Horus

The reds have got no money but we'll still be top 6 in the league

Holocaust survivor resigns from “McCarthyite” Labour Party https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/holocaust-survivor-resigns-from-mccarthyite-labour-party/ JVL introduction As a young boy, Stephen Kapos was separated from his Jewish parents in war-torn Budapest. Hiding in children’s homes on false papers, he was in constant danger of being discovered by the Hungarian fascists of the Arrow Cross. Last week, he was billed to speak about his experiences as a child survivor at a Holocaust Memorial Day event. Three days beforehand, he received an email from the London Labour Party warning him that he was likely to be expelled if he took part in the meeting. Their reason? It was organised by a proscribed group, Socialist Labour Network. Stephen decided to resign from the Labour Party in protest at its McCarthyite clampdown on free speech. He had been a member since the 1990s. On Sunday’s ‘Not the Andrew Marr Show’ Stephen spoke to Crispin Flintoff about his feelings towards Labour and read out his resignation letter. We are pleased to share below the video of their discussion and to reproduce the text of his letter. 26th January 2023 Dear London General, Thank you for your emailed letter of the 24th of January giving me advance warning that I am likely to be expelled from the Party if I were to speak from the panel as a Holocaust survivor at the SLN (Socialist Labour Network) Webinar on the 27th January — on Holocaust Memorial Day. The Holocaust is the most important single example of genocide, which at its worst descended into an industrial process of mass murder of millions. As a child survivor and one of the fewer and fewer still living direct witnesses to the Holocaust I feel a compelling duty to bear witness and speak out about it at any platform that would invite me and to any audience ready to listen. I am an activist for Palestinian human rights and an active member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in its Camden Branch. The defence of Palestinians living under a brutal occupation is very important to me, particularly as a Holocaust survivor. Palestinians live under a system of apartheid as recognised by Amnesty International and other major human rights organisations. Those are my political beliefs which I claim are protected characteristics under the Equalities Act 2010. I am not a member of SLN nor have I been following its activities, but via the book to be discussed on the 27th I have a general understanding of SLN’s views on present-day Zionism (as a political movement ) and on some of the actions of the Zionist movement during the Holocaust and WWII. I am in sympathy with some of those views on the grounds of my political beliefs mentioned above. I have personal experience of the Kastner project in Hungary which was driven by Zionist ideology. My father was a victim of Kastner’s scheme and ended up stranded in the Belsen and Theresienstadt concentration camps. I was myself briefly interned in a Kastner-run detention camp in Budapest. You make mention of Labour Party values. I learnt about Labour values during my party activism in the period when Frank Dobson was our MP and I worked in a warm and friendly atmosphere prominently on various election campaigns. Those values were very different to that of the present leadership whose values permit intimidation, banning of discussion of some of the most vital political topics, disregard for the Party’s own rules, and for natural justice, the drastic reduction of inner party democracy, extreme factionalism, lack of support for striking workers. I do not share these values. Please accept my immediate resignation from the Labour Party effective from tomorrow, ie from the 27th of January 2023. (Your attempt to effectively bar me from speaking about the Holocaust on Holocaust Memorial Day was the last straw for me ) In the short term the Tories are self destructing which may well bring the Labour Party into government soon. In the long term this period of the Party’s history will be remembered with shame: this was when McCarthyism was revived and imported into the Labour Party — and into the political life of the UK itself. Yours sincerely, Stephen Kapos Copies to : Sir Keir Starmer MP The Secretary, Holborn & St. Pancras CLP

That's because Jews have never previously been targeted, investigated, sanctioned, and kicked out (for anti Semitism of all things), ever before.

What policies has he implemented to change it? More Jews are being suspended daily under Starmer, than any other lab leader in history, so what changes has he made to the policies of a lifelong anti-racist who counter protested neo-nazi's on the streets in Jewish neighbourhoods? I understand the desperation for a lab government, even a centre/centre right one, but I don't understand the acceptance or cheerleading of Starmer continually lying about everything. The man literally believes in nothing but power in a Johnsonian way.

I know you said no rap, but this song is a crazy story that you have to listen all the way through

Is Badiel a member, by any chance?!

ory cunt.

They wouldn't at all. You think someone offering to nationalise energy companies and to tax the wealthy more would be struggling at the moment? Corbyn got boo'd on ITV when he mentioned the poor in 19, and now everyone realises just how perilously close to that point most of the country is. It's all moot anyway as he's being forced out of labour for the temerity of offering a different way to organise society, in a way that builds up, rather than trickles down. I like JC, but I liked his policies more, so it's not even about the person.

I was highlighting the fact that how people see things is absolutely part of politics, and that not everything can be seen through right wing or left wing playbooks. I get where you were coming from, though, and that's maybe a fair point. Tories have completely imploded., We're not far from the point where KS could say he was going to put a trans person or Meghan in charge of every single child in the country, and middle england would still vote labour. He doesn't have to get involved in this discussion in any way. People wrap immigration and asylum up in the same banners, so when you pander to one, you're pandering to all. If he needed to impress voters, offer them a glimpse that things might change for the better, not that we basically agree with what they're doing, but we won't have the scandals, and we'll be ever so much more polite. So Starmer - lied his smug arse off about what he actually believed in the lab leader contest, forced the party into a disastrous 2nd ref policy on brexit, which had a massive impact in 19 (a brexit election) which he has also since abandoned. As tories have been putting authoritarian laws into place around protesting etc, Starmer made labour abstain continuously, so again, a difference of opinion on who/what he is is natural, but his only policy proposal thus far was reducing business rates (just after covid). We have Reeves saying lab will be tougher on benefits than the tories, so if these really are labour leaders, and I'm not saying your opinion is incorrect, please explain any progressive ideal that starmer stands for? Oh, and that you can absolutely hand on heart say he will follow through on. He wants more private investment in the NHS, and he has abandoned nurses as well as other workers, so if he's not a tory, he's doing a pretty good impression of one, for a man who called himself a socialist in his election.

Do you think that giving tax breaks to corporations/billionaires would be seen as right wing policy by people who vote for politicians that declare that's what they want to do, or do you think it would be seen as common sense policy to enable job creators to create jobs, by the people that vote for it?

Pointing out the policy. is politically accurate, Get them out now is red meat for a specific section of the electorate and is no more that performative bollocks that panders to the rw press in my opinion - you're welcome to see it differently.

There is already a 21 days to leave policy that exists now. Pretty sure the problems at the moment stem from the fact the government purposefully have reduced their abilty to process, so focussing on the "get them out" is performative.

But the whole of Galahad England gave a fuck just 3 short years ago. Anti Semitism was plastered everywhere. O'Brien called labour the party of Holocaust denial. I agree that no one really gave a fuck, and it was to smear socialism as much as Corbyn, and now they have a compliant, establishment, "centrist" in charge,, the need to tackle AS has disappeared.

Can you expand on this, please? What truth hurts, exactly?

The fact they are even making this part of their strategy, shows exactly who they are trying to appeal to.

Pretty sure it would have been in all the rags, I just wasn't prepared to give clicks to those sites, Labour attacking the tories from the right, is the exact same reason that Starmer is generally not being targeted with anti Semitism bollocks by those same rags. Starmer has expelled more Jews from the party than all previous labour leaders combined, so there is actually a story there, unlike JC was was flat out lied about.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/rachel-reeves-immigrant-suella-braverman-b2195904.html Labour urges Suella Braverman to ramp up asylum seeker deportations https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/rachel-reeves-labour-chancellor-deportations-b2196077.html Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves calls for deportations to be ramped up

The story being that you don't follow politics as closely as you think?

Labour have already attacked the Tories from the right on this issue. What are you missing?

I won't be voting labour because I don't vote for right wing parties, but if it was going to be close, I'd probably hold my nose for a marginal incrementation.

Laimer to Bayern is already sorted.

Not reading through the whole thread, but have the labour files documentaries been posted in here?

I agree, but the threat of socialists (corbyn increased party membership by 200k) voting for a left wing party rather than centre right labour, might force them into a different approach. Labs love affair with tory voters will be over as soon as the election happens.

Corbyn needs to start his own proper socialist party. Labour will romp the next election on the back of how bad the tories are, without offering a single shred of hope that things can ever be better. Labour needs to start working with the left to offer solutions, and the that can only be achieved if labour fear holding on to power for a 2nd term. Being a tory cover band won'impress anyone after the election as tories will flock home to the real thing.