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    Andrew Marr today Archived Message

    Posted by George Brennan on February 24, 2019, 3:10 pm

    Like old times.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002twf

    On Andrew Marr today journalistic punditry ran from Centre to Right, Kevin Mcguire to Amanda Patel. Honoured MPs were Heidi Alexander and the martyrd Luciana Berger, who was backed up by the esteemed oracle and anti-Corbyn saboteur Tom Watson. As the world must know, Berger had been subjected to a torrent of anonymous online abuse which, if police findings are anything to go on, has mainly come from the right. Watson said that Luciana had been pushed out of the party by a few leftwing racist thugs in Wavertree CLP. Marr accepted his word for it that Corbyn had “patently” not done enough to correct endemic Anti-Semitism. That Labour anti-semitism is is endemic and prevalent and overlooked is for Marr something that requires no further evidence than the say-so of PLP worthies. The say-so of a PLP worthy is in fact for him the very gold standard of evidence. The questions raise by Prof Harvey Goldstein could not even find room to form themselves in his head.

    Heidi was asked where she stood on nationalisation of the railways, on taxing the rich and on ending Osbornite neoliberalism. Knowing these things were popular with the public, Heidi said the pragmatic Centre would defer judgement until it had looked at ”the evidence” Knowing these things were unpopular with Anna Soubrey, Luciana said the new group would defer judgment until it had established common Values. According to Luciana, The New Politics is not about policy, its about Values. Among PLP worthies, any talk about Values has invariably been the first resort of the scoundrel. I remember how my young heart sank when Blair announced that New Labour and Bill Clinton would share “Common Values”

    Marr could not avoid pressing the MPs on the popular demand that they should face a by-election. Luciana gave her say-so that she had evidence that “her constituents” did not want her to do so. The say-so of a PLP personage has for Marr, repeat, always counted as the very definition of evidence. But he had creditably put the question in terms of people knocking on doors, the very people Luciana has allowed to be traduced in the MSM as racist thugs. I detect in his question the influence of Chris Williamson the only lucid and forthright voice that speaks from from the green benches on behalf of the mass membership. Humble Wavertree canvassers may regret having allowed the sympathy due to any victim of rightwing or sectarian abuse to deter them from pressing for that No Confidence vote. Politically, Luciana Berger is rubbish.

    gb

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