Anthony McIntyre's Blog, page 1212

Corbyn Must Not Be Hounded Out Of Office

Mick Hall @ Organized Rage argues that:

What ever happens on June 8, the Blairites, columnist glitterati, TV talking heads, and media oligarchs must not be allowed to hound Corbyn out of office


Win or loose after the general election there will be an attempt by the Blairites to remove Jeremy Corbyn from the leadership. Almost unbelievably this process has already started even though we are in the midst of a general election campaign. Last weekend Tom Baldwin a former LP press officer, appeared on ITV's Peston show and not only attacked Corbyn as unfit to lead the party, he also ridiculed on air Emily Thornberry, the senior shadow cabinet minister when she announced Labour would tax those who earn more than 80K a year.

It's worth noting Baldwin, and his wife an heiress are close friends of Alastair Campbell, the Blairite author of the dodgy dossier on Saddam's WMDs. The wealthy couple apparently live in a house on Highbury Fields, North London, worth in the region of £4 million. Like most of the leading Blairites they believe an 80K a year income is small change. So it is hardly surprising they side with the few not the many.

Before that the ever opportunistic Sion Simon was doing the media rounds blaming Corbyn for his defeat in the West Midlands metro mayor contest. Never mind Simon is one of the Blairite candidates who have whitewashed Corbyn off their election leaflets and refused to campaign alongside him. Having what they call 'a local strategy' which in reality means disowning the party's leader from their campaigns.

After 8th of June win or lose it's imperative Corbyn stays on as party leader as he has been targeted by the mainstream media (MSM) and their creatures within the LP in a most dishonest and dangerous way. These bullies, braggarts, TV talking heads, and media oligarchs must not be allowed to negate the will of the LP membership.

As Roy Greenslade, not a Corbyn supporter wrote:

Corbyn has not been given a free pass.[unlike May] None of his mistakes has been excused. There was no honeymoon period after Labour members elected him against the wishes of the majority of the parliamentary party. The split, a yawning chasm, in fact, was an invitation to the press to do its worst.

And I’m not only referring to rightwing newspapers. Mainstream media as a whole took its gloves off and Corbyn’s electoral hopes have been doomed from day one. He was “a great leap backwards”, said the Mail. Beware this “absurd Marxist”, said the Express, while the Daily Telegraph referred to his “divisive ideology” and “atavistic hostility to wealth and success”. And the Sun? It just called him “bonkers.”There was scepticism too from the liberal left. The Independent thought he would not persuade middle England to accept his policies. Neither the Daily Mirror nor the Guardian greeted him with open arms.

Meanwhile, the overall anti-Corbyn agenda, repeated week upon week and month after month, was one that broadcasters were unable to overlook, despite their belief in balance and adherence to impartiality.[sic] News bulletin reports reflected the headlines. Current affairs programmes picked up on the themes. That’s how media narratives are constructed.

I am not saying that this criticism has not been deserved. I am merely pointing to its existence and that the resulting outcome at the ballot box has therefore been a foregone conclusion. Recent television vox pops, which are so rarely a reliable barometer of public opinion, have betrayed the depth of the anti Corbyn climate.

What we have been witnessing since late 2015 is a concerted attempt to bury Jeremy because he offers a real alternative to the neoliberal status quo, something which has been absent from the government and opposition benches at Westminster for decades.

If they succeed in removing Jeremy, who will represent the working classes, and those least able to defend themselves? who will protect them from the ravages of the free market, who will voice their fears and hopes? If it's not a Corbyn led Labour Party it will not be long before that space is filled by unsavory elements on the far right. They have already been circling. Today's not like 1997 when the Blairites first came to power the British economy was on the rise. Today it's on the skids.

Only Corbyn Labour offers real alternatives to the right wing neoliberal agenda propagated by both the Tories and the Blairites. Beyond the bluster of the stump both agree on globalisation, free markets, austerity, a privatised health care system, and so called humanitarian intervention which allows the writ of the US political, media, and industrial complex to run wild across the world.

Corbyn must be defended vigorously as party leader: this is not about one man, it's about much more than that. It's about defending a belief there is a better way of governing this nation. It doesn't have to be the Tory or Blairite way. There is a third socialist way and it's due to his sheer tenacity that this is now back on the national agenda

If we manage to keep Jeremy in place the Blairites will eventually up and leave. Jeremy is not a young man. In time, and in an orderly way, he will hand the flame of socialist renewal to a new generation and it will be for them to build a land worth living in, not as it is now for millions of our citizens a life of drudgery and want, of merely existing.

As to the result on June 8 we shall see, but whatever it is turning the Labour Party ship around was always going to be a long game.



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Cardinal George Pell Accused Of Sexual Abuse

A piece in  Atheist Republic by Lena M on a new book about Australian cardinal, George Pell.

Photo Credits: Huffington Post
A new book, Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell, claims that the most senior figure in the Australian Catholic church, Cardinal George Pell, sexually abused two choirboys at St Patrick’s cathedral in Melbourne. Cardinal Pell has now been accused of abusing boys at three stages of his career: as a seminarian, a priest and as archbishop of Melbourne. The cardinal willingly co-operated with the detectives of the Victoria police when they interviewed him in Rome in October last year.

Three months ago, investigators from Victoria police have delivered their brief of evidence relating to Cardinal George Pell to the Department of Public Prosecutions for consideration. Besides these allegations, Sano has also investigated allegations that as a young priest Pell abused boys in the swimming pool of his hometown of Ballarat. Pell also denies these allegations.

The description of the book reads:

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse has brought to light horrific stories about sexual abuse of the most vulnerable and provoked public anger at the extent of the cover-up. George Pell has always portrayed himself as the first man in the Church to tackle the problem. But questions about what the Cardinal knew, and when, have persisted. The nation's most prominent Catholic is now the subject of a police investigation into allegations spanning decades that he too abused children. Louise Milligan is the only Australian journalist who has been privy to the most intimate stories of complainants.

Cardinal Pell’s office issued a statement on Saturday saying the cardinal had:

not been notified by the Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions or Victoria police of the status of their investigations, which have been underway since at least February 2016. He repeats his vehement and consistent denials of any and all such accusations, and stands by all the evidence he has given to the royal commission.

Two boys were students at St Kevin’s College and sang in the cathedral choir. After being allegedly abused by the archbishop, they left the choir and the school. Milligan, the author of the book, claims one of the choirboys died of a drug overdose in 2014. His mother was subsequently told by the second boy that they had been abused by Pell when they were teenagers at the cathedral.

In February this year the Australian senate called on the cardinal to return home “to assist the Victorian police and office of public prosecutions with their investigation into these matters.” No charges have ever been laid against him in relation to them.

Manchester – Don’t Look Back In Anger

Sean Mallory with some thoughts in the wake of the Manchester Massacre.

On Thursday in Manchester centre, the thousands who gathered for a silent vigil were interrupted by one woman when she began to sing Don't Look Back in Anger by Oasis ... the crowd joined in.

An image has appeared on social media which depicts 'Love from Manchester' on a laser-guided Paveway bomb, written by an RAF crew seemingly at an RAF air base in Cyprus used in airstrikes against ISIS. The British Ministry of defence has confirmed its authenticity.

Take Robert Fisk:

Counterbalancing cruelty is no response, of course. Just a reminder ... why not pop into Manchester’s central library in St Peter’s Square and ask for Elsa Marsten’s The Compassionate Warrior or John Kiser’s Commander of the Faithful or, published just a few months ago, Mustapha Sherif’s L’Emir Abdelkader: Apotre de la fraternite? They are no antidotes for sorrow or mourning. But they prove that Isis does not represent Islam and that a Muslim can earn the honour of the world.

George McBrearty 36th Anniversary

University College Cork Vote In Favour Of Campaigning For A United Ireland

Students in the University of Cork/Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh have voted in favour of campaigning for a United Ireland. Marc Barry who is a student at the University has written this piece about the campaign and how he and the other students held a referendum on the matter.


On the 6th and 7th of March there was a referendum in UCC for students. It stated: “Should UCC Students’ Union campaign in favour of a United Ireland? Students were asked to give a “Yes” or “No” response to the motion. The campaign manager was Kate Kelly, who led a committee and although members of this committee were affiliated to various political parties, this group was strictly non-partisan.

We brought this campaign to a referendum to UCC students as we felt the issue of Irish unity should be addressed by our Students’ union. As a result of the campaign our Students’ union is now mandated to campaign for a United Ireland. We see it as a necessity that our Students’ Union recognises issues and campaigns from an all-Ireland perspective. We felt that the only way students’ needs can truly be addressed is by firstly achieving the Ireland we want to live in – one based on equality and fairness. This can only be realized by the reunification of Ireland. Now the Students’ union can begin to bring the issue of Irish unity to the discussion table, and begin to lobby on behalf of student’s who voted in favour of Irish unity.

The referendum was held in conjunction with the UCC Students’ Union annual student elections. 3949 votes were cast from a student population of nearly 19,000. The “Yes” response received 63% of the total votes.

Within a week UCC, UCD and NUIG referendums for Irish Unity have passed resoundingly.

The 1916 Societies as a group take great inspiration for the students in Cork and other Universities around the Country that have campaigned and held similar referendums with great effect.

This sort of grassroots activism, in where students organise proactive campaigns at their own behest, has been to the forefront of social agitation and core to securing the rights of the oppressed in anti-imperialist struggle down through the decades. As seen in the African American Civil rights movement as well as the Civil Rights movement here in Ireland in the Six Counties and the fight for civil rights in the Gaeltacht, ‘Gluaiseacht na Gaeltachta’.

The 1916 Societies have been campaigning for past number of years for an ‘All Ireland Referendum on Irish Unity’ in which the island of Ireland vote as one unit and without outside influence from those with no mandate on this island. Rather than the ‘Border Poll’ as proposed by some, in which the island is segregated long partitionist lines and vote is gerrymandered in favor of the Unionist minority on the island.

So it is refreshing to see others strike up similar initiatives, we hope this sort of campaigning garners a lot more momentum and a more comprehensive ‘National Campaign’ is formed of the back of this for ‘National Self Determination’.

How Those Killed Will Be Missed

Maryam Namazie with her first thoughts on the Manchester Massacre.
From Sulaymaniyah to Manchester – grief and solidarity against hate


I returned today from Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan after speaking at the founding Congress of Enlightenment Feminism (more of this soon).
The city – next to Iran and not far from Daesh held territories – is a testament to the fight against Islamist terrorism and for secularism and a renewed enlightenment.

There, people mourn their children and loved ones lost but keep on fighting for those still living. I returned to London only to find that Manchester was mourning its children.

The grief is unbearable in both cities – as in many cities worldwide – but the fight against hate and for human solidarity is too great to defeat – no matter how many acts of terrorism.

It may sound cliché, but our common humanity and solidarity will conquer all.

How those killed will be missed…

National March Against Internment 2017

An Anti Internment League announcement of their upcoming annual march against Internment.







The Anti Internment League are pleased to announce that the 2017 National March Against Internment will take place this year on Sunday 6th August.

We shall assemble at Ardoyne Avenue at 11am and March through North Belfast, the City Centre and to the heart of the Falls Road at Dunville Park.

The AIL hereby publicly invite all political, human rights, trade union, community, youth, sporting, cultural and prisoner welfare organisations to attend and demonstrate their opposition to the continuing use of internment by remand, via revocation of licence and through miscarriage of justice - both by Britain and the 26 County Administration.

Any flute or pipe bands interested in attending can private message The AIL Facebook page and an invite will be forthcoming.

Why The Labour Party Was Formed

Mick Hall argues in Organized Rage that:
The LP was formed to fight against oppression and want not to support capitalist exploitation


We don't usually post articles from church of England vicars but I've made an exception for Giles Fraser, the parish priest at St Mary's, Newington, south London. He is spot on when he writes:

Listening to Marine Le Pen attack Emmanuel Macron for being a creature of global finance is a reminder of a disturbing feature of modern political life: the extent to which the attack upon capitalism has migrated from the left to the right.

This is why so many supporters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon are finding it so difficult to vote for either Le Pen or Macron in tomorrow's Presidential election; and I can understand why for both are on the right politically. The only real difference is Macron will be less harsh against immigrants who already live in France than Le Pen, But both given half a chance will blow to kingdom come their family members who still reside in Syria. Both will be a willing tool of big business, it just Marine prefers home based corporations while Emmanuel will welcome all comers thus it's hardly surprising they both vigorously oppose organised labour.




As Giles Fraser writes:


Giles Fraser There was a time, not so very long ago, when it was widely accepted that the job of the left was to explain how free-market capitalism is bad for the poor and bad for social cohesion more generally. The left was supposed to show that in free markets, wealth doesn’t trickle down, it bubbles up. That trusting the invisible hand to spread wealth all round is like trusting bankers to share their bonuses with their neighbours. And, moreover, that inequalities of wealth created by the free-market system creates a society profoundly ill at ease with itself. This is why socialists have always believed in the public ownership of the means of production and of the major public services. Markets and money should exist to serve people, not the other way round. The importance of democratic socialism is that it uses the power of the ballot box to assert the will of people over the will of capital.

The EU debate, now breaking out all over Europe, has flushed out the extent to which the so-called left, now overrun by liberalism, has largely abandoned this historical position. In this country, the liberal left now believes that support for the single market and economic free trade is the very thing that distinguishes them from a so-called hard Tory Brexit. This is an astonishing change of position. It used to be obvious to democratic socialists that the terms of international trade should be set not by the market alone but also by democratically elected governments subject to the will of their electorates. But the liberal left, perhaps not trusting how ordinary people (as opposed to more enlightened economic “experts”) might vote, thinks that trade should be free of the irritating interventions of democratic accountability. They want it to be frictionless – an irritating euphemism that ultimately means: not subject to will of the people.

Jeremy Corbyn aside, one of the tragedies of the leftwing abandonment of its traditional suspicion of capitalism is that the far right has now filled the vacuum. It understands that the bubbling resentment of rundown estates and forgotten seaside towns can be harnessed and turned against foreigners and Islam as well as the liberal capitalist establishment.

This, of course, only serves to secure in the minds of the liberal left how dangerous it was in the first place to challenge the basic premise of capitalism: the freedom of money to go where it will, unimpeded, untaxed, unbothered. What a topsy-turvy political world we now inhabit. Squint your eyes and it almost looks as though the left has become the right, and the right has become the left.

It is not that working class people nor the best of the middle classes have adhered to this pro capitalist idea in any great numbers, its been an ideological leadership within the Liberal Democrats and New Labour who have succumbed to reactionary right wing strategies.

We witnessed it when the Orange Book liberals entered a coalition with the Tories, something which would have been anathema to LibDem leaders like David Steel and Charles Kennedy. It has to be said New Labour paved the way when Tony Blair eagerly picked up the market knows best banner when he removed Clause IV from the party's constitution and turned it from a democratic socialist party into a left of centre liberal party which allowed socialists to continue within it as long as they did not get to uppity and towed the leadership line come election day.
It was this cosy leadership club which out of the blue Jeremy Corbyn's election as leader broke a sunder. The fact the Blairites and their useful idiots never saw it coming just shows how out of touch with the party membership they had become.

Giles Fraser continues:

Perhaps a word about terminology is helpful, because liberalism is a slippery idea. Liberals are distinguished above all by their belief in freedom – the freedom to be who you want to be (social liberalism) and the freedom to make and keep as much money as you want (economic liberalism) existing on the same continuum. As much as possible, the state should not stand in the way of, or make any sort of judgment about, the wants and desires of free individuals. But what liberals don’t see, or don’t want to see, is that their little individual freedoms are also collectively responsible for the boarded-up shops of Walsall and the disintegration of communities such as mine in south London.

Even if you disagree with my take on liberalism, you might accept that this broad analysis leaves the Labour party in serious trouble, its traditional alliance between socialists and social liberals at an unhappy end. Like many failed marriages, it struggles on because each side fears the other will get control of the house. But for the good of the country, we need a party that represents the anger at what the City has done and freely continues to do to this country. Otherwise that anger will look for other places to express itself. And then, heaven help us, we will have our own Ms Le Pen.

Giles hits the nail on the head when he concludes with this:

Even if you disagree with my take on liberalism, you might accept that this broad analysis leaves the Labour party in serious trouble, its traditional alliance between socialists and social liberals at an unhappy end. Like many failed marriages, it struggles on because each side fears the other will get control of the house. But for the good of the country, we need a party that represents the anger at what the City has done and freely continues to do to this country. Otherwise that anger will look for other places to express itself. And then, heaven help us, we will have our own Ms Le Pen.

After the June 8 election, win or loose the LP will in my view split asunder, the two wings of the party left or right cannot continue to cohabitant, as their core beliefs are total opposites, what we have been witnessing since 2015 is a fight over the spoils of the British Labour Party.



How strange that capitalism’s noisiest enemies are now on the right

Giles Fraser




* Clause 4: "To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service."

Vigil In Solidarity With Palestinian Hunger Strikers

Vigil In Solidarity With Palestinian Hunger Strikers
Garvaghy Road, Portadown

Join Historic Conference On Free Expression And Conscience

Maryam Namazie with news on an upcoming International Conference on Freedom of Conscience and Expression in the 21st Century Saturday and Sunday 22-24 July 2017,  Central London, UK.

Buy Tickets Today No Tickets Sold At The Door

See Exciting Article Here.

Join notable free-thinkers from around the world for a weekend of discussions and debates on freedom of conscience and expression in the 21st century at a spectacular venue in central London during 22-23 July 2017.

On 24 July, an activist strategy meeting will be followed by body-painting in support of ex-Muslims, which will be open to the public.

The two-day conference will discuss censorship and blasphemy laws, freedom of and from religion, apostasy, the limits of religion’s role in society, LGBT and women’s rights, atheism, secular values and more.

Speakers from countries or the Diaspora as diverse as Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Canada, Egypt, France, India, Iran, Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan, Ireland, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, Tunisia, UK, Ukraine, US and Yemen will gather in London to defend freedom of conscience and expression and argue that freedoms are not western but universal.

The conference will highlight the voices of people on the frontlines of resistance – many of them persecuted and exiled – as well as address challenges faced by activists and freethinkers, elaborate on the links between democratic politics and free expression and conscience, promote secular and rights-based alternatives, and establish priorities for collective action.

Art and culture will be integral to the event as will lively debate with the dauntless use of the free word.

Confirmed Distinguished Speakers:
A C Grayling, Philosopher
Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, Egyptian Feminist Activist
Alya Al-Sultani, British-Iraqi Vocalist and Composer
Ani Zonneveld, Founder and President of Muslims for Progressive Values
Annie Laurie Gaylor, Co-President of the Freedom From Religion Foundation
Armin Navabi, Founder of Atheist Republic
Aryan Arian, Photographer/Filmmaker
Asher Fainman, President of Goldsmiths Atheist Society
Benjamin David, Editor-in-Chief of Conatus News
Bonya Ahmed, Activist, Writer and Blogger at Mukto-Mona
Cemal Knudsen Yucel, Co-Founder and Chair of Ex-Muslims of Norway
Chris Moos, Secular Activist
Damon Conlan and Neil Edwards, Magicians
Dan Barker, Co-President of the Freedom From Religion Foundation
Dave Silverman, President of American Atheists
Deeyah Khan, Filmmaker
Djemila Benhabib, Author and Activist
Elham Manea, Yemeni-born Author and Human Rights Campaigner
Ex-Muslims of Sri Lanka Delegation
Fariborz Pooya, Bread and Roses TV Presenter and Editor
Fauzia Ilyas, Founder of Atheist & Agnostic Alliance Pakistan
Gina Khan, One Law for All Spokesperson
Gita Sahgal, Director of Centre for Secular Space
Gona Saed, Co-Founder of Kurdistan Secular Centre
Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Award-winning Playwright
Halima Begum, Ex-Muslim Feminist Researcher and Blogger
Hanifullah Wais, Afghan Civil Society Activist and Human Rights Defender
Hassan Radwan, Agnostic Muslim Khutbahs blog
Houzan Mahmoud, Culture Project Co-Founder
Imad Iddine Habib, Founder of Council of Ex-Muslims of Morocco
Inna Shevchenko, FEMEN Leader
Iram Ramzan, Journalist and Founder of Sedaa
Ismail Mohamed, Egyptian Atheist and Founder of Black Ducks Talk Show
Jane Donnelly, Atheist Ireland’s Human Rights Officer
Jimmy Bangash, LGBT Ex-Muslim Activist
Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship
Karima Bennoune, UN Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights
Karrar D. Al Asfoor, Co-founder of Atheist Alliance Middle East and North Africa
Kate Smurthwaite, Comedian
Kenan Malik, Author and Broadcaster
London Humanist Choir
Maajid Nawaz, Founding Chairman of Quilliam Foundation
Marieme Helie Lucas, Algerian Sociologist and Founder of Secularism is a Women’s Issue
Maryam Namazie, Iranian-born Rights Activist, Writer and Conference Organiser
Mazen Abou Hamdan, Co-Founder of Freethought Lebanon
Michael Nugent, Atheist Ireland’s Chairperson
Mohammed Alkhadra, Founder of Jordanian Atheists Group
Nadia El Fani, Tunisian Filmmaker
Nasreen Rehman, Co-Founder and Chair of British Muslims for Secular Democracy
Nina Sankari, Polish Secular Activist
Noura Embabi, Muslim-ish President
Peter Tatchell, Human Rights Campaigner
Pragna Patel, Director of Southall Black Sisters
Rahila Gupta, Writer and Journalist
Rana Ahmad, Head of the RDF Arab Atheist Community
Rayhana Sultan, #ExMuslimBecause
Richard Dawkins, Author and Scientist (subject to availability)
Sadia Hameed, Spokesperson of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain
Sanal Edamaruku, Founder and President of Rationalist International
Sarah Haider, Co-founder of Ex-Muslims of North America
Sarah Peace, Nigerian Artist and Director of Fireproof Library
Savin Bapir Tardy, Lecturer in Psychology at UWL
Shabana Rehman, Performance Artist and Human and Animal Rights Advocate
Shelley Segal, Singer/Songwriter
Tasneem Khalil, Swedish-Bangladeshi Journalist and Editor of Independent World Report
Teresa Gimenez Barbat, MEP, Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and Euromind
Victoria Gugenheim, Award-winning Body Artist
Waleed Al Husseini, Palestinian Writer and Founder of Council of Ex-Muslims of France
Yasmin Rehman, Women’s Rights Campaigner
Yasmine Mohammed, Confessions of an ExMuslim
Zehra Pala, President of Atheism Association of Turkey
Zineb El Rhazoui, Moroccan-born Author

Read More About Our Distinguished Speakers.

Saturday Day Delegate Rate: £85
Sunday Day Delegate Rate: £85
Sunday Dinner with Entertainment: £65
Saturday and Sunday Day Delegate Rate: £170

Full Conference Ticket Including Saturday And Sunday Day Delegate Rate, Cocktails, And Dinner With Entertainment : £230 unwaged; £260 waged; £350 organisations

All tickets must be purchased beforehand. No tickets will be sold at the door.

Organisations/vendors can book stalls for the two-day conference for a flat rate of £500.

For more information, contact:
Maryam Namazie
maryamnamazie@gmail.com
Tel: +44 (0)7719166731
www.secularconference.com

The conference is sponsored by: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe; Atheist International Alliance; Bread and Roses TV; Center for Inquiry; Centre for Secular Space; Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain; Culture Project; Euromind; Equal Rights Now; Fitnah; Freedom from Religion Foundation; National Secular Society; One Law for All; Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science; Southall Black Sisters; Secularism is a Women’s Issue, amongst others.