Have
you heard of Mathew Hopkins? He was the Witchfinder General at the
time of the English Civil War; tasked with proving that the accused
(most of them women) had engaged in a ‘covenant with the devil’.
Methods of investigation included sleep deprivation, cutting the arm
with a blunt knife, and lowering the accused into water. Yes you
guessed it. If you drowned you were innocent!
Witches
were said to have the “Devil’s Mark”, a mole or birthmark. If
lacking these, ‘witch prickers’ were employed to prick the
accused with special needles to find them.
Thank
God we live in better times.
Soon
after Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the UK Labour Party a
right-wing witchunt started under the guise of ‘anti-semitism’.
Jews were not going to escape this and anti-Zionist Jews, Jackie
Walker, David Rosenberg, Tony Greenstein and Moshe Machover (since
reinstated) headed the list. If Einstein were still alive he would
have joined them.
Notably Jews have taken a central and brave role in exposing the connections between Israel and US police forces. Sir Keir Starmer should be advised to put down his witch pricker and read this report from Jewish Voice for Peace
Former
MP Chris Williamson and former London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, were
soon to be added.
What
is the ‘Devil’s Mark’ they all share? They have dared to
criticise the state of Israel and speak up for the Palestinians. Not coincidentally, all of them were
and are actively anti-racist.
Prof Norman Finkelstein, who lost his job at Chicago’s DePaul
university for his ‘anti-semitism’ puts it powerfully about Ken
Livingstone’s expulsion, saying:
"Frankly,
I find that obscene. It’s doubtful these Holocaust-mongers have a
clue what the deportations were, or of the horrors that attended
them. I remember my late mother describing her deportation. She was
in the Warsaw Ghetto. The survivors of the Ghetto Uprising, about
30,000 Jews, were deported to Maijdanek concentration camp. They were
herded into railroad cars. My mother was sitting in the railroad car
next to a woman who had her child. And the woman – I know it will
shock you – the woman suffocated her infant child to death in front
of my mother. She suffocated her child, rather than take her to where
they were going. What
are they doing? Don’t they have any respect for the dead? All these
desiccated Labour apparatchiks, dragging the Nazi holocaust through
the mud for the sake of their petty jostling for power and position.
Have they no shame?
*************************
The
Guardian all but ignored the leaked review showing that Labour's
Blairite officials sabotaged Corbyn's chances at the 2017 general
election. But it gives front page billing to a new Labour report
suggesting that the party needs to swing dramatically rightwards to
win in 2024.
Jonathan
Cook
His
rivals know that Corbyn's egalitarian policy proposals could easily
resonate with Britons of all races, religions and ethnicities. This
is why instead of attacking his ideas and policies, they are
attacking him personally
Tony
Greenstein
With
the destruction of Jeremy Corbyn Northern European social democracy
failed to re-establish itself in the UK. I find it rather troubling
that Keir Starmer seems more interested in suppressing this report
than acting on its alarming findings.
Craig
Murray
I
would like to refer you to Craig Murray’s analysis on the
Labour Party report on anti-semitism complaints. Yes the report that
is being buried by Sir Keir Starmer. This is an abbreviated version.
“With
the destruction of Jeremy Corbyn Northern European social democracy
failed to re-establish itself in the UK. I find it rather troubling
that Keir Starmer seems more interested in suppressing this report
than acting on its alarming findings. The report conclusively refutes
the accusation that delays were occasioned by Jeremy Corbyn or his
office, or that his office displayed any sympathy for anti-semitism.
In fact, the opposite is the case. Corbyn’s office showed a proper
hatred of anti-semitism, but also an alarming willingness to throw
good people under the bus on very flimsy allegations of
anti-semitism.
"Labour HQ was staffed by right wingers so
vehemently anti-Corbyn that they actively wanted the Conservatives to
win elections. Senior members of staff were messaging each other
opposing any increase in corporation tax and opposing
re-nationalisation of the railways as “Trot” policies.
'The case
of the very right wing Gen Secretary, John McTernan, is instructive.
McTernan had taken to writing articles in the Daily Telegraph
praising the Tories and attacking Labour, but the Governance and
Legal Unit of Party HQ refused to take action against him. His
abusive language on Twitter and elsewhere, included describing Labour
MPs who nominated Corbyn as “morons”; tweeting that Corbyn was a
“traitor”; describing “Corbynistas” as racist; calling Corbyn
a “Putin-hugging, terrorist-loving, Trident-hater”; and writing
in the Daily Telegraph that all of Corbyn’s supporters were “online
trolls”.
'Meanwhile left wingers were being thrown out of the
party for having advocated a Green vote years before they joined, or
for calling MPs who supported the Iraq war “warmongers”. The
report makes an overwhelming case that the Governance and Legal Unit
of the Labour Party failed to take action on accusations of
anti-semitism because it was devoting all of its energies to a
factional effort to remove Corbyn supporters from the party.
'These
right wing staff were hoping for Labour electoral defeats in order to
get rid of Corbyn. HQ staff set up another organisation based in
another building, to divert party funds and secretly channel them to
the campaigns of their favoured right wing MPs.
Support for
British military attacks abroad appeared to be the touchstone issue
for who was “in” and who was “out” with Labour Party HQ
staff.
'Corbyn correctly, stated something that had been
unsayable in mainstream UK political discourse – that British
invasions abroad provoke terrorism at home. Labour Party HQ staff
hoped and believed this would sink Corbyn and were actively wishing
Labour to fall in the polls.
"The Labour HQ staff had been
inherited from the Blair years, and factional loyalty and a history
of right wing political activity were much more important in
employment decisions than qualifications or competence.
"The
Governance and Legal Unit, which handled the complaints of
anti-semitism, was staffed by vehemently anti-Corbyn right wingers
and was also useless. The report hints throughout that the failure to
deal with anti-semitic Labour Party members was a deliberate act by
party HQ staff in order to make Corbyn look bad. The report proves
conclusively that allegations of unwarranted interference from
Corbyn’s office to block anti-semitism action are malicious
lies.
"John Ware, a freelance journalist, was hired by the BBC to
make the panorama programme “Is Labour Anti-Semitic” despite his
history of anti-Muslim, and specifically anti-Palestinian,
propaganda.
"Corbyn failed to be sufficiently ruthless in
clearing out the quite extraordinarily right wing Blairites that he
had inherited as Labour Party HQ staff. Corbyn lacked the
ruthlessness required in a leader to spot enemies and be rid of them.
But then, his not being a ruthless bastard is why so many people
flocked to support Corbyn in the first place.
"Corbyn’s tactic
of attempting to appease the media on anti-semitism was never going
to work. The right wing press and TV had no genuine interest in
anti-racism, other than as a tool to prevent the possible election of
a European style social democratic government. Neither the media nor
the Blairites were ever going to reconcile to Corbyn.
"We will
never know what would have happened if he had come out and denounced
the witch-hunt as an attempt to stifle supporters of the
Palestinians, and spoken openly of Israel’s move to apartheid. He
had the nerve to take on the establishment narrative when he stated
that British military invasions cause terrorist blowback at home, and
won public support. Whether a firm line on Palestine and calling out
the witch-hunt would have had a better result than giving way before
unfair attacks, we can never know.”
Craig
Murray's full report is here:
,
NOTE: If only we had more Craig Murrays and Marcus Rashfords. I have known Craig ever since I read "Murder in Samarkand". As a fellow whistleblower, but one who sacrificed much less than he did as a UK Ambassador, I have followed the great work he has done to advance honest politics. I recommend following his work at ...
I
recently wrote a blog with quotes from Richard Horton. You can read
it here. As Editor of The Lancet, one of the world’s most
prestigious medical journals, he has now written an Editorial.(The Lancet, 13 June 2020)
“Racism
is a public health emergency of global concern …Those working in
science, medicine, and public health must be representative of the
societies they seek to help. But more than that, we have a duty to
seek equality as a matter of justice and rights. Anti-racism is a
struggle that everybody must join.” read it Here
I
also wrote recently about the corrupting influence of the honours
system in the charity I co-founded. Here.
Dr
Horton is living and working bravely in the spirit of the Lancet’s radical
tradition and I am delighted that his name with the prefix ‘Dr’ is unlikely to ever be replaced with ‘Sir’.
“This
is a decision that I have had to make and there will be others who
may feel different and would enjoy the attraction of being a Member
of the British Empire and those three letters after their name. But I
feel it would be a betrayal to all of the Africans who have lost
their lives and who have suffered as a result of Empire. Ancestors
would be turning in their graves after how Empire and colonialism had
enslaved them.”
Howard
Gayle, Liverpool FC’s first back player turning down an MBE in
2016.
This
is the moment for toppling statues, both real and metaphoric.
As
co-founder of War Child, a charity with strong music connections, I
appeal to all those connected to the charity and other similar NGO's
who have received 'Empire’ awards, to respect Howard Gayle’s
example and follow John Lennon, who nearly 50 years earlier,
returned his MBE “in protest against Britain’s involvement in the
Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam, and
against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts.”
Politics
with sport, music and humour – doesn’t come stronger!
The
Lancet is one of the best-known medical journals in the world. It was
started in the 1820s by Thomas Wakley. He was involved in the
campaign for parliamentary reform, for an extension of the vote and
the abolition of slavery. Elected an MP in 1835, his maiden speech
was in defence of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. When their freedom was
celebrated Wakley was made the guest of honour. One of his last
campaigns as Editor was against adulteration of foodstuffs.
We could
do with him today, but wait a minute today’s Lancet Editor is
Richard Horton. Here are his three most recent tweets.
I
don’t understand the passivity of my fellow countrymen and
countrywomen. Why are you not more angry? Why are you allowing this
government to orchestrate the deaths of your citizens, your families,
your neighbours? This is a mass delusion. Resist. Resist. Rebel.
We
don’t need satire. We don’t need humour. We don’t need mockery.
We need organisation. We need alternatives. We need rebellion.
Against a government that has fostered corruption, collusion, and
criminality. A government that has presided over the avoidable deaths
of thousands.
Over
40,000 mostly preventable deaths in the UK caused by the most
appalling failure of government. Why aren’t people protesting more?
We are living through a humanitarian catastrophe. And yet no
accountability. Britain feels truly broken.
“If
I asked you what is the most corrupt place on Earth you might tell me
well it’s Afghanistan, maybe Greece, Nigeria, the South of Italy
and I will tell you it’s the UK.” Roberto Saviano, expert on
the criminal dealings of the Italian Mafia.
With
only 83 deaths to date, Cubans are 24 times less likely to contract
Coronavirus than neighbouring Dominicans.
US
Professor of government William Leogrande, has said “The whole
organization of the Cuban healthcare system is to be in close touch with
the population, identify health problems as they emerge, and deal
with them immediately ."
Compare
that to the UK where it would seem that the whole organisation of the
healthcare system is to be in close touch with companies using the
epidemic to grab hold of new business opportunities.
A
good example is Serco, a firm in-line to be awarded a contract for Covid-19 contact
tracing and that has already been awarded contracts for testing centres.
My
personal experience of Serco’s catering skills during an extended
stay in hospital motivated earlier research into the privatisation of the NHS.
In
2019, Serco—the same company whose logo you see on the side of
prison vans—was fined and had to pay £3.7 m in costs to cover an
electronic tagging scandal. The company, along with G4S, was accused of
charging the government for electronically-monitoring people who were
either dead, in jail, or had left the country.
Amongst many other privateers like Richard Branson and Virgin Healthcare, there is technology consulting company Deloitte who
were awarded PPE-sourcing contracts by the Johnson government. They shipped in supplies from Turkey which breached safety
standards and had to be sent back at your and my expense.
Does anyone
else get the feeling that just as "Black Lives Matters" posters
had to be hurriedly prepared for the movement now taking to the
streets, the Johnson government had better prepare
themselves to join Edward Colston.
In
the small park near our flat there is a wildflower meadow, about 8m
square, which is now full of Shasta daisies and poppies.
A
construction company building new apartments nearby wanted to use this
land for their portacabins. There was a public outcry. For many local
people, this park is their “garden”.
In
these pandemic days I like to stop by the meadow and watch it abuzz
with bees. It is unlikely there are beehives in streets just off the
Holloway Road so I suspect these are mason bees. They are as happy as
I am to be here because poppy pollen contains few fungi and the bees
like to line their brick nests with poppy petals.
When
I arrived there yesterday, a young couple were taking photos of their
two-year-old daughter who was sitting among the wild flowers. While
the delighted mum clapped her hands, their daughter scythed her arms
through the poppies. Dad took photos.
Recently,
I signed a petition to keep the portacabins out, and I am ashamed to
say that I did nothing but stare at the destruction these parents
were commemorating. I should have drawn their attention to what they
were doing.
One
day I hope this little girl will come across these photos and explain
to her now-elderly parents that these poppies were for everyone.
On Sunday April 12th Dominic Cummings took a drive to Barnard Castle to 'test his eyes'. Drug company, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has one of its UK production centres there, and two days later on 14th April they signed a letter of
intent to collaborate with the French company, Sanofi, in the development of a
vaccine against the novel coronavirus.
This
brings together two of the world’s largest vaccine companies. Emma
Walmsley, chief executive of GSK, said, “By combining our science
and our technologies, we believe we can help accelerate the global
effort to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.”
Of
course there is no connection between the two events. Read my lips, but I
do know a little about vaccines.
In
1973 when my son,
Ben, was six
months old he was given a triple vaccine for the prevention of
whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus. A few hours after arriving
home he started fitting. My wife and I watched as our baby writhed in
pain, his body jack-knifing.
He was taken to London's University College
Hospital where he was diagnosed with Salaam epilepsy which is
characterised by seizures. The doctors told us that the severity of
these fits can kill or leave an infant severely brain-damaged.
Steroids would have to be used to stop them.
After
24 hours, the fits stopped, but Ben was so weakened by the drugs he
contracted pneumococcal meningitis. He looked dazed, his eyes little
windows into his confusion. He then developed hydrocephalus and was
moved to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. There he had an
operation to fit a Spitz-Holter shunt inside his skull to drain fluid
from his brain to his heart.
Ben’s consultant told us that if he survived, he
would need special care.
Some
years later, my wife met the consultant and when she told him that
Ben was still alive, he told her that he was surprised we hadn’t
sued.
What
had he meant?
In
June 2002 Anthony Barnett wrote in the Observer that
GSK
had admitted that between 1972 and 1974 infants were given
faulty vaccines to prevent whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus.
Thousands of doses had been injected. At the time,
doctors reported that inoculated babies from some of these Glaxo
batches had suffered convulsions.
In
his article Barnett concluded, “Some experts believe that
these Trivax vaccines - which had not passed critical company safety
tests - may have caused permanent brain damage and even fatalities in
young children."
The
Health Minister at the time, Hazel Blears, said, “Unfortunately GSK
no longer have details of the quantities of vaccine or the places
where the vaccine was supplied."
Ten
years later in 2012, GSK pleaded guilty in a US lawsuit to the
promotion of drugs for unapproved use, failure to report safety data,
and kickbacks.
They
agreed a $3 billion settlement because they had illicitly promoted
the anti-depressants Paxil and Wellbutrin. They had failed to report
safety data about the diabetic drug Avandia; the bronchitis drug
Advair; the asthma drug Flovent; cancer drug Zofran; irritable
bowel’s Lotronex, the pain killer Valtrex and migraine treament
drug Imitrex.
The
settlement also covered kick-backs to physicians, false pricing,
underpayment of rebates, payments for ghost-written articles placed
in medical journals and even all-expenses-paid hunting trips,
Cummings’
Barnard Castle drive may have been a test drive for his eyes. My
son’s disabled life may not be connected to the actions of
GlaxoSmithKline. But GSK has proved itself to be guilty of profiting
on blood money.
Do
they have an approved drug for anger management?
