On June 16th, 2016, Jo Cox MP (right) was killed in plain daylight being shot and stabbed several times when walking to conduct a surgery at her constituency.
Undoubtedly, the Labour Party has sought to capitalize on emotional elements when Kid Leadbeater - sister of Jo Cox - was chosen as Labour Party candidate in the by-election in Batley and Spen due to take place on July 1st 2021.
The assumption is that Labour voters will seek to elect Kim Leadbeater who, like Jo Cox, is the only local candidate of a slate of candidates. The selection of Kim Leadbeater hasn't come without criticism. Kim Leadbeater was not a Labour Party member. She joined the Labour Party and was selected by-passing Labour Party rules in terms of membership and selection of candidates due to stand for election.
The Labour MP who held the seat had to resign the seat because she was recently chosen to be the Mayor of West Yorkshire. Tracy Brabin was elected in May 2021 and resigned because she could not hold the two posts - Member of Parliament and Mayor of West Yorkshire - at the same time.
The by-election in Batley and Spen comes after a remarkable defeat for Labour in Hartlepool and the losss in Chesham and Amersham were the Labour Party barely got a few hundreds of votes being place behind the Green Party. This comes during very difficult times for the Labour Party. Events in the United Kingdom and outside the United Kingdom.
Events in the United Kingdom led to the removal of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party Leader following a series of scandals involving accusations of anti-Semitism. Jeremy Corbyn did not only lose his position as Labour Party Leader, but he is also out of the Labour Party standing now as an Independent MP. Since then, Keir Starmer has been Labour Party Leader and from day one the briefing was to uproot any kind of behaviour in the Labour Party that could be identified as anti-Semitism. This has come at a cost. In recent days, Muslim supporters complained that Keir Starmer is literally ignoring them and there were public statements by Labour Party supporters in Batley and Spen who refuse to support the Labour Party in the Batley and Spen by-election because of Keir Starmer's stance regarding events in Palestine.
There was a turn for the worse when the issue was a debate about proposed sanctions against the Jewish State of Israel and this is reflect by attitudes inside the Labour Party at regional level.
This was reported by the mass media:
A regional official in the UK's Labour Party has prevented local party members from debating a motion on Thursday calling for sanctions on Israel over human rights violations against Palestinians saying it would trigger 'anti-Semitic behaviour'.
Kim Bolton - chair of Hove and Portslade Constituency Labour Party in southern England - ordered that members are prohibited from discussing the motion calling for Israel to 'end its violations of the human rights of Palestinians'.
The motion had urged the UK to 'impose legal sanctions on Israel', such as a ban of arms sales and trade with illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Bolton reportedly acted on advice from Scott Horner, the south east regional officer for Labour. Horner is said to have cautioned her that the discussions 'would undermine the party's ability to provide a safe and welcoming place for all members, in particular Jewish members'.
Bolton said she supported that view and believed that a debate on sanctions against Israel, key demand of the non-violent BDS movement backed by large swathes of Labour Party members, could 'stir up internal conflict'.
I contacted Helen Hayes MP and wrote the following:
'I saw Kim Leadbeater alone on the streets being chased by angry individuals and the thought crossed my mind. What if.... The events on June 16th, 2016 came to me with a bang. Whatever is going on in the Labour Party, you need to take care of your own people. I copy this message to the Labour Party and to the Home Secretary. If certain individuals take an issue with Kim Leadbeater and go out to target her because of very public actions of the Labour Party regarding Palestine, Kim Leadbeater will be a sitting duck.
Kim Bolton, Scott Horner and other Labour Party officials should be made aware of the sensitivities in Batley and Spen. Muslim members/supporters of the Labour Party have already made their views regarding the attitudes within the Labour Party and in particular of the Leadership of the Labour Party. There is an important presence of people of Asian descent who are mostly Muslims in Batley and Spen.
I am afraid that whatever is going on in the Labour Party has made too many people in positions of authority absolutely blind to what is happening on the ground. You are dealing with very dangerous individuals. If on top of being targetted for LGBT issues she is also targetted because of what is happening in the Labour Party with regards to Palestine, she would be the ideal target to focus peoples' minds. Individuals who might be interested in targetting her know perfectly well that the entire country will be watching developments in Batley and Spen because of the implications of the outcome of the election for the Labour Party Leadership. They know that should anything happen, it will be reported nationally and internationally and therefore it will have enormous propaganda value.
George Galloway has made very clear that his participation in Batley and Spen has one fundamental aim and we know what the position of those bound to support George Galloway is on issues regarding Palestine.
I would't be surprised if a major incident takes place before or after the vote. We hope that nothing of the kind ever happens, but you need to be prepared to prevent it from happening.
The message was sent to other political operators including Labour Party authorities in Brighton and in Batley and Spen.
This came after video images in which Kim Leadbeater was seen having to deal on her won with a hostile crowd being targetted about her views on LGBT. She was seen completely vulnerable trying to get into a car parked on the side of the road. We do remember what happend to Jo Cox in June 2016. It would not have been impossible for something very similar to happen to Kim Leadbeater when she is campaigning for the Batley and Spen by-Election.
It is not difficult to understand what is happening within the Labour Party. The article that publishes the decision made by the Labour Party regarding a motion about sanctions on Israel indicates that such if the fear of the Leadership of the Labour Party about the issue of Anti-Semitism that the Labour Party is very much willing to ignore violations of human rights and the killing of men, women and children as long as there are no more accusations about Anti-Semitism. The article also indicates that a vast number of Labour Party supporters (the non-violent BDS (Boycot Divest and Sanctions) movement backed by large swathes of Labour members) do not agree with the stances of Keir Starmer on the issue of Palestine and violation of human rights.
https://bdsmovement.net/ The BDS movement works to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with International Law.
Keir Starmer as Labour Party Leader has sought to salvage the Labour Party and after each electoral defeat he has produced yet another reshuffle. With each reshuffle his power base is shrinking. He is not only not listening to voters. He is not listening to members of his own party. Not only that. He is preventing members of his own political party from expressing valid points of view. It might come the time when his popularity ratings with voters in general will be at the same level of his popularity within the Labour Party.
Two questions arise about his own political survival: how long will he be Labour Party Leader? Will he be Labour Party Leader at the time of the next General Election? I do believe that the next General Election will take place in 2024. Speculation about an advanced General Election seem to have come to an end with events linked to the departure of Matt Hancock as Health Secretary.
What is certain is that the image of the Labour Party as defender of Human Rights has been wiped out by Keir Starmer. He, the man who used to be a star Director of Public Prosecutions, is now under scrutiny.
Andrew Rawnsley writing on The Guardian says: Starmer's enthusiasm while DPP for using mundane news events to feed the press with rightwing talking points is a possible concern for Labour members. If such a leader was faced with news of an injustice in the future - the consequence of a change to immigration rules,say, or of a strike in public services - Starmer's approach to the press as DPP might raise worries that he would not give a principled defence of the victims but would tell the press whatever it wanted to hear.
The description made by Andrew Rawnsley clearly explains the fact that Keir Starmer instead of choosing the hard way of standing against violations of Human Rights has chosen the easy way of opting for what is convenient instead of opting for what is proper and difficult. Little consideration has been given to the predicament Kim Leadbeater could face in Batley and Spen.
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