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*Thread* Jeremy Corbyn isn’t the only Labour MP who has time for the discredited “Stop the War Coalition” (StWC). Tomorrow his Islington comrade Claudia Webbe will chair another event. It will attack our military spending. 1/
This is another typical stopper episode. Consider the speaker Danièle Obono, a far-left French politician.
When terrorists slaughtered the staff of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, she made a point of refusing to join the huge solidarity march that followed. 2/13
When terrorists slaughtered the staff of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, she made a point of refusing to join the huge solidarity march that followed. 2/13
She did this even though, as she says here, “the march was backed by every single left organisation under the sun”. 3/13 https://www.counterfire.org/interview/17638-daniele-obono-the-french-left-after-the-charlie-hebdo-attacks
In 2017, Obono spoke up for Houria Bouteldja, a highly controversial figure in the "decolonialist" Parti des Indigènes de la République (PIR, Party of the Indigenous of the Republic). 4/13 https://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/le-scan/2017/11/06/25001-20171106ARTFIG00053-daniele-obono-critiquee-pour-sa-defense-d-une-responsable-des-indigenes-de-la-republique.php
Asked if Bouteldja saying “the Jews are the shields, the skirmishers of imperialist French politics and its Islamophobic politics” was racist, Obono replied “I don’t know”. She also called Bouteldja a “comrade” and said she respected the “militant anti-racist”. 5/13
That interview prompted sharp rebukes even inside her own far-left party, Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La France Insoumise (France Unbowed).
Its defence and international affairs spokesman said “I do not support Houria, spokesperson of the PIR, a racialist, antisemitic and... 6/13
Its defence and international affairs spokesman said “I do not support Houria, spokesperson of the PIR, a racialist, antisemitic and... 6/13
...communitarian party opposed to the values of the Republic”.
As the controversy escalated, Obono’s party leader Mélenchon weighed in, saying Bouteldja’s remarks were “a well-known antisemitic statement”. 7/13 https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/politique/lfi/melenchon-met-les-choses-au-clair-avec-le-parti-des-indigenes-de-la-republique_1959277.html
As the controversy escalated, Obono’s party leader Mélenchon weighed in, saying Bouteldja’s remarks were “a well-known antisemitic statement”. 7/13 https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/politique/lfi/melenchon-met-les-choses-au-clair-avec-le-parti-des-indigenes-de-la-republique_1959277.html
Obono started another firestorm in 2017 by saying she supported a teachers’ union initiative to hold workshops that were segregated by race. Once again, fellow party representatives objected. One said if this initiative went ahead, “we have lost”. 8/13 https://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/le-scan/2017/11/24/25001-20171124ARTFIG00103-contrairement-a-ses-collegues-insoumis-daniele-obono-defend-les-stages-non-mixtes.php
Another said “If one wants to deal with the issue of racism, it’s not by triage of people at the entrance to a union meeting”. 9/13
These stories make Obono an ideal person for a “Stop the War” meeting. It is a tiny and nasty fringe group, rejected by many on the mainstream left as well as the centre and the right.
For Corbynistas, though, it is the infallible vanguard. 10/13
For Corbynistas, though, it is the infallible vanguard. 10/13
Indeed, Claudia Webbe herself is disliked in her own party. She was parachuted from Islington council into Leicester East by the fanatics, prompting the local party chairman to resign in fury at what he called “a fix and a disgrace”. 11/13 https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/local-labour-chair-quits-party-over-fix-after-jeremy-corbyn-ally-chosen-to-replace-keith-vaz
For his part, a local councillor said the selection move "sends entirely the wrong message and is an insult to the people I come from. It shows just how little the Labour party values and respects the Indian community, particularly Hindus and Sikhs." 12/13
Corbynistas are keen on “open selections”, where people can harry MPs they don’t like. I would urge them, in the spirit of public service, to focus on Leicester East. Backing ugly stopper nonsense is surely the last priority of the good people of the constituency right now. 13/13
