Starmer stabs anothe Black female Labour candidate in the back

[IwantToRetire]

“I think the Labour Party… needs to be a broad church - from what I can see that’s happening, that’s becoming more difficult”

Faiza Shaheen, who was set to stand for Labour, says her candidacy was pulled over liking a series of Tweets which she claims Labour said would frustrate its campaign

Interview on newsnight shorty after learning she has been deselected.https://x.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1795942561258889318

It seems someone has been going through candidates tweet accounts going back years, even before they were officially part of Labour.

If these tweets were so awful how come they were ever chosen as candidates in the first place.

She had spend the afternoon canvassing with the support of the local party. https://www.faizashaheen.co.uk/

You know how you get those people who live in the countryside and whine constantly about church bells, smelly cow mature, not being able to get deliveries, tractors, lack of public transport, lack of street lighting etc.?

It’s actually just as silly when people do it the other way round—ie, they live in a bloody enormous city like London and expect areas like Brent to consist mostly of low-rise semis and parking, and get upset at the idea of tall buildings there or at the idea that most people should be using public transport and bikes/feet most of the time in such dense environments. I’m looking at Brent on the map; it’s pretty central, and if London were like any other European city, the need for more tall buildings and more restrictions on cars in an area like this would have been accepted some time ago. The resistance to doing this in the UK is part of the reason why the UK has the world’s worst housing crisis.

Sarah Chaney, one of the lead organisers in Faiza’s campaign, told the Echo that she felt “crushed” by the deselection.

“I gave two years of my life [into the campaign]; I put every weekend, every evening into it because Faiza is someone I genuinely believe in. I’ve voted Labour my entire adult life. I grew up in a Labour household. I’m very disappointed.”

Sarah said how she volunteered to take a prominent role in organising the campaign after a paid Labour staffer was unexplainedly moved to work on another candidate’s campaign when Faiza was seven-and-a-half months pregnant.

Sarah continued: “The thing that really strikes me [about the deselection] is the lack of humanity; the inability to understand that these are real people’s lives; Faiza’s life; mine; all the hundreds of people who came out today to support her who have spent the last two years hoping for a better life in Chingford and Woodford Green – and that’s just been snatched away from us.”

Local mums Melissa Hernandez and Thami Fahmy, both women of colour, said they saw themselves in Faiza, and described her as a “fresh of breath air”.

Melissa said she thought the act of deselecting Faiza meant Labour had given away the seat to Iain Duncan Smith. She said: “Labour have handed it to the Tories. Just two days ago I was telling my friend group we need to get the Tories out and vote Labour. But Labour are making it so hard to vote for them.”

Thami, who said she would not vote for Labour, added: “If they keep people like Faiza and Diane out of Labour, what does it mean for our communities? Who is this Labour [Party] for?”

https://walthamforestecho.co.uk/2024/06/01/labour-have-handed-it-to-the-tories-hundreds-show-support-for-faiza-shaheen-at-highams-park-rally/

The UK Labour Party has announced that Shama Tatler will run as candidate for the London seat of Chingford and Woodford Green, following its sudden blocking of former candidate Faiza Shaheen.

Tatler is a councillor in the London Borough of Brent and a member of the Jewish Labour Movement, a pro-Israel organisation affiliated with the World Zionist Organization.

According to Shaheen, the posts in question were criticising Israel’s actions in Gaza, and so were viewed by the party as “damaging Labour’s electoral chances”. The academic was presented with a dossier of her alleged "anti-Israel" social media activities, some dating back to 2014, which included liking a post featuring a Daily Show sketch on the "Israel lobby" by Jewish comedian Jon Stewart.

This 'like' reportedly prompted a complain by the Jewish Labour Movement.

Tatler's appointment comes as the party also announced controversial pro-Israel lobbyist Luke Akehurst as their parliamentary candidate for North Durham.

https://www.newarab.com/news/uk-labour-replaces-faiza-shaheen-member-pro-israel-jlm

I'm absolutely appalled by the way Faiza Shaheen has been treated by the Labour Party. She didn't do anything wrong. She is not anti-semitic, and in fact has made community cohesion a mission, meeting a local rabbi and other faith representatives.
Basically, the current right-wing Labour Party (not even centre anymore) wanted her out because she's a true socialist. They were just waiting for an excuse. Waiting to pounce.
The double standards are insane. Other candidates who tweeted openly and obviously racist things allowed to stand because their face fits.
It's a disgrace. I'm voting Green.
A great deal of ignorance on this thread - willful or otherwise.

#jewsdontcount being shown in technicolour all over this thread.

A great deal of ignorance on this thread - willful or otherwise

Ironic.

BTW which Labour candidates have "tweeted openly and obviously racist things" and are being allowed to stand? This must have passed me by.

Quite! The Momentum Left conducted their own purges a few years ago when many sitting, experienced MPs were ousted in favour of Corbynites - many of whom had been amongst the large pool of young people that Corbyn brought with him into the Labour Party when he became leader. They were utterly ruthless, and bullying to boot.

My former Labour MP, a prominent Jewish MP, was bullied out in disgraceful fashion and replaced with a far inferior, less able candidate who was chosen primarily because she was mixed race and a woman - who repeats all of the Corbyn mantras. She's a full on TRA to boot - with the Mermaids logo still on the top of her twitter account.

Thing is - most of the committed ideological Socialists where I live, will not now be voting for Labour - because Starmer is doing whatever he feels he has to do to get elected. Getting elected is 'job done' for Starmer. He is not a conviction politician.

Luke Akehurst for one. A notorious Islamophobe, amongst other things.
He's apparently deleted about 30,000 of his own tweets in recent days.
Faiza Shaheen liked (just liked, didn't even write herself) one tweet. It sounds as though she was actually moreso liking an old John Stewart Daily Show video clip, which was actually pretty balanced. John Stewart is Jewish by the way.

I think that must refer to those Jewish MPs, and others, ( the majority) who support the existence of Israel and/or have an understandable emotional attachment to it.

Ironic

Eh?

You are aware that many Jewish constituents of Faiza Shaheen are amongst her most vocal allies and supporters? There is no evidence whatsoever that Faiza is anti-semitic. None. She supports Palestinian rights, but that's got nothing whatsoever to do with anti-Semitism. I support human rights generally, including Israeli ones.

I'm not Jewish or Muslim. I think both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are equally wrong.

The purge of the left is just a purge of the left because it doesn't suit the centre-right agenda. They were looking for an excuse.

Faiza has very recently given birth. Which makes the treatment of her even more disgusting.

I haven't seen anyone say this.
Jews very much do count. Anti-Semitism is utterly disgusting.
But Faiza Shaheen is not anti-semitic, and has no history of anti-semitism.

Not allowing her to stand because she (possibly accidentally) liked someone else's tweet attached to a video (probably the liked thing) is so ridiculous it would be funny, if it wasn't so serious. But, as explained, that's not the real reason she's been purged. It's because she's a true socialist.

Apart from all that, she apologised for having liked the tweet. That should have been the end of it.

The world has gone bonkers. Tony Blair unapologetically committed war crimes in Iraq and wasn't kicked out of the Labour Party.
A lovely kind woman, caring for a newborn, accidentally liked a tweet, apologised, and is barred. Bonkers bonkers bonkers...

I'm imagining those Jewish supporters are also committed Left wing ideologues, or else idealistic students. That has always been the way. Jewish students, and people in general, have to sign up to being anti Israel to be considered acceptable in Left wing circles.

This has its roots long ago in Russsian anti semitism -whereby the good Jews were those who stayed loyal to communism and to the vision on International Socilaism, and who prioritised this communist identity over their Jewish Identity. Bad Jews became Zionists.

Zionists are subject to all of the familiar anti semitic tropes of old; about lack of loyalty to the cause; caring only about themselves; being outsiders; being colonialists, and generally bad people who do bad things.......

I've just returned from a trip to Krakow ( Poland) and also made a visit to Auschwitz when I was there. Jewish people have been persecuted and exterminated throughout history for wanting to preserve their Jewish identity - and then after the horrors of the Holocaust ( which was a literal and true genocide) for seeking a secure home in the land of their fathers and at the seat of ancient Judaism.

"True socialists" have to be anti Israel; they always have had to be anti Israel - since the 1960's. Beneath this automatic anti Israel stance there lies a deep seam of anti semitism and anti semitic tropes - often with little awareness and therefore unconscious to those who adopt this Socialist rite of passage.

This is why most Socialists deny the anti semitic roots of their anti zionism. They have little background awareness of the long history, and reason, behind the founding of Israel; of the Jewish connections to Jerusalem and to Israel, or to the nature of anti semitic rhetoric throughout history.

A few things here.

I totally disagreed with purges in the momentum days. I'm very left-wing, and voted Labour during the Corbyn era, but I know it was far from perfect. I actually think Jeremy Corbyn himself was very inclusive. It wasn't the case for everyone at that time. Labour needs to be a broad church.

I'm sorry to hear about your former MP. That's terrible. As a former victim of bullying myself, it's something I abhor. It's totally inexcusable, as is anti-semitism.

I do have to say that the purges that took place at that time were of nothing like the scale that we're seeing now in Starmer's Labour. Nothing like. It's authoritarianism and ruthless and very shocking.

In terms of good candidates (re your former MPs successor comment) Faiza Shaheen was just about the best. She was definitely on course for victory. A brilliant woman who has worked tirelessly and almost won the seat in 2019 against all the odds. Keir Starmer canvassed with her and endorsed her, remarking on her greatness. Now he's turned his back on her. It's really terrible.

You're definitely right that he has no conviction.

Much as I like her, based on her performance on Newsnight, I think the decision not to select her was right. She’ll be eaten alive in the H of C

It's a bloody shame because I really wanted to see the eviction of Irritable Duncan Syndrome. Not many Portillo moments this time I fear. This whole thing has been handled so badly. They thought they were being smart leaving it til the last moment so people couldn't fight back. But instead their Empty Suit replacement candidates will struggle. If they'd been honest and done all this say in January it wouldn't look so slimy.

Still hard to see Labour losing. But surely there will be no annihilation of the Tories now. You need to win seats like Chingford for that outcome. And a lot of much safer seats.

I respectfully disagree. She was in shock.

The purges that went on during Corbyn's reign were thoroughly ruthless. I live in a very left wing city - and bullying and intimidation is the defining hallmark of local constituency party politics; always has been. Corbyn stood by and allowed that bullying to happen. He never once stepped in and said " that is not acceptable". That is when I lost faith with him. He simply put ideology above everything - and allowed terrible discrimination to happen on account of that.

I'm not suggesting that purging is a good thing btw - but that this is what happens - and if you play that game then at some point the tables will turn and you'll be purged yourself.

The radical left hate Starmer with a vengeance.

I've just realised this thread is on the feminism board. It came up in active, so I assumed it was the general election board.
As it's the feminism board though, those of you defending Starmer and his cronies and their ruthless purge, may like to know that Neil Coyle MP is allowed to stand in spite of sexual harassment claims made against him, in addition to his having racially abused a British Chinese journalist.

Then Faiza Shaheen is barred from standing for accidentally liking a tweet!

It's like Alice in Wonderland at the moment. Nothing makes sense anymore. I feel the Labour leadership is gaslighting the entire country.

I've not seen this but if this is correct then I agree it's dreadful. The answer to double standards, however, is not to turn a blind eye to both.

Your description of what Faiza Shaheen did, though, is a huge mischaracterisation/ minimisation - see earlier on this thread for details of the gross and blatant antisemitism. Keir Starmer has worked hard to rid the Labour Party of antisemitism post-Corbyn and it was right that he dealt with this in the way that he did. I also agree with a PP that her tweet about the person who has replaced her is graceless and unprofessional and doesn't cast her in a particularly good light.

You don't think it's antisemitic or wrong to like tweets repeating nazi anti jewish propaganda?

She said she ' accidentally liked a tweet' on newsnight, but there were other things she did not address. She was stoking division in the constituency, saying a vote for her was a vote gor Palestine and a vote for IDS was a vote for Israel, praisingvthe Greens and calling Labour Islamophobic, so how was she standing as a Labour candidate?

I have no problem with Starmer purging anti-Semites, Corbynistas and "true Socialists" aka the extreme hard left.

Kinnock and Blair got rid of Militant Tendency and that idiot Corbyn let them back in.

Do you maybe think it is time for the Left to form a new, 'true' socialist party, then? That is what happened when Nigel Farage left the Tories to form UKIP, and latterly Reform? That leaves the Tories and Labour to compete over who can occupy the centre ground.