Julie Birchill on why the press has been fairly quiet on Eric Joyce

[TheYellowOfTheEgg]

She pulls no punches in this article on the Eric Joyce and why the media hasn't gone for him. She's right that we hadn't heard much about how bad the stuff he was looking at was.

www.spiked-online.com/2020/08/12/the-silence-of-the-hacks/

@Clymene

India Knight is choosing to live in a house with her child and a man who who watches babies being raped for kicks.

She deserves everything Burchill throws at her.

A former MP (with a criminal record of multiples assaults and drink driving and the HoC highest claimant in the expenses scandal) has been charged with having child rape images of the very worst category and has received a suspended sentence. There should be an outcry.

It's incredibly sinister.

Great post. As usual.

Amazing and eye opening article.

I agree. For reasons we can only speculate about, the writers we would normally expect to be all over this are either not willing to touch it or can't get an article published. (Honorary mention for Julie Bindel who's been tweeting about it.)

If Julie Burchill were the kind of person who gave a shit, or who held back for fear of upsetting people, then she wouldn't have written about this in the first place. When Julie's on the case you can't pick out the 'nice' bits, you get the whole package. I think we're lucky to have her.

Oh and yes Burchill and Bindel are friends who get on well

There was an good thread on Twitter about all the cool GC women who are called Helen. Julie is clearly another. I hate the Karen meme obvs but it’s drawn from a well of attitudes to older women with a mouth on them. I tend to like those kinds of women.

I'm not quibbling about her tone or having a pop at her. I'm saying that I didn't know that India Knight was in a relationship with the subject of the piece, and the article didn't explain that, so I found it confusing.

One of the significant reasons men get away with being disgustingly abusive arseholes and sexual deviants is because they do not face enough oppobrium for their crimes. If you think JB should have toned it down a bit, you are part of that, imo, and should reflect.

Shame is due a fucking big comeback around this sort of thing. Jaysus, the culture cancels people for having the wrong opinion, but we get squeamish about judging a paedophile and his loyal wife too harshly? Bullshit.

@MindTheMinotaur

Making images usually means downloading and therefore creating a copy, I think.

Ah...got it. This man is an ex army officer I think. Has a conviction for a serious assault on another man too.

It seems to be saying that because the police were polite, stopping her wasn't racially motivated, and that it was reasonable to stop her because the car was registered as coming from out of town. Like that is an acceptable reason to stop a car.
Off the subject of the thread, and I haven't read the Dawn Butler article, but just to mention that I'm a white middle-aged woman, and I was stopped a couple of years ago, as my car was registered as coming from out of town. I was surprised at the time.

Julie Burchill is spot on in that article. As she has been for her entire career. I've loved her since I was about 15, and I'm 48 now.

Eric Joyce absolutely should be in prison for his crimes, and the media should be clamouring for his head on a spike, tbh. I mean, that's the point of having free speech, isn't it? - that we can freely denounce disgusting, immoral, shameful, harmful, repellant behaviour and not fear reprisals? And try to stop that behaviour happening again?

I cannot believe the media silence over this.

India Knight is choosing to live in a house with her child and a man who who watches babies being raped for kicks.
I am shocked, and just don't understand this. If the offence had only just been uncovered, I could perhaps give IK the benefit of the doubt (in that "be kind" way into which I've been socialised). Maybe she was still in deep shock.

However, the offence actually took place some time ago, so she had plenty of time to come to terms with it and to move out.

Some of the commentators on that piece are obviously confsuing Julie Burchil with Julie Bindel.

Shame is due a fucking big comeback around this sort of thing. Jaysus, the culture cancels people for having the wrong opinion, but we get squeamish about judging a paedophile and his loyal wife too harshly? Bullshit.

👆🏼

How old is IK’s daughter? Would social services step in to protect her? How can IK remain with this man?

I think the daughter's 16, so she would have been 14 when he was charged.

There is a petition online to increase his sentence, depressingly only around 600 ppl have signed it.

@Floisme

I agree. For reasons we can only speculate about, the writers we would normally expect to be all over this are either not willing to touch it or can't get an article published. (Honorary mention for Julie Bindel who's been tweeting about it.)

If Julie Burchill were the kind of person who gave a shit, or who held back for fear of upsetting people, then she wouldn't have written about this in the first place. When Julie's on the case you can't pick out the 'nice' bits, you get the whole package. I think we're lucky to have her.

It's common in my experience that people who say the things that need to be said, that no one else is saying, can be real asshats.

Sometimes they do go too far, and that needs to be said. But we should keep in mind that there are good reasons to make sure those people have a voice.

Thank you @BaronEssoStation - that's very kind of you.

Incidentally, Knight's daughter has DiGeorge syndrome so is significantly more vulnerable than your average 16 year old girl

Yes, in fact I think there's a case for arguing that only an asshat would have the gumption and the wherewithal to cut through all the .... well whatever it is that's holding the others back.

to asshats everywhere.

Soz - another x post!

Nobody is having a "pop" at Julie Burchill. They are just saying by stooping to tabloid levels and making it childish and spiteful she is distracting from the real issues.

Its the sort of things second rate politicians do, or someone like Trump who are able to but forward a coherent arguement so they just point a finger and say ooh look at this nasty person.

This issue is too important for someone's teenage tantrums. But it is of course disgraceful that no one in the media is covering it.

And as far as I know Julie Burchill doesn't define herself as a feminist, or hasn't for some time. So her writing about someone is not so much a good feminist article but someone who has found an issue then can use to further some personal vendetta.

@KittiesInsane

I'm not quibbling about her tone or having a pop at her. I'm saying that I didn't know that India Knight was in a relationship with the subject of the piece, and the article didn't explain that, so I found it confusing.

This. I read the whole thing trying to work out what it had to do with India Knight. It was a terrible piece, and a complete hatchet job. Also, there's a false argument here: She rants on that India Knight is a terrible journalist/columnist who only has the works he has because of her stepfather/ ex husband but doesn't actually say how this translates to the lack of coverage regarding Joyce. It was bitter and unnecessary.

Also, having subsequently gone to do some digging as the whole thing made so little sense to me, I think the tweet she quotes is misrepresented in the story. JB quotes it as:
‘Quickly want to say that whatever happened happened nearly two years ago. It was horrible for it to become public last week, but I have had two years’ worth of incredible help and support, and am fine" Then goes on to make a sarcastic comment.

The actual tweet said:
"Back now. Quickly want to say that whatever happened happened nearly two years ago. It was horrible for it to become public last week, but I have had two years’ worth of incredible help and support, and am fine. I just felt ashamed, but then really – why should I? So. Onwards."

The comment re feeling ashamed is, I think, crucial. It's not clear whether or not she's still in a relationship with Joyce, but it's clear that she understands the behaviour isn't okay.

The fact that Joyce's behaviour is not more well known or publicised is, I completely agree, scandalous. It's clear he's behaved badly on multiple occasions, culminating in this discovery re child pornography, but her article does not in any way give us any real sense of why this is, instead it focuses entirely on ripping IK's character and her journalism apart.

Incidentally, just because IK is wealthy, successful, well connected etc, doesn't necessarily change her understanding of what it means not to be white in the UK. Her articles may not be for everyone, but there are a lot of people who enjoy them. I don't always agree with her and find some of her columns boring, but I read most of them. Columnists are there to get people to read them reliably as a brand and she certainly achieves that for her employer.

No need to donate to Spiked online, IMO, btw. It's owned by the Koch brothers. I'm glad Spiked publish Julie Burchill - and that article is fantastic - but much of the rest of it is pretty awful (though they are usually good on GC stuff).

And as far as I know Julie Burchill doesn't define herself as a feminist, or hasn't for some time. So her writing about someone is not so much a good feminist article but someone who has found an issue then can use to further some personal vendetta

I'm really not seeing your point about Julie Burchill not being a feminist or her article not being "a good feminist article". So what?

Julie Burchill has identified an issue and written about. Andrew Doyle and Douglas Murray do the same. I sometimes see criticism on here of them, particularly Murray , that they aren't feminists / don't view things from a feminist perspective- which I personally think is weird- not every argument has to be "feminist" to be valid.

Bling, I thought the piece made it clear that Julie Birchill reckons Eric Joyce has been protected by the media and has not had the full works from the commentariat because of his relationship with IK - she has friends and contacts among the usual people who would be gunning for him or at least asking Qs about his sentence.

His relationship with IK was used in court by the defence to mitigate sentence - now has the love of a good woman, m'lud, happy family life, support to prevent reoffending, yadda yadda.

It is a mystery why IK has not left him.

@tiktok

No need to donate to Spiked online, IMO, btw. It's owned by the Koch brothers. I'm glad Spiked publish Julie Burchill - and that article is fantastic - but much of the rest of it is pretty awful (though they are usually good on GC stuff).

Pretty awful- in your opinion.