Month: February 2019
Go on, go on, tell me, again, how Jeremy Corbyn really campaigned for Labour Remain in 2016 and what it meant for his new found support for NATO … Clue, he’s called NATO, “a very dangerous Frankenstein” …
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I was at the launch of Labour’s National Remain Campaign on Thursday 1st December 2015.
Absent?
Jeremy Corbyn.
He was at some way more important Stop Some Wars gathering.
Absent?
The media.
They had not been invited by Seamus Milne.
What have Corbyn and Milne got in common?
They have both campaigned against the UK being in the EU (and NATO) for decades.
In unearthed footage, Corbyn branded the EU a “military Frankenstein” and trashed a second Irish referendum.
I have been told by members of the Cult of Corbyn that I was not at the launch of Labour’s National Remain Campaign.
Why?
Because, according to them, such a launch would not have been held in Birmingham.
Why?
That type of event, according to them, only ever happens in London.
Labour has not become a more London centric party since Jeremy Corbyn became leader. Although he did say, “London’s values are Labour’s values” when he launched the party’s local authority campaign in 2018.
He did turn up for that?
Yes.
Why?
Because it was held in London?
What do Jeremy Corbyn’s lies in 2015 about his new found support for the EU mean for his Damascene conversion to our staying in NATO?
That his conversion was a lie.
Why?
Since becoming Labour leader in 2015, Jeremy Corbyn has repeatedly declined, in public and on the record, to wholeheartedly commit any Labour Government he led to both the spirit and the letter of Article 5 of the NATO Charter.
Surely you mean Article 50?
No, different agreement.
What is Article 5 then?
Article 5 embodies the principle of collective defence that is at the very heart of NATO’s founding treaty. It remains a unique and enduring principle that binds its members together, committing them to protect each other and setting a spirit of solidarity within the Alliance.
And in English?
Collective defence means that an attack against one Ally is considered as an attack against all Allies.
And Jeremy Corbyn’s problem with that is?
He would want time to think about whether the UK should support any NATO Ally being attacked.
Time to do what exactly?
Find out how Vladimir Putin felt about the matter.
And that might be an issue?
Ask the Poles about their experience in 1939 and why they rushed to joined NATO after the end of the Cold War.
Did Jeremy Corbyn have an issue with that?
Yes. He thought Poland’s right to self determination should be circumscribed.
In English, again?
He called for Poland to be refused membership of NATO on the grounds that Putin would be upset, if they were allowed to join.
So Jeremy Corbyn is no more a fan of NATO than he is of the EU?
Yes.
And neither is Seumas Milne …
I’m sure it’s not true that champagne quaffing, #LabourAntiSemitism denying, @JeremyCorbyn backing, #BREXIT supporting, @LenMcCluskey of @UniteTheUnion has named his smallest member, his most favourite member, #LEXIT? #PeoplesVote
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There are four people now deciding the Labour Party’s BREXIT policy.
None of them is Jeremy Corbyn or Keir Starmer.
When Jeremy Corbyn met with with Theresa May on Wednesday 30th January to discuss BREXIT he was flanked by only two aides, Seumas Milne and Karie Murphy.
And as for the views and input of the membership of the Labour Party …
Say hello to three out of the four brains behind Jeremy Corbyn’s approach to BREXIT, Seumas Milne, Len McCluskey and Karie Murphy.
The fourth member of the quartet (not pictured) is Andrew Murray, an employee of Unite who is McCluskey’s day to day representative at the Court of Jeremy Corbyn.
Here we see Len McCluskey, a prime example of the contention that power is an aphrodisiac, doing his imitation of Tony Bennett.
Len, as many of you will recall, like Seumas has an income in excess of £100,000.00 per year, putting both of them in the top 5%.
If you are a Unite member facing the possibility of finding yourself out of work, you may be interested to learn that the basic rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance for someone aged 25 and over has been £73.10 per week since April 2015.
And that benefits, like JSA have been frozen since April 2015.
That they have not been increased by a penny since April 2015.
And that McCluskey, Milne, Murphy and Murray’s stooge, Jeremy Corbyn has said, repeatedly, publicly and on the record, that his Labour Government would not be able to afford to end the benefits freeze on his first day in office, if ever …
Back in 2005, when it was announced that Rover was ending all car production at Longbridge in Birmingham, the wiseacres said that Labour would suffer as a result at the upcoming General Election.
The end of the last UK owned mass producer of cars was a significant economic, political and social event.
The Conservatives were baying for blood.
The political establishment swung into action.
The Labour Government lead by Blair and Brown stepped up to the crease.
A Rover Taskforce, under the aegis of Advantage West Midlands, the Regional Development Agency, was set up to co-ordinate the actions of national government, the likes of the Department for Work and Pensions, and local government in the shape of Birmingham City Council.
Front and centre to that response to the loss of 5,000 jobs, of people directly employed by Rover, was Gerard Coyne of Unite.
Many 1,000s more in the Rover supply chain were put out of work as a consequence of the company ceasing production of Rover cars.
Today, in 2019, all Landrover production is soon to leave the West Midlands, forever.
The wiseacres of the Commentariat are unmoved.
The Conservative Government of Theresa May is disinterested.
The Labour Party of Jeremy Corbyn is nowhere to be seen.
Jezziah hasn’t even sped north of Watford for a photo opportunity with JLR workers, his Coal Not Dole badges shining brightly.
Yet he was quick to dash off to Port Talbot for a selfie with steel workers when Tata Steel got into difficulties.
If you are reading this, Jez, there are three train companies running services from London to Birmingham.
I recommend Chiltern Railways.
Why?
Because it is how a nationalised railway should look, feel, sound and run like, but would not under a Labour Government led by you.
Where were we?
Ah, yes, all Landrover production leaving these shores, forever.
There is no Advantage West Midlands to co-ordinate a Landrover Taskforce, to oversee the deployment of regional, national and European funds.
It was scrapped by the Coalition Government after May 2010.
Birmingham City Council is immersed in planning for the Commonwealth Games to be held in the city in 2022 and engaged in a dispute over domestic waste collection with Unite …
And Gerard Coyne is no longer a figure of influence within Unite or elsewhere as he was in 2005.
How many Unite members must be regretting not voting for Gerard Coyne in the last election to the post of Unite General Secretary?
Instead, they re-elected Len McCluskey for whom BREXIT means Left Exit.
McCluskey has been prominent in the news recently so eager to make BREXIT happen that he has even spoken with Theresa May.
McCluskey does not appear to have raised the growing plight of his members, particularly in the automotive industry, with the Prime Minister.
Over two decades ago, Norman Lamont said, “Rising unemployment and the recession have been the price that we have had to pay to get inflation down. That price is well worth paying.”
Today, McCluskey, Milne, Murphy and Murray, are saying through their stooge, Jeremy Corbyn, that rising unemployment and the risk of a recession are a price well worth paying for their 1,000 Year LEXIT.
That the prospect of further redundancies at JLR and possible job losses at Nissan, Toyota, BMW …
… as well as in the City of London are a price well worth paying … but for what, exactly?
The ramblings of a former DWP Civil Servant ... 