‘Racist’ remark condemned by Labour Party ahead of mayoral count – BBC News

7 comments

1. For those who can’t be bothered reading, the (supposedly racist) remark was:

   > It’s the Middle East, not West Midlands, that will have won [Conservative candidate] Andy Street the mayoralty. Once again Hamas are the real villains

   This is because Muslim votes went to Akhmed Yakoob, a Galloway-endorsed candidate running on a Gaza-centric platform.

   Yakoob, for reference, is a lawyer with a big TikTok following. [Here’s a video](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6assBEAd-9/?igsh=MWI4ZmUzbnhsa2p0eg==) of him stating that he might be representing the Tate brothers (who he “really likes”) if they’re extradited from Romania.

2. Keir Starmer said “Israel has the right” to collectively punish millions of civilians by withholding food and water. (here’s him saying it just to avoid banal debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWPzXcNNDwI). Note this is a war-crime and breaks the Geneva convention.

   The idea that muslims (and non-muslims) have some sort of duty to vote for a Labour leadership who’d gladly see millions of them die is a bit psychotic.

   It’s also a bit psychotic to suggest non-muslims would *simply never have the right* to refuse to vote for labour over the leadership’s massive rightward shift and jump into the corporate pocket.

   Both positions are perfectly rational and sensible, although muslims are obviously going to feel more threatened.

3. I also remain baffled about how people think it’s a “single issue foreign policy vote”. The Labour party have literally jumped into the corporate pocket and offered a continuation of austerity, it’s hardly surprising many people are deciding not to vote for it.

   Also, Israel are currently in the ICJ for a plausible case of genocide. Keir Starmer has offered his unqualified support to Israel while millions of Brits have seen the videos of the slaughter of children and mental Jewish supremacist rhetoric from Israeli leaders, media pundits, and members of the public. It is a reflection of Keir Starmer’s value system and – if a person did use that as their justification to not vote for labour – then it seems like a perfectly rational human decision.

   Labour’s leadership have displayed their value system in many ways, but particularly with a view towards this conflict, and if people decide it’s not the kind of value system that makes society better in *other spheres including domestic policy* then I can’t blame them.

4. *”Let’s be brutally honest with ourselves. When you lose…you deserve to. You don’t look at the electorate and ask them: ‘What were you thinking?’ You look at yourself and ask: ‘What were we doing?’”*

   — Keir Starmer on the 2019 election.

   How things change!

   (the headline really doesn’t make it clear that the racist remark *came* from a labour party spokesperson)

5. Looks like Malcolm X was right about white liberals

   as long as they can convince you to vote based on fears of the right wing they will tolerate you. The moment you ask for something in return then you become a problem and a fair target.

   This genocide has has really shown how disingenuous the liberals were about there “anti racist” stance. the classic “those people over there in the blue ribbon call you paki’s but we dont so vote for us” dont work no more. Us British Pakistani’s are finally getting off the tea plantation

6. Muslims in the UK are voting for politicians based on their view on Gaza.

   If that doesn’t tell you where their true allegiances are.

7. People won’t be worried about this now: “Of course Muslims sympathise with the people of Gaza, why would they vote for Labour instead of someone who better portrays their views?” But I’d love to see the cope in a few years time when that same demographic is voting in politicians that hold hard-line Islamist views. Sectarianism was dead and buried, but now it’s back!