Another year, another war the hard left Corbynistas rally against. Old Jezza is back at it again, this time leading the cry against the UK and US’ military action in Yemen against the Islamist rebel Houthi group, blasting the government’s decision as “reckless“. A reminder: Houthi’s slogan is “God is great, death to the US, death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam.”
Fellow hard left Labour MPs have taken to social media to join Jeremy’s rallying cry against Sunak’s decision not to recall parliament and Starmer’s support for the strikes. Apsana Begum called the action “dangerous”, while Dianne Abbott has condemned Starmer for supporting the strikes. Kim Johnson and Claudia Webbe are among the names of Labour MPs blasting the strikes against the Houthis.
This isn’t new for Labour, back in 2019, Labour MP LLoyd Russell-Moyle was blasted by Jewish Labour groups for inviting a top Houthi figure to a Stop the War Coalition meeting in the Commons. Guido’s sure there will be more loony lefties attacking the strikes to come…
Jamie Driscoll, the Corbynista Mayor of North Tyne, who quit the Labour Party this summer due to Starmer “U-turning on so many policies“, has likened his independent mayoral bid to the 90’s TV show Gladiators. The self-confessed socialist is targeting £150,000 for the full campaign.
A co-conspirator sent the email he forwarded to supporters in the North East to rally the troops, comparing his campaign to the game show where contestants (himself) compete in a series of physically challenging events against the show’s resident ‘gladiators’. He noted that “the contestant often won.” He even likened Kier Starmer to the gladiator “Wolf“, warning that although the fight ahead would contain some “dirty tricks“, his supporters are like the “G-Force cheerleaders” in the TV show. It not the first time Driscoll has generously compared himself to iconic figures, in the summer he measured himself against Che Guevara…
Read the full email below:
One of the rare Corbynistas still standing in Starmer’s Labour, North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll, has quit the party. The now-independent mayor says he was given “no other choice” than to resign after he was barred from standing by party HQ and is promising to govern as a “common sense” voice for the people of Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland. In a scathing letter to Keir Starmer, Driscoll says the Labour Leader has “U-turned on so many policies” and is guilty of “mental gymnastics worthy of gold”.
Jamie’s decision doesn’t come lightly – Guido reported he was planning the move last week – and his revolution won’t be cheap. Before he commits to standing for re-election, he wants to ring round his supporters for £25,000 by August. The self-confessed socialist will then target £150,000 for the full campaign…
Co-conspirators can read Jamie’s letter in full below:
Since becoming Labour leader, Keir and his Starmtroopers have reasserted control over the party machinery – with Comrade Corbyn and Dianne Abbott the first to be purged. And one man, North of Tyne’s momentum mayor Jamie Driscoll, is determined to take a stand. ¡Viva la Revolución!
Jamie was barred from standing as a candidate back in June for the egregious crime of standing alongside film-maker Ken Loach, however he has made clear he’s not going to let himself be “controlled by Party HQ”. Speaking on Saturday at a “Grassroots Update“ event in Newcastle, Driscoll weighed up his options. After outlining the excessive costs of challenging the party internally, he hinted at an independent run. Nomination papers aren’t due until next March…
Jamie also alluded to the inspiration behind his revolutionary streak. Speaking to his adoring audience, he said:
“There was a time when Che Guevara, who was in the jungle with a few dozen other people, that led to actually taking power to make somewhere more egalitarian… you are the people.”
‘Bicycle diaries’ doesn’t quite have the same ring to it…
In October 2022, Guido secured the suspension of Labour councillor Theresa Norton, who had just been arrested for the fourth time as part of Just Stop Oil’s climate protests. Until Guido challenged the Labour press office, it looked like they were going to let her carry on, despite Sir Keir’s strong opposition to the disruptive demonstrations…
It’s now emerged, however, that Councillor Norton has decided to jump before she was pushed. While having the whip suspended during the investigation into her actions, she now tells her local paper that she’s made the decision to leave the party anyway because it’s not socialist enough for her.
“They asked me to qualify my actions.
“But rather than wait until January or February for them to make the decision, I chose to leave the party.
“As a socialist, I find that I needed something a bit more than what the Labour Party nationally are offering at the moment.
“I’m a true socialist and they’re not quite living up to my expectations of how a socialist government should perform.
Unfortunately, Scarborough Council is to be abolished in April of next year, so we won’t get to see how Norton’s extremist pro-crime politics would have fared at the ballot box. Just Stop Oil and their Extinction Rebellion comrades do seem rather allergic to democracy…
As SW1 and the media spin themselves into an immigration-fuelled frenzy, there is at least one inevitable outcome – lefty activists making performative protests.
Guido’s attention was drawn to one stunt, whereby protesters affixed a sign to a government building in Manston. They dubbed it the “Centre of Cruelty for Refugees”. The government building in question: a car park attendant’s office…
The protest, organised by Freedom from Torture, was essentially paid for by British taxpayers.
For funding, it counts the Ministry of Justice, The National Lottery Community Fund, Manchester and Newcastle City Councils and the Scottish Government Equalities and Social Cohesion Fund amongst its benefactors. With their funding, the group is really putting the public into publicity stunt.
This isn’t Freedom from Torture’s first example of questionably political activism, the group also boasts of a “campaign win” in making sure “no plane ever takes off to Rwanda”. They also, of course, count Jeremy Corbyn as a “long time supporter”.
Whether it contravenes government guidance will be a matter of argument. As a charity, it is entitled to a generous range of tax breaks. But with that comes obligations:
…political campaigning, or political activity … must be undertaken by a charity only in the context of supporting the delivery of its charitable purposes. Unlike other forms of campaigning, it must not be the continuing and sole activity of the charity.
Leaving that to the lawyers, the obvious question remains: why is the government funding groups that frustrate its own agenda?
