To be delighted that Keir Starmer has already managed to get rid of the horror show that is Rebecca Long Bailey.

[lemonsandlimes123]

I wondered why he appointed her in the first place. Glad to see he has managed to ditch her pronto. Shame he can't do the same with Rayner.

I think he's going to be a great leader.

Very encouraging. I bet Keir was delighted to have the opportunity to fire her.

Still amazed you can get to be on the shadow cabinet when you call women’s protest groups hate groups and endorse rapists being put in women’s jails and call those who disagree bigots.

But if anti Semitism is always the canary in the coal mine on the way down maybe it will be on the way up as well iyswim. Maybe by the end of the year Labour will remember what women are as well 🤞

He asked her to step down according to the newspapers. Doesn't sound like he sacked her so not sure how decisive he was.

That’s just the way they do it when you’re important enough. It’s like like when partners in law firms are ‘asked to step down’ by their firms when they have conduct claims made against them. It means ‘go quietly now without causing a fuss, or we’ll push you’.

What did she do that was anti-semitic, out of interest?

Oh behave.

This is why I would never give anything to Amnesty in any shape or form.

And Peake’s statement, endorsed by Long-Bailey, is antisemitic because it blames Jews for a problem that is not their fault

Hang on, I thought conflating Israel with all Jewish people was in itself anti-Semitism?

I'm no RLB fan but Israel is definitely not a country that should be sacrosanct from criticism.

He comes across as a decisive man though. Not like Johnson. I don’t know what Tory ministers need to do to get sacked but there certainly on a long leash.

If you lived next to both Johnson would be the problem neighbour with undisciplined kids. Cummings would spend so much time there you’d speculate which one he’s shagging......

The conservatives need to remember they only got in because Corbyn was unelectable.

Blaming Israel for the criminal actions of an American policemen is not legitimate criticism of Israel. Especially, when the claim being made has no evidence to back it up.

I genuinely don’t understand.

MPeake claimed that US police officers had received training in certain restraint techniques in Israel. This may, or may not, be true.

How is this anti-Semitic? What’s the link to the Jewish religion?

If someone says that the French government does something, it’s not taken as a slur against Catholicism (is it?)

Genuine question, I’m on a steep learning curve here.

No respect for Starmer after his grovelling to the Marxist rioters

As a Lab voter I'm just so delighted Starmer is taking immediate decisive action on anti-semitism.

Good.

However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.(IHRA)
So if organisations like Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations are calling out the behaviour and tactics used by the Israeli Military and Special Forces on a regular basis are they being antisemitic as well? I'm kind of with Watchagotcha on the thinking here, If they had been trained by the KGB would people be saying that's anti-Russian or would they be wondering why they are getting training from an organisation with a historically bad reputation?

I was very heartened by Keir Starmar today. Labour finally has a leader who will take decisive action. Anti-semitism has no place in a major political party. We finally have an opposition that's fit for the purpose, and hopefully they'll be fit to oust the Tories from government

Posted too soon. I meant, hopefully they'll be fit to oust this Tory government come through next election.

Yes, very heartened! Come on Kier, we need strong opposition more than ever right now.

It's not enough though!

This is excellent news.

Today, the hard Left fringe found out that they really have lost control of the Labour Party, and that the adults are now firmly back in charge. Starmer means business. He is serious about winning, and he knows that Labour can only win from the centre-left.

Hadn't heard about this, but absolutely sounds anti-semitic and incredibly childish at that.

@PotholeParadise
Hadn't heard about this, but absolutely sounds anti-semitic

Why is it anti-Semitic? Not disagreeing, just seeking to understand.

Criticising the state of Israel for specific and provable human rights abuses that they have perpetrated is not-anti Semitic, and should be done.

Accusing Israel of being involved in some shadowy, easily disproved, conspiracy to teach basic brutality to American police officers is not fine.

There is a long history in the West of blaming any number of evils on shadowy cabals of Jewish manipulators who are secretly running the world stage. It’s a very old and very common anti-Semitic trope. Maxine Peak’s article is just one more in a long line of examples.

Criticising the state of Israel for specific and provable human rights abuses that they have perpetrated is not-anti Semitic, and should be done. Accusing Israel of being involved in some shadowy, easily disproved, conspiracy to teach basic brutality to American police officers is not fine.

This.

But she wasn't sacked for promoting the article, she was sacked for refusing to take it down- first when the board fo deputies asked her to and then when Keir Starmer instruted her to.

From RLB's own twitter:

after posting I was subsequently instructed to take both this agreed clarification and my original retweet down. I could not do this in good conscience without the issuing of a press statement of clarification.

[quote Watchagotcha]@PotholeParadise
Hadn't heard about this, but absolutely sounds anti-semitic

Why is it anti-Semitic? Not disagreeing, just seeking to understand.[/quote]
We've got a very clear crime (murder) here, and we know exactly who did it (some US police officers).

And yet, we have a distraction here. It's a without citation or detail so it's a smear and basically irrelevant and yet it is being brought up. That usually demonstrates that the person speaking is biased in favour of the person who committed the crime (so a pro US police force slant) or has a chip against the group they're bringing up, and so think they're at fault for everything. Context normally tells you which.

Substituting different names and groups into the example sentence makes this rhetorical technique clearer.

1. "The tactics used by 12 year old Jonny, kneeling on Jane's neck, that was learnt from violent films at Jane's house."

That's shifting the blame to Jane or Jane's parents.

2. "The tactics used by the policewoman in America, kneeling on George Floyd's neck, that was learnt from seminars given by men."

If you said that, you'd be called a "man-hating harpy who didn't think women should take responsibility for anything".

3. She said: "The tactics used by the police in America, kneeling on George Floyd's neck, that was learnt from seminars with the Lizard people who have infiltrated police forces."

Agenda about lizard people. Assumes lizard people are at fault for everything.

y'all know that Starmer's wife & kids are Jewish, yes?

I mean, close relation hasn't stopped Trump from tolerating and encouraging anti-semitism, but we hope Trump is a one off. I would sure think very low of Starmer if he did same.

that said... I'm reading RLB's twitter & the story & I think she was treated harshly. Doesn't affect me in any way what happens. I don't think Starmer had an easy position to be in. I'm not begrudging RLB either.

At least Labour is looking like a credible opposition party again
Well, that made me laugh The only people who think Labour looks credible are the people who thought all their problems began and ended with Corbyn.
We have possibly the worst Tory government in living memory, who have overseen tens of thousands of deaths and Labour is still destined to be in perpetual opposition.

I don't think he had a choice, because they haven't acted on anti semitism in the past they have to be extra cautious now. Also, if he didn't sack her it would be the only thing Boris Johnson mentioned in pmqs till the end of time.