Tuesday 31 May 2016

Terrorists robbing for retirement?

RAF-Logo.svg

Remember the Red Army Faction in the seventies? They're back apparently and according to a report in today's Times are believed to be robbing for their retirement fund:

Three former Baader-Meinhof gang terrorists are suspected of coming out of hiding to carry out armed robberies that have netted them 380,000 Euros towards a "revolutionary retirement plan"

...it is now believed that the three suspects have emerged after 23 years not to bring down capitalism but to fund a nest egg for their retirement. Investigators in Lower Saxony believe that Ernst-Volker Staub, 61, Daniela Klette, 57, and Burkhard Garweg have stolen from security vans and supermarkets in northern Germany over the past seven months.

An ignominious end for a revolutionary group that caught the imagination of a generation of radicals. The RAF were often described as "anarchists" and received support from that milieu despite the fact they actually represented a very brutal strain of Marxism-Leninism and were believed to be sponsored by East Germany during the "Cold War " that dominated political outlooks in the seventies.

The RAF had been founded in 1970 by Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Horst Mahler and Ulrike Meinhof , the latter being a well known German journalist which led to the use of her name in the popular description of the group as the Baader-Meinhoff Gang".

Andreas Baader.jpg Ulrike Meinhof als junge Journalistin (retuschiert).jpg
Photo:By Website                                     

They were responsible for a number of attacks which led to 34 deaths. In essence their philosophy was to force the state to become so oppressive the workers would rise up against capitalism. However German democracy proved strong enough to prevent that along with the fact German Workers were actually amongst the most prosperous in Europe.

Eventually of course they were caught and during their incarceration in Stammheim Prison were found to have "committed suicide". There are a lot of people who think they were actually murdered given the high level of scrutiny they had been kept under.

Conspiracy theorists have had a field day ever since.

Whatever these misguided individuals had fought for their legacy today is simply one of common criminality. 

Nothing more.

Monday 30 May 2016

Bank Holiday Interlude: Eighties Retro



All over sarf London posters have been appearing for a retro eighties pop festival featuring some of the bands and stars from the era. Sounds like good fun and since it's sponsored by Absolute Radio there's maybe a chance we can hear this on wireless? I'll check the schedules closer to the time!

Meanwhile I thought it might be fun to listen to some of those bands on a less than sunny Bank Holiday afternoon.

If you want to go, tickets can be obtained from here: www.letsrocklondon.com

First up: Then Jericho:



Then there's Belinda Carlisle:



And my personal favourite Altered Images with the ever delightful Clare Grogan:





Sunday 29 May 2016

Corbyn's Labour cannot be trusted on anti-Semitism

The news yesterday that Jackie walker the Momentum activist who blamed the Jews for the slave trade had been re-instated by the Labour Party was a shock to those fighting back against the rise of anti-Semitism. The slave trade had many participants including those Africans themselves who helped round up slaves. These included Christians and Muslims as well as others simply motivated by profit.

And frankly since slavery still exists in this world Ms Walker and her defenders should take note of where this is a particular problem across swathes of Muslim controlled Africa and the Middle East. However lets not get facts in the way shall we comrades.

Ken Livingstone remains suspended and has lost his LBC radio programme, though I'm sure the Iranian Clerics Press TV will find him a job....

But one thing more than any other caught my attention today. Readers may remember that the Israeli Labour Party wrote to "comrade" Corbyn about their concerns with regards to anti-Semitism in the ranks of his party. He never replied. The Guardian reports:

Jeremy Corbyn faced fresh criticism over his handling of antisemitism allegations after Labour’s sister party in Israel said it had had no reply to a letter its leader sent to him a month ago expressing dismay and inviting him to Jerusalem to see the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum.

Labour MPs said they were shocked that no response had apparently been sent and added that it was further evidence of the party leadership’s slow and inadequate response to the crisis....

.. Isaac Herzog, leader of the Israeli Labour party, wrote to Corbyn, saying he was “appalled and outraged by the recent instances of anti-semitism by senior Labour party officials in the United Kingdom”.

Yet this man quite happily invites his "friends" in Hamas and Hezbollah to the House of Commons because he says it is necessary for peace. So why no reply or talks with the other side of the conflict Jeremy.

Bias showing again is it?

Meanwhile Jewish party members are hitting back. The website Politics Home reports:

The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), a formal affiliate, hit out after Jackie Walker was reinstated to the party after saying Jews were the “chief financiers of the slave trade”.

The JLM told Politics Home: “Walker repeated an anti-Semitic slur. She showed no contrition.

The outcome of this process shows, once again, that the political rhetoric of zero tolerance on anti-Semitism is not matched by action. This is why we are proposing changes to party rules."

The group is seeking to change Labour’s rules to make it easier to expel and ban members for life if they are found guilty of anti-Semitism.

Remember Corbyn was once involved in an attempt to throw the JLM (then known as Poale Zion) out of the Labour Party.

Corbyn has shown how shallow his words were at the May Day march.

I do not trust Corbyn or his wing of the Labour Party.

No wonder so many Jews are deserting Labour.

Meanwhile Rod Liddle, the Sunday Times journalist remains suspended for daring to raise the widespread presence of anti-Semitism in the Muslim community.

Which it is by the way. The only anti-Semitism I tend to come across these days is from a section of the Muslim community.

And their anti-Zionist allies I should add.

Friday 27 May 2016

Nubia: A forgotten people under threat


Photo: By Sailko - Own work,

For far too long the world has acquiesced to the idea that the Middle East and North Africa are "Muslim lands". The focus of the anti-imperialists began with Arab nationalism and today focuses almost exclusively on the "Palestinian" cause.

The problem is that everyone has forgotten that these lands were inhabited by other peoples long before the warlord Mohammad and his followers broke out of the Arabian peninsula and colonised these lands. The fact is that these lands were also the birthplaces and strongholds of not just the other two "Abrahamic" faiths, Judaism and Christianity but were also homes to other groups of people who still exist today.

Many will be aware of the  historical Turkish/Ottoman genocide committed against the Armenians and Greeks of Anatolia or the continuing struggles of both the Kurds and Yazidis against not just the Islamists of ISIS, but also the modern Turkish state as it too heads towards a full unbridled Islamic agenda.

There are many others, one of which to my shame I was not aware of, that of the Nubians.

There are references to the ancient Nubian civilisation in most books about both ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire but how many are aware not just of their continuing existence but the struggle of the Nubian community to survive in the face of what they themselves describe as "Islamism and Arabisation".

Today there are estimated to  be 1.7 million Nubians primarily living in Sudan but also found in Egypt. These ancient people are under threat from the regimes of both countries neither of which (particularly the Sudan) have due regard for basic human rights, especially when it comes to protecting their "minorities".

There is a website devoted to their cause which contains the following mission statement:

Our mission is to save Nubia from destruction by dams, Arabization, cultural cleansing, marginalization and isolation. We want to educate the people and spread the word around to come and help Nubians to preserve their culture and heritage and draw the world's attention to the dangers facing Nubia and urge the international community to rush to protect the Nubian archaeology and antiquities from damming, looting and smuggling. Nubian heritage is an important part of the international heritage and preserving it is an international obligation. 

Nubian communities in Sudan and Egypt are known as one of the safest communities in the world according to the international records, accordingly the preservation of the Nubian antiquities and heritage will help in the development of Nubia which will contribute to the stability of the area and the troubled region. Nubia, one of the oldest civilizations in the world is facing systematic destruction by the fanatic Islamist and radical Arabs. Their lands are sold to wealthy Arabs and Islamists to change the demographic structure and displace Nubians while the world is not paying any attention to their plight. UNESCO Director, Ambassador Irina Bokova was invited by Nubian organizations in 2009 to visit Nubia or send a fact finding delegation to see the situation on the ground but she apologized and ever since she never responded to the Nubians who are facing now real danger after Kingdom of Saudi Arabia agreed in November 2015 to finance three dams which which will submerge the whole Nubian land.

For more information go to their power point presentation at: www.slideshare.net


Thursday 26 May 2016

Saudi Cleric says taking pictures with cats is forbidden

There are times when it's probably better that religious leaders just keep their idiotic mouths shut.

Newsweek reports:

On a televised broadcast, Sheikh Saleh Bin Fawzan Al-Fazwan, a member of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, was told about “a new trend of taking pictures with cats has been spreading among people who want to be like Westerners.”

He replied: “What?! What do you mean pictures with cats? Taking pictures is prohibited. The cats don’t matter here.”

The sheikh continued: “Taking pictures is prohibited if not for a necessity. Not with cats, not with dogs, not with wolves, not with anything.”

MEMRI has published a translated version here: www.memritv.org.

This miserable old git seems to forget that their Prophet had a cat:

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was so attached to his cat that when he gave sermons he let Muezza rest on his lap and he also drank from water previously drunk by his cat. He also did his ablutions from the same water that was drunk by a cat. He seemed to treat his cat in the same way as cat lovers do today but even cat lovers might think twice about drinking the same water that had been drunk by a cat for fear of transmission of disease from the cats saliva.

Islam teaches Muslims to treat cats well and that the cat is a creature to be cherished and loved. Mistreating a cat is regarded as a severe sin in Islam


Meanwhile Saudi Arabia remains one of the worst offenders against human rights in the world along with it's competitors for "gods" franchise the mad mullahs in Iran.

A religion dominated by idiots and violent old men. 




Tuesday 24 May 2016

Comedy Interlude: Stanley Baxter

The comedian Stanley Baxter is 90 years old today and to celebrate that here's a sketch from one of his wonderful shows that we all used to enjoy.

The world of comedy has changed (for the worse at the moment) in part because of changing tastes but also because of this damned thing called "political correctness" which has taken away a good measure of old British humour.

I was a big fan of not just Stanley but also Dick Emery, Benny Hill, Eric Sykes and of course the Carry On team to name a few. They're looking to re-launch The Carry On films. Not so sure we have the right actors and comedians these day. The last attempt with Julian Cleary was a dreary flop.

But enough of my musings here's Stanley Baxter taking the mickey out of period drama!

Monday 23 May 2016

Socialist sectarianism becomes anti-Semitism

Workers' Liberty

The sectarian shenanigans of the far left (mainly Trotskyist, but sometimes Stalinist) have a habit of of becoming both farcical and downright dangerous at times. The establishment of Momentum has already seen a fair number of squabbles accusations and fall-outs but the latest attack on the Alliance for Workers Liberty (AWL) has very sinister overtones.

A post to the Socialist Leaves Europe Facebook page from someone called "Siobhan O'Malley" contains the following:

While Momentum continues the excellent legacy of the Corbyn campaign in many areas, it is important to note that it faces a variety of difficulties. The main issue is infiltration by the notorious anti-Labour sect the Alliance for Workers' Liberty (AWL).

The AWL is a wrecking operation designed to undermine the political Left in Britain and there are well-established rumours that they receive funds from Israeli lobbyists. They present themselves as "Trotskyists", yet support Israel, supported the Iraq war and oppose multiculturalism. In reality, they have been planted in the labour movement to disrupt and divide. It is noteworthy that the key figure in Another Europe is Possible is an AWL member, Michael Chessum.

These are well-funded individuals who receive money for steering the Labour Party away from its central socialist mission.

This is yet another example of where the lefts so-called anti-Zionism crosses the line into clear anti-Semitic territory. There's conspiracy theory, nation hate and spite towards anyone or any group that even dares to think differently to the "established" anti-imperialist agenda the left indulges itself in.

I also have to say that despite the posters "observation" that the AWL receives "funds from Israeli lobbyists" this is the first I have heard such errant nonsense.

The AWL is and always been a rather small group with just over 100 members. It's "operations" are somewhat limited. 

I'm no friend of the AWL (having had serious clashes with them when in the PCS union) and have many insurmountable difference with their Marxist politics, but this accusation is well, just hateful crap.

It says more about the proponents of this new conspiracy theory than those that it is aimed at.

Anti-Zionism is the new anti-Semitism.

Sunday 22 May 2016

Whatever happened to the SWP?

With the rise of Jeremy Corbyn and his Momentumistas the "extra parliamentary" or self proclaimed "revolutionary" left has been very much marginalised and forgotten about. The old Militant Tendency now re-branded as the Socialist Party has seen its Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition become irrelevant even within it's own terms and has been pushed back to controlling the much declined civil service trade union PCS.

Within the alliance that controls PCS remains the much discredited Socialist Workers Party who have three members of the unions National Executive. A party that when this blog was launched around three years ago or so was falling apart due to one of the worst internal scandals that the far-left has ever faced. Only the now almost defunct Workers Revolutionary Party can be said to have a worse record.

The result of the lack of focus on the politically corrupted SWP has allowed them to revive themselves and start attempting to rebuild their shattered organisation. However there are many that will not allow their "crimes" against women to go unforgotten.

Over at Lives Running, ex-member Dave Renton reminds us:

In 2010 a man called Martin Smith (“Comrade Delta”) was the National Secretary of the SWP, its day to day leader, the person who employs the other party workers. In July of that year, a 17 year old woman (“Comrade W”) complained that he had mistreated her. She didn’t use the word “rape”, but the people who met her and heard her knew what she was talking about.

From the start, Smith’s supporters (including Weyman Bennett, who worked with him on the SWP’s anti-fascist campaign) put pressure on the women who helped Comrade W, calling one of them a “traitor”, ostracising and dismissing them and forcing them out of the SWP.
The full story can be found here in my blog from October 2013.
And yet this organisation continues parading itself as one of "revolutionary virtue" and "correctness" as it prepares for the annual Marxism bash which it utilises to brow-beat attendees into joining it's sordid little group.
Although much smaller and less influential than in the past, Marxism 2016 has attracted a number of speakers that really should have known better than to give credibility to Professor Callincos's "Lynch Mob" as it became famously or should I say infamously known back in 2013/14 when the crisis over "comrade delta" broke not just across the left, but in the national media (just "goggle" there's plenty of material out there.
Amongst the speakers agreeing to participate are tired old anti-imperialist and ex-Trot Tariq Ali, Moazzam Begg from the organisation CAGE that described brutal mass-murderer "Jihadi John" as a "nice man", Natalie Bennett, the retiring gaffe prone leader of the Green Party and the rabid anti-Israel deputy leader of the Greens, Shahar Ali.
"By your friends we shall know thee"
There are still a few hundred die-hard old members left in the SWP who wouldn't (and didn't) leave even when the truth of their sect was obvious to everyone else.
The SWP has gone the way of the WRP complete with subservience to an anti-imperialist pro Islam(ist) agenda.
Best avoided. Especially if you are one of these types easily "triggered" by the truth of the world.
The SWP is a nasty little cult..and is full of them....

Friday 20 May 2016

Musical Celebration: A Rock Goddess turns 70!


Photo: By M Abancourt

One of the great stars of the music world that I grew up with Cher, turns 70 today!

A household name since the sixties Cher has entertained generations with her unique and powerful voice. There were so many great songs to choose from, but I settled for this one from her 1989 Album Heart of Stone was my final choice.

Happy Birthday Cher!

Wednesday 18 May 2016

The left's silence on the end of Venezuelan socialism



Photo: By Valter Campanato/ABr

The growing crisis of Nicolas Maduro's regime in Venezuela has attracted much media coverage over the last few days. Shortages of everything from basic staple foods to toilet paper have made this socialist "paradise" as the far left would have you believe a nightmare for ordinary people who just happen to live there.

The Times reported yesterday that Maduro was "planning military exercises" in an attempt to crack down on growing disquiet on in the towns and cities across the country. previously he has made threats that his regime will never relinquish power no matter what the results of any election may bring.

The failure of this anti-imperialist/socialist regime is clear for all to see. The Telegraph reports:

Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, which have earned more than one trillion dollars since 1999. Yet such is the crisis in the country that the only contemporary comparison that can be made is with Zimbabwe’s meltdown under Robert Mugabe. Venezuela has the world’s worst inflation, currently about 180 per cent and predicted to rise almost tenfold next year. Yet for all the money being printed, there is almost nothing to buy in shops, with shortages from flour and nappies to medicines and underwear. Desperate people queue from the middle of the night outside supermarkets; tear gas had to be fired to disperse hundreds of looters after a lorry carrying salt and shampoo crashed.

...Seven in ten are of them in poverty, many reduced to smuggling goods over borders to survive. Cities are cursed with violent crime. Corruption is rife. Amid power cuts, the government had to plead with women not to waste energy by using hair dryers while public sector workers were put on a two-day working week.


Amongst the most vociferous supporters of Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez are the likes of Jeremy Corbyn, Seamus Milne and a number of trade unions including the civil service union PCS. I wonder how Mark Serwotka's members would react to living under such a regime?

Venezuela Solidarity Campaign

Yet when it comes to failure the left is quiet. Nay a word in the latest Socialist Worker or it's tedious rival The Socialist. There is a Venezuela Solidarity Campaign and their website tries to blame the current crisis on everybody but the true culprits, the regime itself.

At some stage the situation is going to break and when Maduro's tanks are on the streets suppressing legitimate protest, just who will the left be in solidarity with?

It won't be the ordinary working people of Venezuela. That's for certain.

Tuesday 17 May 2016

Islam(ist) violence is the real offence

A number of stories caught my attention as I went through the papers today. The first in The Metro reported that:

Three members of a "Sharia Patrol"in Vienna have been jailed for beating a father unconscious after they accused his wife and daughter of behaving "inappropriately on a night out.

The victim, named only as Martin P, is married to a Chechen woman who was taking her daughter and three of her friends to a club in the city when the patrol stopped them.

They were ordered to return home. According to the 14 year old girls the men told the mother that: "We and only we, are bringing the girls back home, they are our country's women.

When the Father arrived he was beaten to the ground.

Extremists in our midsts. And they are not alone.

And it also turns out three teenagers in Vienna were arrested for attacking a topless man handing out roses. One said:

What you are doing offends our religion, it is not nice.

It's violence that should offend. 

Who the hell do these evil men think they are? They have no right to force their religious beliefs on anyone else in a democracy.

The propensity of followers of Islam to use violence is disturbing.

And yet this threat is growing, even in the UK where Sharia patrols have already been seen in East London and Luton.

That threat is growing and it's in schools again. 

The Times reports:

Inspectors who targeted small unregistered schools, which were predominately Islamic, found pupils being taught in dangerous premises by adults who have no clearance to work with children.

It was estimated that some 5,000 children were attending these "schools" where Sir Michael Wilshaw, chief inspector of Ofsted told the paper that:

I remain extremely concerned about the number of children attending these schools who may be at risk of harm and indoctrination.

One thing was missing from this report. A rather obvious question in fact.

What about the thousands of parents who have sent their kids to these places?

The parents should also face an investigation. Their actions are not responsible and they are a potential, if not real danger to their children and society in general themselves.

No doubt some lefty anti-imperialist will shout Islamophobia (as they are prone to do) as the "religion of peace is beyond criticism in their blinkered little world.

There is no doubt that in time many Muslims will integrate into wider society, but these recidivist elements are a dangerous not just to non-Muslims, but other Muslims as well.

The time has come to stop "treading on eggshells" around the problem of a parallel society being created under our noses.

Migrants of all sorts have come to not just our shores but across Europe. Most are welcome but if they think they can enforce their backward religious ideas on others then those responsible for violent acts should be shown the door after they have served their sentences.

These evil men are not welcome here and it's about time we in the West put our foot down.

Sunday 15 May 2016

Opposition to DWP pay deal is growing

The recent Pay Deal agreed in the Department of Work & Pensions was recommended to members by all three trade unions, Prospect, the FDA and PCS. It's an incredibly divisive deal that sets members against each other by hiking up the award for those lower down the pay scale with a mere 1% for those at the top.

Whilst this may seem fair to some outsiders, what the deal does is allow the Department to cover it's tracks over the time it takes to progress up the pay scale at the expense of those who reached "Max" and adding insult to insult have not received pay rises at all some years and even when they did only got 1%.

The real backlash that appears to be rising is not over money, but the changes to hours and days worked.

In order to be eligible for the award (even the paltry 1%) members have to agree to new contracts forcing them to work evenings and at least one Saturday a month as part of the move over to Universal Credit, the Department's controversial (and many say failing) new benefit.

It's quite obvious from reaction both on the ground and in social media that a large proportion of members object to these changes with some indication that in the PCS at least there will be a strong vote against when the ballot takes place.

The agreement includes "safeguards" to "protect" those with medical problems an disabilities but in essence all that DWP Management actually agree to do is to follow the Equality Act which happens to be the law anyway.

The addition of a committee with "Independent" Managers (don't laugh) and a TU rep to oversee disputes does not exactly inspire confidence.

The DWP has shrunk it's staff at precisely the time it needs more to ensure a smooth changeover in the way it meets its so-called "business needs", leaving those still in place overworked and stressed with moral at an all time low.

The in-fighting in the largest of the civil service unions PCS (whose membership has shrunk considerably to just 175,000) continues unabated. Many former activists have pointed out that if this deal had been recommended by anyone else other than Left Unity themselves it would have been called a "right-wing sellout".

The problem for LU is there is no right-wing (mainstream in normal parlance) despite their trying to  make one up in their election literature.

The elections in the DWP remain to be announced and LU seem rattled by the advance of a rival hard left group in the NEC elections as the Independent Left take 3 NEC seats.

There is little likelihood that any kind of industrial dispute over the deal will take place or could be seriously considered due to the very nature of the divisive award itself. There are too many "winners" and many would see such action as futile.

However disquiet remains widespread at grassroots level which will not go away.

Sunday Supplement: Not your parents cartoons.....

When this...



becomes this.

 

Hanna-Barbera produced a lot of memorable cartoons which we remember fondly from our childhood. Wacky Races, Scooby Doo and The Flintstones were amongst them.

And they are getting a makeover. As comics.

DC Comics (owned by Warner Brothers) is launching four comics based on Hanna-Barbera cartoons, the first of which is due in comic shops on May 25th. A re-imagined version of Scooby Doo with character redesigns by Jim Lee in which the Apocalypse arrives and the Scooby Gang face real monsters....


While in Wacky Races Armageddon has happened and the survivors are involved in a race where coming second results in death.



Not your parents cartoons indeed!

On a lighter note The Flintstones are back. Pebbles and Bam-Bam are a bit older.

Mark Russell's "The Flintstones" Comic Series Adds Steve Pugh as Artist

And in this case it's not just a comic in the works. Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) has the contract for a new TV show.

In the meantime DC have their version due to hit stores in July.



For more on comics old & new please try out my other blog:

Howie's World of Comics





Friday 13 May 2016

Eurovision Extra!

The Eurovision song contest takes place tomorrow night. The finalist are preparing their acts and the world will be watching in their millions, snacks and drinks in hand.

I have a fiver on Bulgaria (odds at time of placing bet were 40 -1) but have to say a couple of other entries have grown on me since first trawling through the Eurovision You Tube channel.

The first from Belgium from 19 year old Laura Tesoro is one to watch out for as is Dami Im of Australia.

Take it away ladies!








Thursday 12 May 2016

Democracy? What does it mean?

Cross-post by Rick Johansen

It was last year when I heard Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell (I know, I know: it still sounds ridiculous) speaking about my old union, PCS. PCS was, he said, “one of the most democratic unions in the land”. In some ways, he was right. No union holds more elections that PCS, nor indeed sends more delegates to its conferences. But democratic? Not so sure about that.

PCS is run by a sect so far to the left that Jeremy Corbyn and the comrades on the left fringes of the Labour Party are almost right wing by comparison. The supreme leader, or general secretary as he is formally known, is one Mark Serwotka, who is described as a fully paid up member of the “awkward squad”. That’s probably true as well, but how awkward is he and in what way?

The union of lowly paid civil servants (and MOD staff) has just announced its annual National Executive Committee (NEC) results and to no one’s surprise the Trotskyist Socialist Party (Militant) ‘slate’, laughably known as the Democracy Alliance, has won a large majority. In second place was the other hard left organisation, known as the Independent Left. And that was it. Two hard left political factions and no one else. No conventional left grouping, no centre left grouping, not even a centrist grouping.

“Ah well,” you might say, “it’s the members’ fault. If they didn’t like what was going on, they could stand for election”, and so they can, but the odds are they won’t win.

PCS is controlled from top to bottom by the hard left. It controls the HQ where the full time paid officials are appointed on the basis of their far left politics. Almost all the branches are controlled by the hard left. Even if an ordinary member secured election to a local committee, the chances of her or him rising any further are almost zero. In order to even stand for election for the NEC, a candidate needs other branch nominations. It would be virtually impossible for an ordinary member to stand in a national election.

This is, in essence, “one of the most democratic unions in the land”, but one in which only candidates of one colour can stand for election. It is a union that is deep in financial trouble, not least because of the inept governance of the ruling hard left cabal and last year it was so broke, claimed the comrades, that they couldn’t even afford to hold the annual elections. (The annual conference at which the Trotskyist parties and organisations hold their main fundraising events naturally went ahead. Funny that.)

Serwotka was labelled a member of the “awkward squad” when he appeared on platforms with the late Bob Crow, the railway union boss, but he gained notoriety only by association. Whilst Crow could bring the country to a standstill, Serwotka postured and posed and then drowned in his own fiery, but ultimately vacuous, rhetoric. Year upon year, PCS failed in negotiations allowing a hostile government to trample over its members. It failed with a series of pointless one day strikes too, achieving nothing but losing members’ pay. The civil service began to shrink but the union shrank quicker. With each passing election, with each strike ballot, the numbers participating dwindled. The only people to whom Serwotka was “awkward” was his own members.

Even if you doubt what I have said about the nature of PCS, the trade union equivalent of a failed state, you surely cannot doubt that democratic disaster of today’s election results. Oh, not the re-election of a bunch of timeserving revolutionary socialists because we all expected it, but the turn out.

A decade ago, PCS claimed over 300,000 members but today’s results paint a worrying picture. The current membership figure is 175,038 of whom 16,479 bothered to vote, a 9.4% turn out. Put another way, 90.6% of PCS members did not vote at all. All right, it didn’t matter in terms of politics because, in the absence of candidates other than from the hard left, members had a choice of two hard left slates and no one else. (Actually, that’s not true. There were some ‘independent’ candidates who were not on the Trotskyite lists and they, of course, came last.)

I remain convinced that there is still a place for trade unions. In the main, they do good things. They protect workers’ rights and if things are done properly they can bring about progressive partnerships with employers. The problem is politics.

PCS is riven with politics and its leaders have aims that go way beyond serving union members. They lie in progressing revolutionary politics and ensuring the unions’ hierarchies represent a certain (hard left) viewpoint. That isn’t going to change, ever, because it can’t and it will eventually be the death of the union.

“One of the most democratic unions in the land” means nothing in a union where hardly anyone votes. There is no opposition to the comrades urging anyone to vote for anyone else, or to not vote at all. It is a democratic failure of their own device. They control the union HQ, the paid officers, the NEC and most of the branches and yet, with no opponents, nine out of ten members don’t vote.

The parallel with the Corbyn-led Labour Party could not be more obvious, a union that is run by a relatively small but powerful sect, a union that has not had a meaningful victory for as long as I can remember and a union that is happy to oppose, and indeed pose, because a certain political position matters more than securing improvements for it members.

You can’t have too much democracy provided it actually means something. In PCS, it means next to nothing. And if democracy means nothing, you’re in a lot of trouble.

Wednesday 11 May 2016

Livingstones replacement on the left's NEC slate faces...guess what?

Ken Livingstone is currently suspended from the Labour Party for his offensive remarks about Jews and Hitler based on the non-scholarly work of some American Trotskyist. Even People like Jon Lansman guru of Corbyn's cheer leading movement Momentum have been forced to distance themselves from the politician formerly known as "Red Ken".

He's even been replaced on the lefts slate by one Rhea Wolfson who just happens to be a wee bit of a lefty and (shock, horror) Jewish.

There's plenty to criticise about Ms Wolfson's politics, but she has had to face the reality that other Jews come across on a daily basis.

It's called anti-Semitism. 

Shocked at the anti-Semitic abuse being tweeted at not only me but my family today- using literal Nazi propaganda. Please help report


And some of it is nasty as you would expect. Here's some examples of material posted to her Twitter feed:




The rise of anti-Semitism coincides with the rise of anti-Zionism.

The anti-Zionists have ignored so much racism within their movement that such old prejudices that are peddled around the Muslim world with abandon. The "Blood Libel", "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" are treated as truths and have not been challenged by the supposed anti-racist left (along with a whole host of other "shibboleths" as  Lyndsey German leader of the mis-named Stop The War Coalition once referred to Women and Gay rights) that anti-Semitism is rampant amongst anti-imperialists.

Corbyn was a long term part of this reactionary movement along with thousands of his supporters who have now hi-jacked the Labour Party.

I will stand shoulder to shoulder with Rhea Wolfson against anti-Semitism, but will she learn the folly of the politics she is part of before it's too late?

I said there were legitimate concerns about her politics and here's why in an article written (but now taken down from the Internet) by Ms Wolfson which frankly shows the stupidity of today's lefties:

For me, the conversation keeps boiling down to one thing- one crucial disagreement that puts me on one clear side versus another. The crux of the great leadership debate for me is what are our goals? Is winning in 2020 the priority and if so, what are we willing to sacrifice to achieve it?

My belief is that winning 2020 should not be the priority of the Labour Party. This belief comes from a further belief that the Labour party is a movement above and beyond anything. It was founded to fight for workers, to fight for those oppressed by the ruling classes and it became a political party because that was seen as the most effective way to improve the lives of the people the movement was looking to represent. I think that is still true; that should still be the goal of the party and when we make compromises such as supporting the benefit cap or not properly reversing anti-trade union laws then we betray everything and everyone we stand for and we might as well not exist.

Ridiculous.

As a trade unionist I fight the government on a micro-scale every day. Defending members from bad government policies and am forced to deal with the reality of life. My members, let alone those at the poorer end of society on Zero Hours contracts, homes under threat from rising rents and lack of social housing, who need an NHS that is adequately run for those that need it want this bloody Tory government gone.

Principled opposition is pointless.

Working people need a Labour Government, now let alone in 2020 to ensure their rights, livelihoods and homes are not stripped from them.

The reality of politics means compromise. Labour needs to be a broad church and attract voters from other parties. 

Labour needs to be a party of Government.

Corbyn and his supporters will never achieve this. They remain the Tories best asset. It's time for a real Labour to be reclaimed from the idiot left that are taking over.

Our futures depend on it.

Learn the lesson from your experience with anti-Semitism Ms Wolfson. The left has helped recreate this monster. What else will they help resurrect?

Tuesday 10 May 2016

Peace activists attack police

The police and emergency services have been out in Manchester practicing their reaction to a terrorist attack. After the attacks in Paris and Brussels there certainly does need to be such preparations.

However there have been ramifications from the politically correct brigade.

The BBC reports:

Police who staged a mock attack featuring a bomber shouting "Allahu Akbar" have been forced to apologise for racial stereotyping.

The exercise - criticised for using a fake "Muslim terrorist" - was to test the response of emergency services.

Eight hundred volunteers took part in the overnight drill to make it as realistic as possible.

Greater Manchester Police said the event at the Trafford Centre was not linked to any specific terror threat.

Manchester peace activist Dr Erinma Bell criticised the use of a "Muslim terrorist".

She said "a terrorist can be anyone" and "we need to move away from stereotypes".

Besides the fact Islam is a theology (and a very backward one at that) rather than a "race" the certainty is that the expected terrorist attacks are almost certain to be from "Muslim extremists", ISIS in particular.

Perhaps the "peace activist" missed the news about Paris and Brussels.

OK there is a tiny chance it might be "someone else", perhaps a recidivist from the "Real IRA" or whatever these types call themselves, but like most reasonable people are expecting an attack from err..
lets face it. Muslim terrorists.

The likelihood of an Irishman shouting "Mary Mother of God" before blowing himself up is too remote to even consider.

Of course this comes as an attack takes place in Germany with someone shouting..you guessed it "Allahu Akbar".

The German police indicate the man involved "may" be mentally ill.

Of course he is.....

Monday 9 May 2016

Student Lawyers distressed, poor souls...



There are times when I despair about today's student activists and their effect on modern education. It is a privilege to go into Higher Education and learn.

And learn is actually the key word to consider with all the shenanigans going on these days.

I was appalled by the story that appeared into today's issue of The Times (no link£) which reported that:

Law students at the University of Oxford were allegedly warned that the content of a lecture on rape and sexual assault could be distressing and offered the chance to leave.

No shit Sherlock.

Of course the material will be unpleasant. That's the nature of the beast and erm.. isn't the whole point of going into Law as a barrister or solicitor and with luck a Judge in later life is to deal with not just these but other rather nasty aspects of human nature that we call crime?

If you can't learn about these issues as they are "distressing" (which they surely are) why would anyone seek to study law in the first place. Lawyers deal with all sorts both as defence and prosecution. If you can't cope, then choose a new career. The courts are not about disputed ownership of puppies all the time....

This demonstrates the absolutely untenable base of the pathetic "safe spaces" movement that plagues our centres of learning.

It's no wonder there is a movement to break with the National Union of Students, led by a woman who thinks it's "Islamophobic" to condemn the murderous rapists and slavers of ISIS, but "Zios" (Jews to you and me) are not entitled to any considerations as they in her words "dominate the worlds media".

Sigh. I must ring Jerusalem 666 to find out what I'm missing out on.

Students in Lincoln University have had enough and today are reported to have disaffiliated from the NUS. Exeter and Newcastle seem set to join them on Thursday.

I just hope these student unions set up a new national body to rally others to and leave the netters in their own little enclave in a rump NUS.

Oh and someone expel that little anti-Rhodes creep who made the waitress cry. Another Mugabe in the making methinks.....

Sunday 8 May 2016

As Sadiq Kahn joins Holocaust commemoration.....

Kudos to Sadiq Kahn for making his first act as Mayor of London an appearance and participation at the Holocaust Memorial Ceremony today. The Daily Mail reports:

The newly-elected mayor swore to be a leader for all faiths in the capital and was at the Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony in Barnet this afternoon alongside Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who just last week attacked Jeremy Corbyn by saying Labour had a 'severe' problem with anti-Semitism.

Mr Khan's visit today is hugely symbolic and will be interpreted as another pointed criticism of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

Mr Corbyn was notably absent from Mr Khan's official swearing-in ceremony at Southwark Cathedral in South-East London yesterday amid claims that Mr Khan is keen to distance himself from the Labour leader.

Pointed indeed.

The anti-Semitism crisis continues as the Sunday Times (no link£) revealed that a member of the Labour Party's NEC sent an e-mail on May 2nd "claiming the crisis was sparked by the "Israel lobby".

Here we go again, This time Unite official Martin Mayer's missive entitled How the Israel Lobby manufactured the party's anti-Semitism crisis. The whole thing is also a "Blairite right wing attempt" to "undermine Jeremy Corbyn's leadership".

In order to back up his thoughts Mayer includes a link to an article the extremist "Electronic Intifada" website.

Besides the fact Corbyn is totally useless and undermines himself most of the time his opposition to anti-Semitism outlined at the recent May Day rally is not matched by a courtesy to replying the letter from the leader of the Israeli Labour Party sent to him recently (see here).

Meanwhile Livingstone continues to lose the plot mentioning that Hitler fellow again.

I don't care what anyone says. Israel's Governments may not always be above criticism, but anti-Zionism is today's anti-Semitism.

No other country faces calls for it's dissolution.

Anti-Zionism is a road to genocide.

Never again will our people go quietly into the dark.

Sunday Supplement: Eurovision Picks 2016

The Eurovision Song Contest will be with us next Saturday night so here is my pick of this years entries.

Don't forget the two Semi-Finals will be broadcast on BBC 4 on Tuesday 10th May (8 to 10) and Thursday 12th May (also 8 to 10).

My first choice was the entry from Armenia. I've enjoyed several of their entries and this is a good'un though why Jesus pops up in the video is beyond me....



Next up is Bulgaria. Good chance of winning with this song and will certainly get my vote. But what would I know with my odd tastes in music?



And finally the song from Russia with a singer I am sure will appeal to the ladies. Excellent video. This also stands a good chance of winning I have to say.



I'm sure fellow blogger Phil BC over at All That is Solid will entertain you with his choices soon! Tell him Howie sent ya!

Saturday 7 May 2016

Khan's victory masks Corbyn's failure

No one can deny the scale of Sadiq Khan's victory for Mayor of London who now has a huge personal mandate after facing enormous opposition not only from his direct political opponents but from within his own party. This is not written as an endorsement of what Khan will be like as Mayor, for me and many others the jury remains out. However it is a recognition that Labour did win against seemingly insurmountable odds.

One obvious thing to be said is that those ant-Western fundamentalist types will find they can no longer claim that Muslims are automatically discriminated against in this country. Hopefully this will be a small step toward the Muslim community beginning to integrate within the society they have chosen to live in.

That this will be an uphill struggle is without question and the media reports of Mosques in this country ranting against Face book, the wearing of trousers and opposing anything modern as "un-Islamic".  The struggle against Medievalism will continue for some time to come.

However elsewhere in the UK despite not suffering the scale of losses the pundits predicted, Labour did not move forward. Corbyn himself described Labour as "standing firm". Standing still and sliding back more like. Yes Labour only lost 27 seats but in the current climate they should have begun pushing forward.

In Scotland, once a Labour fiefdom the party has been pushed back into third place by a revived Tory party.

The recent row over ant-Semitism in the party is only part of the reason that Labour is failing. Corbyn is seen as weak and ineffectual by those voters Labour needs to win over if it is to have any hope of gaining power at the next general election.

Labour is weak on defence, terrorism and economy. As for foreign policy the Corbynistas would be a nightmare should they ever gain control of government. It's fortunate for us all that this will never happen.

For now there is little chance Corbyn can be ousted but so long as he and the insane left hold the reigns Labour will never get elected. 

Corbyn has to go sooner rather than later and the real, normal Labour Party restored based on the broad coalition that it needs to be in order to become firstly an effective opposition and then onwards to a party that the electorate will trust in government.

There remain plenty of good people inside the Labour Party and the trade unions will only sustain Corbyn so far before their members will demand some return for their support. If Labour cannot get elected what would be the point of making such substantial financial contributions.

The clock is ticking. This country cannot afford another Tory government.

Corbyn must go.

Thursday 5 May 2016

An underwhelming election

The polls have closed at last. The votes are being counted and over the next 24 hours the nation will see the result of all the shouting, crying and tears shed by the politicians and their supporters.

At least on Social Media. I suspect most people will be like me underwhelmed by the whole thing. The last week or so has just seen the Labour Party tear itself apart over the discovery of very real anti-Semitism in it's ranks.

As for Corbyn's policies? Other than his friendship with Hamas I can't recall a thing.

Zac Goldsmith? Couldn't be bothered to listen.

Galloway? Less than one percent of the vote apparently. People finally got what that jumped up popinjay was all about.

There were elections?  If those I work with or my neighbours are anything to go by the lack of enthusiasm was deafening. Nobody talked about it and the polling station was heaving with...sheer emptiness.

Oh I'll be interested in the results, but then I'm a political blogger with an interest in such things. I'll be posting on Saturday when the full results (including Scotland and Wales) are in but for now I'm off to read a couple of new purchases to review on my other blog.

If anyone is interested I voted for the Women's Equality Party with no second choice vote.

I couldn't put a cross in Labour's box because of Corbyn and his band of Strasserites. Time for him to go. Hopefully a bloody nose tonight will start to help him on his way.

Bet they'll blame the Jews......


Wednesday 4 May 2016

Musical Interlude: Number 1 this week in 1974

I just had to take a break from the ever continuing crisis in Labour. (If you do want more go to my Face Book page, it's public. And there's lots more...)

So! Another teaser for this years Eurovision Song Contest next week.

And it needs absolutely no introduction!

Tuesday 3 May 2016

Hamas backs Labour under Corbyn

Flag of Hamas.svg 

Despite a DDoS (Denial of Service) attack Guido Fawkes has continued to expose the connections between Corbyn's Labour and the world of anti-Semitism. Corbyn is a man who you will remember described Hamas, an organisation that seeks the genocide of the Jews in Israel (not Zionists, actual Jews) as his "friends".

Just "diplomacy" Corbyn's supporters once said, but with the continuing exposure of a very real problem of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, hidden in plain sight as supposedly just "anti-Zionism" the games up for the hard left and if by their "friends ye judge them"

Hamas spokesman Taher A-Nunu said:

“We welcome the declaration of the Labor chairman and see his engagement as a very important statement that is also a painful hit that the Zionist enemy received. Hamas is not and will not be considered a terrorist group and our struggle is reduced to the borders of occupied Palestine. [This is a] Zionist campaign to define Labor party leaders as anti-Semitic... a desperate move that reflects the weakness and confusion of the Zionist entity.”


Actually the opposite seems to be true. At long last the far left anti-imperialist brigade are facing a taste of their own medicine.

The anti-Zionist campaign of distortions, half truths and some down right lies is finally being brought to task.

Israel may not be perfect (what country is?), but it's a democracy under constant threat from tyrants, terrorists and Islamists who use the Palestinian cause for their own ends.

Forward to a two-state solution and peace something Hamas, Hezbollah and the anti-imperialist left don't want no matter what the cost to innocent lives.

Monday 2 May 2016

Springtime for the anti-Zionists

Jeremy Corbyn made an appearance on the annual May Day march and used the opportunity to speak out against anti-Semitism. I don't doubt that he himself is not an anti-Semite but his collection of "friends" and supporters make his formal opposition a moot point.

Corbyn has been "friends" with some of the most unsavoury organisations and individuals over the years. Take George Galloway for instance who tweeted:

The Israel lobby has just destroyed the Labour Party. At least this Labour Party. It is an amazing achievement. They'll be dancing in Dimon

Ben Judah writes in the Independent

'And when I visited Bradford, a group of passionate Galloway supporters pinned me to a wall, throttled me and punched me in the head, shouting “Get out you f***ing Jew.”'

Of course Galloway is no longer in the Labour Party, but this Councillor from Nottingham is:

Screen Shot 2016-05-01 at 23.22.12

Israel is not Nazi Germany in any shape or form. The analogy is disgusting. How come these types NEVER condemn the crimes of Hamas or the corruption of the PLA/Al Fatah?

Oh and ask Mr Aziz on how Christians and non-Muslims are treated in Pakistan and Bangladesh, or the second class citizenship of the Coptic Christians in Egypt or the Bahai's in Iran or.....

Hamas purged Al Fatah brutally after it won an election in Gaza nearly 10 years ago and err..comrades when will they allow another one. Or do they think like the far left that once in power that's it for eternity.

Islamism and Communism, not so different really.

Then there's that new word for Jews, Zios which seems to have originated in the student politically correct brigade. Now in common use by non other than Blair's foolish convert of a sister-in-law:

has proved itself sadly weak at its core by suspending two MPs at the behest of zio lobby

What these anti-Zionists really object to is that they can no longer get away with dissemanting inaccuarate and distorted propoganda about Israel and the Jews any more.

Fight back against so-called anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism now! 

Expose Hamas, Hezbollah and all these clerical fascist fascist groups and their so-called left wing allies!

Never Again!