing more than a crude attempt by racists to acts as parasites on the recommendations of the MacPherson Inquiry. It is about Israel, opposition to Zionism as the insistence by Zionist groups on the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism proves.

Anti-Semitism in Britain is not institutionalised.  There is no Jewish equivalent to Windrush, young Jews are not languishing in gaols, Jews are not the victims of police violence, stop and search or threats of deportation.  Jews are not economically discriminated against. Anti-Semitism in Britain is a marginal prejudice and the most prejudiced are Tory papers who featured Ed Miliband, the Jewish leader of the Labour Party’s inability to eat a bacon sandwich or who indulge in anti-Semitic attacks on George Soros.

Anti-Semitism has been weaponised internationally.  Those who are observant will have noticed that Trump devoted 17 minutes of his State of the Union address to demonising refugees as criminal and drug dealers and yet, he also condemned anti-Semitism despite being an anti-Semite.  For example Trump’s final campaign ad flashed images of three prominent Jewish financial figures: Lloyd Bankfein, Janet Yellen and George Soros accompanied by allusions to those pulling the levers of financial power.

Why else have the Tories and the Tory press embraced the ‘anti-Semitism’ narrative? If anti-Semitism was really a strong force would the Daily Mail and Sun really oppose it?  Why would papers that employed Katie Hopkins whose views on refugees were that they were vermin suddenly take umbrage about anti-Semitism?

The real disappointment about the resignation of Chuka Ummuna, Luciana Berger et al is that so few have gone. If Corbyn had not been such an idiot and believed that he could appease the majority of the PLP he would have embraced Open Selection at the last Labour Party conference.  As it is flocks of the rats are still in the PLP. Unfortunately Corbyn bottled it and Len McLuskey betrayed his union mandate to oppose Open Selection.

However there is one villain who is still trying to make capital out of what has happened.  Tom Watson it was who wanted Wavertree Labour Party to be suspended because Luciana Berger was the subject of a no-confidence motion. Those who had no confidence in her have been utterly vindicated.  Tom Watson, who has every quality of a dog except loyalty, should be given the boot.  There is a pressing need for Corbyn to have a loyal Deputy and for someone from the Left, like Clive Lewis, Richard Burgon or the excellent Chris Williamson from standing for Deputy Leader at the next Labour Party conference.  Watson pledged loyalty to Corbyn when he was elected. He has demonstrated that he has all the grace of a viper.

Events are proving that Corbyn’s strategy of appeasing the Right is disintegrating.  The Blairite Right were never appeasable because they are loyal to capitalism and the British state’s alliance with the United States. That is what the opposition to ‘anti-Semitism’ means.  It is about Israel and British support for the United States’s rabid guard dog in the Middle East.  It is about support for the world’s only apartheid state and NATO. 

At this very moment Israel is holding a general election.  Over 5 million Palestinians, who have lived under occupation for over half a century will have no vote.  They live under a police state, subject to a different legal regime, military law, from Jewish settlers who occupy the same area.  How can anyone pretend that such a situation is not apartheid? And the situation in Israel pre-1948 is little better for the Palestinians, many of whom have been deprived of the vote.

The idea that this crisis is about ‘anti-Semitism’ is demonstrable nonsense. The Tory Party is in alliance with genuinely anti-Semitic parties, the Swedish Democrats, Poland’s Law and Justice Party and Latvia’s Fatherland and Freedom Party in the European Parliament. Yet we hear not a bleat about this and it is testimony to the uselessness of Seamus Milne and Corbyn’s advisers that they say absolutely nothing about this just as they never sought to challenge the false anti-Semitism campaign.  Instead they allow this nonsense to wash over them and flattered the Zionist leaders of Britain’s Jewish community rather than calling them out for the reactionaries they are.

It also has to be said that Corbyn has not exactly triumphed over Brexit.  It should be clear that Brexit is welcomed, above all, by the far-Right in Europe and the United States.  It is a project of neo-fascists, nationalists and chauvinists including of course Trump and the alt-Right.  Rather than ‘respect’ the referendum Labour should be committed to overturning it with a new referendum.  This would have the added advantage of removing one prop of Chuka and friends. No one voted to make themselves poorer but that will be and already is the result of Brexit.  Instead of Diane Abbott mouthing nonsense about respecting the referendum vote Labour should be talking about reversing the decision to leave the EU.

All in all unless Corbyn rises to the challenge and gives a firm indication that he is capable, in Lord Salisbury’s words, of the ‘smack of firm government’ his time as leader is limited. There is no message coming out from the Leader of the Labour Party. Corbyn needs to go on the offensive and bury the false ‘anti-Semitism’ narrative and put forward now a bold programme on housing, nationalisation and Europe. Otherwise Theresa May will succeed if only because of Corbyn’s lethargy and inactivity.  Above all he should stop apologising for what he hasn’t done.

Meanwhile we should encourage more right-wingers to resign and thus ensure that we get deselection by default.  One good piece of news is that the poisonous Campaigns Officer of the Jewish Labour Movement Adam Langleben has resigned. Clearly every cloud has a silver lining.

Tony Greenstein

In Office But Not in Power – Jeremy Corbyn seems to have become Tom Watson’s Understudy

Luciana Berger is not a victim of abuse – she is a racist Zionist and a manipulator Corbyn should Stop Appeasing his Enemies and start Defending his Friends

In a report Rebel Labour MPs set to quit party and form centre group in the Guardian on February 2^nd we learnt that

‘three of the MPs widely rumoured to be involved in the plans for an initial breakaway – Angela Smith, Chris Leslie and Luciana Berger – refused to be drawn into talk of a split, and insisted they were focused on opposing Brexit. But they did not deny that moves could be made by the spring or early summer.’

Unsurprisingly, given that she was unable to bring herself to say that she supported the Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister and given that her name has been repeatedly associated with talk of a split, coupled with her refusal to deny these allegations, members of Wavertree Labour Party decided that they would go about initiating the process of finding a socialist to become their next MP.

Two members of Wavertree therefore decided to submit motions of no confidence in an MP who prefers Theresa May to Jeremy Corbyn.

Luciana Berger despite having been Director of Labour Friends of Israel for 3 years prior to becoming an MP and who is currently Parliamentary Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, which is the ‘sister party’ of the racist Israeli Labour Party, working closely with the Israeli Embassy, she has managed to portray herself as the victim of abuse and anti-Semitism.

Berger has been the recipient of three verifiable anti-Semitic attacks on social media, the perpetrators of which have been gaoled. Most anti-fascists to say nothing of Black and Asian people find themselves on the receiving end of far worse fascist and racist abuse without being portrayed as media heroes or receiving police protection.

What Tom Watson is saying is that someone threatening to split the Labour Party should be immune from criticism - and Corbyn doesn't have the bottle to slap Watson down

Any anti-Semitic abuse is to be condemned but it is noticeable that the Labour MP who has been on the receiving end of thousands of racially abusive messages, Diane Abbott, is also the target of media vilification and abuse, such as that which she received from Fiona Bruce on Question Time.

Given Berger’s inability to demonstrate an ounce of loyalty to him, Corbyn’s support for her is a remarkably stupid and self-defeating act of cowardice. According to the Guardian ‘A no-confidence motion in Berger was withdrawn following pressure from an evidently panicked leader’s office.’ Hapless and hopeless are just some of the adjectives that come to mind. The most obvious question to ask is whether or not Corbyn wants to be Prime Minister?

Luciana Berger has spent her lifetime playing the victim card.  She resigned from the National Union of Students Executive in 2005 ‘because of a continued apathy within the National Union of Students to Jewish student suffering.’ One thing is clear.  Unlike her victims Luciana Berger has never suffered anything.

All this was the cue for Tom Watson to call for the suspension of Liverpool Wavertree CLP. He alleged that Berger ‘was being “bullied” and that local members were “bringing our party into disrepute". Since when is a party exercising its democratic rights ‘bullying’?  According to Watson, despite Jennie Formby saying that ‘there was no constitutional basis’ for such a suspension, Watson told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that individuals were being investigated and that there were "grounds for suspension".

What is the crime that is being alleged. A party member ‘branded Ms Berger a "disruptive Zionist".’ How is that anti-Semitic? The Labour Friends of Israel and JLM are overtly Zionist groups.  Can anyone seriously deny that Ms Berger is disruptive and disloyal to the Labour Party?  Where is the offence in telling the truth?

Naturally the right-wing in the PLP gathered round Berger like flies around a honey pot. Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth told Sky News that “I’m such a big fan of Luciana Berger," Given her rank disloyalty to Corbyn the obvious question is why Ashworth hasn’t been given responsibility for garbage disposal since he clearly has a considerable amount of his own to get rid of.

According to Ashworth “She’s stood up against anti-Semitism her whole political life, she’s got my full support.’ That is precisely what she has not done.  She has stood up for Israel all her life.  Not once has she condemned any aspect of Israel’s harsh rule over the Palestinians.  Not one word of criticism was uttered when last summer Israeli snipers casually dispatched hundreds of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators to their deaths. The woman is a racist warmonger.

Luciana Berger is an obnoxious, whinging, self-pitying narcissist who should have been removed from the Labour Party years ago.

‘Luciana Berger is an obnoxious, whinging, self-pitying narcissist’

Naturally war criminal, Tony Blair, leapt to her defence, describing Berger’s treatment as “shameful”. Blair declared that “I think what Tom’s saying is absolutely right, I back him 100% on it,”. Which is proof that Corbyn should have slapped Watson down.

All of this is happening because Corbyn didn’t stand up to the false allegations of anti-Semitism when they were first made. Many of them were made against himself.  Instead, thanks to the useless advice of his Stalinist advisors, in particular Seamus Milne, Corbyn has repeatedly apologised thus adding fuel to the Zionist fire.

The first rule in politics is that the best form of defence is attack. Instead of attacking the shameful record of support for Israel of his detractors he allowed them to get the upper hand. Every time he apologised they came back for more.

To make matters worse Corbyn played ‘me too’ when Theresa May adopted the IHRA ‘definition’ of anti-Semitism. That too came back to bite him when he had bothered to actually read the thing. Instead of seeking to strengthen the Left in the PLP Corbyn has surrounded himself with rattlesnakes like Watson who should have been challenged for the Deputy Leadership last year.

Berger has been one of the main proponents of the false anti-Semitism smears which led to my expulsion and that of other Jewish anti-Zionists.  To them ‘anti-Semitism’ is support for the Palestinians and opposition to the world’s most racist state.

According to Berger ‘"My values remain the same as they did when I was first elected.’ That is precisely the problem. Her values are no different from the Tories.

In Labour investigates Liverpool members over 'bullying' of Luciana Berger Tom Watson told the Andrew Marr show that Corbyn had “made it clear these things are not done in his name” and they “are not helping him, they are harming the reputation of the Labour party”. If true then it is almost as if Corbyn has a death wish.

It was an article of faith when the Labour Left was led by Tony Benn that constituency parties should have the right to deselect their MPs.  This retreat from basic principles, following his opposition to Open Selection at the last conference are part of a disastrous policy of appeasement.

Unfortunately instead of learning the lesson that most antisemitism allegations are fake and abusive Owen Jones engages in a pathetic bout of  special pleading

Owen Jones is bitten by the very same dogs he set on others

The irony is that Owen Jones, who has falsely accused others of 'anti-Semitism' was himself falsely accused by Rachel Riley - McCarthyist witchhunts have a habit of devouring their own

Naturally Owen Jones, ever the opportunist, joined in. Writing in the Guardian this super ego opined that ‘Whatever Luciana Berger’s politics, Labour members must stand with her against antisemitism’. Luciana Berger isn’t under attack because she is Jewish but because she is a reactionary, racist member of the JLM and a paid up member of the Israel lobby. According to this media tart, Berger ‘not only deserves solidarity, but requires it’. In other words this peripatetic member of the Left believes Berger should be given a free pass to attack Corbyn and help split the Labour Party.

Idiot Rachel Riley, the latest expert on 'antisemitism' says 'I don't look like a typical Jew'!! One wonders what a typical Jew looks like?  Big nose? Fagin? Antisemitism has always been the reverse side of the coin of Zionism. 

The irony is that Owen Jones, who has disgracefully attacked people like Jackie Walker, the recipient of vile racist abuse, has in turn been accused of anti-Semitism by Rachel Riley.  Protesting his innocence he pointed to how he himself had made false accusations rather than drawing the conclusion that if he was falsely accused then so have others. Why is Owen Jones helping to subvert Corbyn?

Naturally Jon Lansman, Momentum’s fuhrer, tweeted his “solidarity” with Berger, saying: “Whether you agree with her politics or not, whether you think she is the best possible MP for her constituency or not, she’s suffered appalling abuse. Must we always agree with people to show solidarity?” Nearly all this so-called abuse is from people outraged at her support for the real abuse that Palestinians suffer at the hands of her Israeli friends. But since Lansman is a Zionist that is of no concern to him either.

Corbyn’s Days Are Numbered

It is becoming increasingly difficult to see Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister.  He seems determined to destroy his own position, lurching from crisis to crisis. Instead of using his advantages such as the 2017 election gains, to turn the tables on the Right he has defended them at every turn.  Even today, when as implacable enemy as Luciana Berger is being held to account by her own party, instead of defending their democratic right to do so Corbyn’s unnamed advisers (Milne, Fisher) urge the party to pull back. 

Coupled with his hopeless position on Brexit when it is clear that the majority of Labour Party members want a second referendum and when it is equally clear that Brexit will be an economic and political disaster, Corbyn acts like a sullen child, digs his feet in whilst refusing to articulate any coherent position.  Trapped as he is by the legacy of the British Communist  Party’s socialism in one country i.e. economic nationalism.

To paraphrase John Donne’ ‘don’t ask for whom the bell tolls it tolls for thee’. It is the lack of any criticism by Corbyn supporters, many of whom believe adulation in itself will enable him to set foot in Number. 10 that is driving Labour into a cul-de-sac which will lead to Corbyn’s resignation and a Tory victory at the polls.  The time to change direction is becoming shorter and shorter.

Tony Greenstein