Batley and Spen: George Galloway launches a crusade against Keir Starmer

 

While Keir Starmer is busy in a game of chairs to maintain control of the Labour Party after a series of electoral defeats including Hartlepool and Chesham and Amersham where the Labour Party was put behing the Greens with a few hundred votes, the chase is on.

It was Diane Abbott, a close associate of Jeremy Corbyn - former Labour Party Leader thrown out of the Labour Party and now standing as an Independent in the House of Commons -, who said that defeat in Batley and Spen would be the end of the leadership of Keir Starmer.

George Galloway is another former Labour MP involved in a crusade to defeat the Labour Party in Batley and Spen - the seat that used to be represented by Jo Cox where none other than Kim Leadbeater sister of Jo Cox is standing for election.

Who can Keir Starmer trust inside the Labour Party shadow cabinet? Who can he count on should there be another leadership challenge? Every reshuffle is a bruising experience. Could there be a Labour Dominic Cummings in waiting?

As previously reported, the gap between Labour and Conservative has been getting smaller since the seat went to Labour in 1997. Now, Muslim voters that constitute a sizeable minority in Batley and Spen and other disaffected Labour voters most of whom voted for Brexit see little in the present Labour Party. If we take this into account then Batley and Spen is a very marginal Labour seat and ready for the taking.

The margin in 2019 was 3,525. Given what has been happening since the demise of Jeremy Corbyn, it is not unthinkable that such a reduced majority could be wiped out by those who choose to support George Galloway and those who choose to abstain. In this particular scenario, since the two main contenders are Labour and Conservative, there would be no strategic voting that could save the Labour Party from certain defeat because the Lib Dems are two far below to make up for the difference. It must also be said that the Lib Dems got 4.7% of the share of the vote compared to the previous election in 2017 and that another change of leadership in the Labour Party would signal that the choices made by Labour voters in Chesham and Amersham where voters chose to vote Lib Dem were right. 

In May 20201, Labour kept control of 44 Council having lost 8, while the Conservatives gained 13 reaching 63 local authorities. Yet another rebuff in Batley and Spen, a seat held by Labour and that has an important meaning for Labour as it was represented by Jo Cox, the Member of Parliament killed on June 16th 2016.

At 12:53 pm, Britsh Summer Time, on Thursday, June 16th 2016, Jo Cox (born Helen Joanne Leadbeater) was shot and stabbed outside a librery in Birstall, West Yorkshire. Witnesses indicated that she was shot three times - once near the head - and stabbed multiple times.

Not surprising then that the Labour Party decided to put aside its own party rules regarding membership and candidates for election and decided to allow Kim Leadbeater to stand for election, a move that didn't happen without criticism from within the Labour Party itself. Whether emotional elements have any weight with voters remains to be seen. In any case, Kim Leadbeater has stated that she is the only candidate standing that has actual links with Batley and Spen.

Could George Galloway win in Batley and Spen?

 

July 2021 - Batley and Spen By Election

Could George Galloway win in Batley and Spen?

The present Labour Candidate Kim Leadbeater, sister of Jo Cox, joined the Labour Party with few days to spare, to be able to stand as Labour Candidate in a seat that has been Labour since 1997.

Having said that, Batley and Spen is a very special Labour Party seat. In Batley and Spen, 60 per cent of voters voted for Brexit and about 30% of the population is of Asian descent and mostly Muslim.

With Jeremy Corbyn ousted from the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn's associates stated that should the Labour Party lose the election in Batley and Spen then it would Keir Starmer turn to leave his post as Labour Party Leader. 

It has been reported that the official Labour Party is concerned about the arrival of George Galloway in Batley and Spen and should be worried for several reasons. Apart from the fact the 60% of voters supported Brexit and 30% of the population is of Asian descent and most Muslim is enough to be worried. George Galloway's arrival could be used to oust Keir Starmer as Leader.

The gap between Labour and Conservatives has been getting smaller and smaller in favour of the Conservative Party. If George Galloway takes away just enough votes away from Labour to breach that gap, this would open the door to the Conservative Party. And what if George Galloway actually wins in Batley and Spen? He would return to the House of Commons and be there until the next General Election and there will at least the temptation for several Labour Party MPs to join him thus hurting the official Labour Party very badly.

Kim Leadbeater has already complained about 'external forces taking part in the Batley and Spen by-election. It is a by-election. Voters know that this would not change the present compositioin of the House of Commons and that at the end of the day the Conservative Party would still be in power. After what happened in Hartlepool and what happened in Chesham and Amersham where votes for the Labour Party were counted as hundreds behind the Green Party, voters might decide to give Keir Starmer a bloody nose. For supporters of Jeremy Corbyn, Keir Starmer - more than Boris Johnson - is the real Enemy Number One. 

The official Labour Party has used Kim Leadbeater to play the emotional card since she is the sister of Jo Cox, but in doing so Labour Party rules were bent to allow Kim Leadbeater to stand as she has not been a Labour Party member long enough to stand as a candidate for Member of Parliament. 

For those supporting Keir Starmer, this is about the survival of his leadership. For those supporting Jeremy Corbyn this is about getting rid of Keir Starmer and George Galloway despite being outside the Labour Party is a Labour Party man. For all the aforementioned, Batley and Spen could be a very interesting by-election to watch.

Candidates standing for election in July 2021

• Paul Bickerdike, Christian Peoples Alliance
• Mike Davies, Alliance for Green Socialism
• Jayda Fransen, Independent
• George Galloway, Workers Party
• Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrats
• Therese Hirst, English Democrats
• Howling Laud Hope, Official Monster Raving Loony Party
• Susan Laird, Heritage Party
• Kim Leadbeater, Labour Party
• Ollie Purser, Social Democratic Party
• Corey Robinson, Yorkshire Party
• Andrew Smith, Rejoin EU
• Ryan Stephenson, Conservative Party
• Jack Thomson, UK Independence Party
• Jonathan Tilt, Freedom Alliance
• Anne Marie Waters, The For Britain Movement

Note: Jayda Fransen will be standing as Independent because the so called British Freedom Party has never been registered as a political party in the United Kingdom.

 

The British Royal Family: Gunther von Reibnitz and other subjects

 

Günther von Reibnitz, father of Princess Michael of Kent, was a German military officer and member of the SS involved in the Lebensborn programme created to 'mass produce Aryan children for Das Dritte Reich. 

So you get the idea of how complex things are. The Eugenics programme was born in Britain. In 1859, Charles Darwin published the book Origin of Species which talks about evolution by natural selection about the survival of the fittest. In 1871, Charles Darwin wrote: "We civilised men... do our outmoust to check the process of elimination; we build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed and the sick.. Thus the weak members of society propagate their kind."

The term Eugenics was the idea of Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, who in 1883 was thinking about : "The question was then forced upon me. Could not the race of men be similarly improved? Could not the undesirables be got rid of and the desirables multiplied?" 

One of the children of the Lebensborn programme was Anni-Frid Lyngstad - born to a Norwegian mother and a German soldier father, she grew up in Sweden and a member of the celebrated group ABBA.

William Beveridge, the architect of the post 1945 Welfare State was very active in the eugenics movement and said "those men who through general defects are unable to fill such a whole place in industry are to be recognized as unemployable. They must become the acknowledged dependents of the State... but with complete and permanent loss of all citizen rights - including not only the franchise but civil freedom and fatherhood". This was Left Wing Eugenics. 

Charles Darwin’s son, Major Leonard Darwin, presided at the conference. In the run up to the First World War, he lobbied the British government to establish flying squads of scientists, with the power of arrest, who would travel around the country identifying the “unfit”. Those classified as such would be segregated in special colonies or sterilised.

Surprised? Never mind ideological differences, you find champions of Eugenics both Left and Right. My journey through history is a voyage of discovery. Not the kind of things that the politically correct classes want to be reminded about.

The English Judiciary: Rationality and Irrationality

Defective pieces of legislation that are at odds with everyday realities lead to very odd legal verdicts and I have seen quite a few examples. One of the most absurds situations occur at a court in Southeast London.

 

On Political Parties: I can be and it actually is a very emotional affair

Political Parties can be a very emotional affair. It is not just about ideas or sharing beliefs. When you get really and trully involved, it feels like family. You care and it affects even the way you feel about yourself. At one point you come to define yourself as part of a bigger reality. It is a bit like going on vacation or going to a party. At the beginning, you are full of expectations. Adrenalyne flows in huge amounts. When vacations come to an end, when parties come to an end, there is a sort of anti-climax. I guess the same happens in many other situations or settings. You see the wake of people who are there no more. The illusion is no more. All the expectations, all the excitement, is replaced with memories and melancholy.

Dominic Cummings: Whistleblower or Spiteful man seeking revenge no matter what?

 

For months on end, the Opposition targetted Dominic Cummings identifying him as the source of all evil in the British government. Mr. Cummings was pictured and depicted in the most negative manner, harassed by journalists and lots of ink was spread about him being the worst of the worst. They even laughed when he presumably was infected with Covid-19.

Months passed and one day Dominic Cummings was fired by the Conservative goverment. The Opposition celebrated. Finally, they had got their man and he was out of government. Such an evil influence he had been! Now, months later after he was fired, he has now been made the centre of attention because he is saying exactly what the Opposition wants him to say to attack the Conservative government.

But wait a minute! Mr. Cummings is saying that he knew that lives were being put at risk and chose to stay in government, keeping his mouth shut while thousands were dying? So here comes the fact. If what he says is true, then Mr Cummings is guilty as hell for being part of a lethal cover up and criminal charges should be raised against him for being an accomplice of serious crimes. He says that he knew that lives were being put in danger and chose to remain silent until when? Until he was fired. Only months after he was fired he calculated that it was then the time to talk and reveal all. This stinks as the cold blooded maneuvers of a political manipulator that knows which buttons to press to get things his way.

The Opposition has been a disgrace, failing to carry out proper opposition, focusing on scandals instead of promoting viable alternatives and now the Opposition - once again - is not offering the kind of choices that ordinary voters want to hear about. What is the reality of it all? Britain is coming out of Lockdown. The economy is starting to pick up speed and moving in the right direction. The country is once again open for business and business is what Britain is about. 

Do I trust the present Opposition? The previous Shadow Cabinet was a shambles with various examples of sheer incompetence and then came yet another reshuffle very much like a game of chairs. The grass roots of the Labour Party, elected representatives of the Labour Party, are publicly saying that they don't know what the Labour Party stands for, that they don't have a clue about what the Labour Party stands for. People were joking about the demotion of the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party that was given so many attributions as compensation for her demotion that she might have become a risk for the Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer.

Things are so bad, the Labour MPs who are still loyal to the previous Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn even with that the Labour Party does badly in the Batley and Spen by-election due to take place in July as a way to get rid of Keir Starmer. Is using what Mr Cummings is saying - regardless of it being true or false - a way to divert attention from the miserable state the Opposition is in?

The disconnect between the Labour Party and its supporters is plainly obvious. In Batley and Spen, a community with a vast presence of people of Pakistani and Indian descent (16.9% Pakistani and 15.9% Indian) where Labour has had a majority since 1997, 60% per cent of voters voted for Brexit. The London centric Labour Party seems to be ignoring the will of its supporters all along. They ignored the will of voters in Hartlepool and were routed by the Conservative Party. Wil they seek to ignore the will of voters once again in Batley and Spen? 

I understand why the Opposition is trying to find some alternative narrative to motivate voters to come out and vote for them. If Kim Leadbeater really want to win the seat in Batley and Spen she might be well advised to put some distance between herself and the Parliamentary Labour Party, between herself and the leadership of the Labour Party, and to choose to fight the election on purely local issues. Keir Starmer position on geopolitical issues might not carry the favour of people who are predominantly Muslim. Some die-hard Remain stances might not be very favourable either. 

 

Politics beyond labels: a way to healthier politics

For too long, politics has been about labels. You identify as this or that and then people presume that you think this or that because of the party political allegiances. In real life, people who join a certain political party do so because of the said presumptions only to realize later on that their choices have been made out of misconceptions.

In every political organisation there are different trends and schools of thought whether you are dealing with so called mainstream political parties, minor political parties or fringe political parties.Individuals cannot agree on everything and from time to time they will be leaning in opposite directions on certain issues.

Dissent does't arise out of nowhere. Differences of opinion always exist in all political organisations and when people start to focus on existing differences of opinion instead of focusing on what they agree on we talk about political crisis. Keeping everybody together is a balancing act. If there is a strong leader perceived as being in a winning position, people tend to put aside their differences because it pays to be on the winning side, but as soon as the leader is perceived as weak such a time is seen as an opportunity to get somebody interests that were put aside for the sake of unity.

You can look at a group of people as a whole or you can look at a group of people as individuals. If you look at a group of people as whole you tend to overgeneralize. If you look at a group of people as individuals you discover what really makes them tick. Even when people publicly express that they are in agreement there are personal preferences - likes and dislikes - you need to deal with and personal preferences do matter at the time of assigning roles within any organisation. Two people, members of the same organisation, presumably because they share what they perceive to be the views and aims of the organisation not necessarily have a good personal rapport.