While we’re waiting on Jezza to pull his finger out and finally decide to reconstitute his ‘Peace & Justice Project’ into a new political party, he’s been busy still not getting over the 2019 election result. Yesterday yet another sore-loser interview was published, with the independent MP once again refusing any blame for Labour’s decimation, and accusing outlets like The Guardian and the BBC of outrageously focusing on his antisemitism crisis:
“I have absolutely no illusions in the Guardian, none whatsoever,” Corbyn tells me. “My mum brought me up to read the Guardian. She said, ‘It’s a good paper you can trust’. You can’t. After their treatment of me, I do not trust the Guardian.”
…
“He continues: “So was I surprised? No. And I’ve had to live with the behaviour of the Guardian ever since. But the Guardian is in a unique position because it is the paper most read by Labour Party members, is the most important in forming opinion on the centre and left in British politics. And they are very well aware of that, which is why I think an analysis of the Guardian’s treatment of the time that I was leader of the party needs to be made because they and the BBC had more unsourced reporting of anti-semitic criticisms surrounding me than any other paper, including the Mail, The Telegraph and the Sun.””
Off the back of this, the publisher, Declassified UK, makes the following incredibly misjudged assessment:
“The media assault on Corbyn during his tenure as Labour leader from 2015-20 will be recorded as perhaps the most intense political assassination in modern British history.”
An assessment Corbyn’s Peace & Justice Project clearly agrees with, actively picking the quote out when sharing the interview:
The most intense political assassination in modern British history.
— Peace & Justice Project (@corbyn_project) June 22, 2022
Read @jeremycorbyn's full interview with @declassifiedUK.
Join us: https://t.co/wjXVwdJ42xhttps://t.co/CDKP5qCbrU
Guido suspects the families of Jo Cox and Sir David Amess would disagree with the self-pitying hyperbole…
Even an old cynic like Guido had something in his eye after the tribute to Jo Cox from Rachel Reeves today.
— Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) June 20, 2016
After yesterday’s genuinely tear-jerking tributes in parliament, a media event has been organised tomorrow in Trafalgar Square in memory of Jo Cox. Corporate lobbyists Freuds are organising broadcast coverage and Alastair Campbell’s Portland are doing the press, after Bad Al spent the last three days making it about the referendum:
The freedom Britain needs is freedom from a nasty Brexit Lie Machine run by tax dodgers and multi-millionaire liars fuelling anger and hate
— ALASTAIR CAMPBELL (@campbellclaret) June 18, 2016
An emotional pull on the heart-strings on the eve of the referendum…
UPDATE: Portland ask us to point out that Bad Al is not involved in tomorrow’s event.
Debate this morning is turning to the security measures employed by MPs. Colleagues note that Jox Cox’s constituency surgery at Birstall Library yesterday was an “open surgery”. The time, date and location were advertised on her website:
Thursday 16th June – 1pm until 2pm
@ Birstall Library and Information Centre
Market Street, Birstall, WF17 9EN
Some MPs already refuse to hold open surgeries and do not publish times and locations, instead requiring constituents to make an appointment before they are given details. Expect more to follow – MPs tell Guido they want some level of vetting or checking of names against the electoral roll. This is a difficult square to circle – accessibility to MPs is important at a time when the public feel politicians are ever more out of touch. It makes Jo Cox’s openness all the more admirable…
If you speak to any MP, especially female MPs, they will have stories about intimidation and aggression they have faced at constituency surgeries. Most MPs will have had to get the police involved at some point. Guido has lost count of the number of staffers who have had physical altercations with lunatics at surgeries. One MP tells Guido that US Congressman are given police protection and they feel British MPs – particularly women MPs – should too. It is a crazy world, there will always be nutters in every constituency who harass MPs and their staff in person. It is difficult to legislate for – but expect new measures to be brought in following yesterday’s events…
Via @suttonnick
A great speech.
