The antisemitism row in the Labour party continues with Dame Margaret Hodge has launched a blistering attack on the Labour leadership suggesting that the antisemitism row would only end if Jeremy Corbyn stood aside. Now as I mentioned in previous posts any form of religious discrimination or bigotry is utterly unacceptable and should be called out/eliminated from our politics and our society. However, what I also consider to be utterly reprehensible is the following;
a) for politicians to use this subject matter of faith to achieve political ends like the call for Corbyn to step down as the ultimate solution to end the row.
b) that we continue to see lobbyist & advocacy groups – of any form – influencing our Democracy.
As far as I am concerned issues of faith in terms of discrimination & bigotry should be treated equal and should NOT requires special advocacy groups/lobbyists for one side or another that have no accountability or for politicians to shape policy that’s not in line with their mandate towards the electorate. If there is indeed an issue in Labour about this issue it should be debated/investigated within the party and not in the media. I am no fan of Jeremy Corbyn for so many reasons – but there are appropriate mechanisms that allow a fair judgement based on facts not reactionary rhetoric and media punch lines.
As for the definition of the term “antisemitism” I believe that in a Democracy definitions should not follow any political and/or religious lobbyist (internal or external) and should instead be based on an independent definition one that conforms with our own values/policy and if both “happen” to intersect so be it. At the very least these issues should be publicly debated and not drawn through back doors because these are issues that are consequential in terms of the values that we stand for as a nation whether it be in relation to internal social order/cohesion or when foreign conflicts are affected.
It is precisely this reason that led me to write a petition – link below – about the importance of protecting our Democracy from the overreach of Opportunistic Politics some of our politicians like to engage in as well as lobbyists & special interest groups something that has become a norm in present day British politics when nothing is normal about it in a Democracy. The fact that this petition did not get much traction suggests to me that possibly we’re not yet ready for solutions that are inline with our values or that maybe we’re saving up on values for the new generation 🙂
In my book any policy or entity designed to subvert our Democracy, divide our society or affect the sole allegiance to this country is not one I would keep in my book because these translate to eventually breaking our nation.
Related Article & Post
Antisemitism row: Hodge and Brown pile pressure on Corbyn
A Petition to Protect our Democracy from all forms of Subversive Influence