Porter’s Pensées

We are now asked to at least try to understand  the concerns of many British Jews’ – hopefully not a majority – about Jeremy Corbyn. But we already know the reason. It’s not really because they feel he’s an ‘existential’ threat to them – that is, to their very lives in Britain. By comparing Corbyn to the notorious 1960s racist Enoch Powell, or even to Hitler, critics like Lord Sacks and Margaret Hodge are making grotesque fools of themselves. That Corbyn is a racist of any kind is a ludicrous charge, which an intelligent people – and aren’t the Jews stereotypically supposed to be that? – should be able to see through easily.

In fact Jewish concerns have little at all to do with the situation of Jewry in Britain. Britain has nearly always been, and still is, one of the least anti-Semitic, and therefore safest, countries in the world for Jews to live and work in. Labour has generally gone along with this. That’s not what really worries Corbyn’s critics. Insofar as their concerns are about Jewry at all, and not merely a cynical excuse for Labour ‘moderates’ and the Right-wing press to get at him, it’s Corbyn’s criticisms of radical Zionism, which is basically a political  ideology, although arguably founded on racism (a ‘National Home for the Jews‘), that are at issue; together with his hostility to the current extreme Right-wing government of Israel; and his support for the Palestinian people who were originally dispossessed of their lands to make way for the state of Israel, are undergoing further dispossessions at the present time (the new ‘settlements’ on the West Bank), and are being systematically oppressed by the Israeli authorities in a number of ways, even in the lands – like Gaza and the West Bank – they are presently allowed to eke out a miserable existence on.

The over-the-top extremity of the attacks on Labour ‘antisemitism’ must surely backfire on Corbyn’s critics eventually, to the benefit of the Labour cause. Let’s hope it doesn’t backfire on the Jewish community as well, actually stirring up the antisemitism it is supposed to be directed against. (See https://bernardjporter.com/2018/08/01/6808/.) But it may also have another positive effect. Before it came up few people in Britain outside the Jewish community knew much about Israel, its history, its activities on its borders, and its subvert interference in British politics. (On that, see https://bernardjporter.com/2018/08/10/the-plot-revealed/.) Now they know a little more, at least; and also about the Palestinian cause which Corbyn has championed so consistently. That could redound to his credit, and to the discredit of those who are seeking to undermine him. It could be a dangerous game they’re playing.

Summer is quite short in Sweden. (About six weeks; though Kajsa insists seven weeks at least.) But you know when it has come to an end when all the repeats of Midsomer Murders on Swedish TV suddenly stop. I’m convinced that the BBC makes MM mainly for the Swedish market. It gives stay-at-home Swedes their idea of what modern England is like.

In that connexion, we (English) used to complain that MM was too ‘white’ (although that’s how English villages probably still are – blacks are urban), and full of silly women, like the original Barnaby’s wife Joyce. Now that’s changed a bit. You occasionally see a darker skin or two. The new Barnaby’s wife is a professional woman (a teacher). And some of the murderers, even, turn out to be women. Is that a nod in the direction of gender equality?

CORRECTION (2 Sept). There was a MM  on one of the obscurer channels last night;  the old series, featuring a (literally) bloody battle between two church choirs. How much more English can you get? All-white, Joyce as sweet and vulnerable as ever. Perhaps Channel 8 don’t know the summer is over?

I’ve posted about our (British) voting system before: https://bernardjporter.com/2016/02/29/first-past-the-post/. Here’s an interesting piece put out by STV, showing how the British and Swedish parliaments would look under each other’s systems. It’s in Swedish, but I’m sure you’ll cope.

https://www.svt.se/special/valsimulatorn-uk/

Of course, this doesn’t take on board the likelihood that British voters would vote in different ways if they had proportional representation. There would be fewer ‘wasted votes’, for example. And it would be easier to form new parties. – Incidentally, one of the main arguments in favour of our British (and US) ‘first past the post’ system, I remember, used to be that it produced more stable governments. That doesn’t seem to cut much ice today.

Tomorrow week we have our general election here in Sweden. It looks as if it will be close. We’ll see how it works out. My first impression of the electioneering on TV is that it’s far more polite and cerebral than in Britain. Also, of course duller, for those who would like their elections to draw blood. The election posters are dire – none of those ‘evil eyes’, or queues of Turks. Just a face and a milky-mild slogan. That’s good Swedish manners for you.

This is the best response to a Brexiteer I’ve read for a while. Author unknown, but copied by one Fiona Niedermayer and posted on Facebook.

“A private conversation with a brexiloon friend:

Keith [Anon.] – you said this:-

“John, the best you can look forward to is a Transition Period where not only can you mourn the loss of your beloved EUSSR, you can overcome your fear of change.
The worst you can look forward to is paying your taxes for the £350m/week, our laws being dictated by foreign eurocrats, no control of our borders/immigration, maybe the Euro, our military following the orders of foreign Eurocrats, buying OUR fish off Spanish trawlers, oh no I got that wrong, that is the best for you isn’t it. ”

Keith mate, you do seem determined to display your spectacular ignorance on what the European Union is – and how it works. The regurgitation of discredited slogans seems to be all you have – which is quite sad.

1). Beloved EUSSR..?
The only groups with connections to Russia are UKIP and Trump. How does it feel for you to be supporting a pathetically small UK political movement with connections to – and funding from Russia..? Does that make you a patriot..?
EUSSR my arse..!

2). “Paying your taxes for 350m/week”.
I happily pay my six quid a week for all the benefits that membership of the world’s richest and most powerful free trade area give me. The world’s premier free trade area, literally a footstep away. If you can’t afford the cost of a couple of pints just send me your bank details and I’ll cover it for you with a Standing Order.
Paying taxes for 350m/week my arse..!

3). “Laws dictated by foreign eurocrats”.
No laws are dictated by foreign Eurocrats Keith. We’ve had this conversation before haven’t we. Remember..? Remember when you thought you’d played a trump card by mentioning an obscure EU aviation safety directive which limited your overtime and/or earning power..? It was a safety directive Keith – for civil aviation safety. Remember when I pointed out which EU country had proposed this legislation..? That was funny wasn’t it..? The U.K. government was fully in support of this aviation SAFETY directive but you claimed it had been forced on us by the unelected bureaucrats of the unelected EUSSR. Your next card was the “Tampon Tax”. That was a cracker wasn’t it..? A tax on women’s sanitary products that is only imposed now because it was in force in the UK at the point we joined the EU. For the same reason, there is no Tampon Tax in Ireland because they never had it before they joined. Then you played your killer card:- the Working Time Directive. You actually claimed this WTO prevented anyone from working more than 48 hours a week. You really did think that didn’t you..? When I explained that the WTO prevented you from being FORCED to work more than 48 hours a week and proved it, you did astonishingly admit your error. Anyway mate – I see your point. Even though we sit at the top table with France and Germany AND we actually help to draught EU legislation AND we don’t have to adopt any laws if our sovereign parliament reject them, I suppose it’s fair to say that our laws are forced upon us by the unelected Eurocrats of the EUSSR.
Laws dictated by foreign eurocrats my arse..!

4). “No control of our border/immigration”.
That’s quite laughable isn’t it..? I came back from Lanzarote last week. I was in the queue for border control at Gatwick for almost an hour. Had my iris’s scanned and my digital passport checked before I was let in – and I’m White Caucasian Keith..! – although I was sporting a bit of a suntan. I also went to northern France for a few days last month. Had to show passports twice on the way out and twice again on the way back. I’m not even going to bother telling you about the EU regulation that states any EU citizen in the UK for more than 3 months can be told to prove they have the financial means to support themselves AND have private health insurance. It’s an EU law that applies to all 28 countries and is applied in almost all of them. Is the fact that our government don’t bother enforcing this rule the fault of the UK or the EU..?
No control of borders/immigration my arse..!

5).”Maybe the Euro”.
When the Euro was launched we could have joined at more that 1.70 Euro to the Pound. Now the exchange rate is 1.10 Euro to the Pound (if you’re lucky) and falling fast. Who are the mugs..?
Maybe the Euro my arse..!

6). “Our military following the orders of foreign Eurocrats”.
There has NEVER been an official EU proposal to form a EU army. What was proposed was a European Defence Force, with all member countries cooperating in the event of en external threat. This is a bad thing why..? Although I suppose if your allegiances are with Russia you’d be against it.
Our military following the orders of foreign Eurocrats my arse..!

7). “Buying OUR fish off Spanish trawlers”.
The UK is allocated about 30% of the EU’s total catch even though it has only 13% of the total sea area. The UK exports 45% of its catch. 80% of that quantity goes to EU countries. For example 90% of fish landed in Ramsgate are sold in the Boulogne Fish Market – for 15% more in value than they would get at home. When you visit North East Scotland you see vast European registered refrigerated trucks driving south and many don’t stop until they reach France or Spain. UK fishing vessels fish in the waters of other EU countries. In addition to wider sovereign waters fishing rights UK fishermen have rights within the 6-12 mile limit of four other member states: Ireland, Germany, France and the Netherlands. For example trawlers out of Brixham exploit the valuable scallop stocks in the Baie de Seine. Trawlers out of Peterhead fish in Dutch and German waters. Many of the foreign vessels fishing in UK waters do so because the companies that own them bought from UK fishermen and with them the right to fish.
Buying OUR fish off Spanish trawlers my arse..!

Seemingly unsatisfied with projecting spectacular ignorance of the workings of – and the reasons for the EU, you now seen to be intent of sharing your expert knowledge on the operation and rules of the WTO.
I’ve stocked-up with popcorn, so off you go.

p.s. I explained all these things to my dog and he seems to have a better grasp of the mechanisms of the EU than you – AND I only had to explain it all to him once. His name’s Rupert and he’s a twenty-one month old Black Lab. Can he contact you on my behalf..?”

Boris Johnson’s comparison of women in burkhas with pillar-boxes was impolitic, certainly, and could be regarded as worse than that if he was deliberately using it to garner support among racists for his bid to become leader of the Conservative party. But how was it ‘disrespectful’? And if so, so what? Why should we have more respect for ancient superstitions than for other ways of life and systems of belief? Can’t Muslims live with a bit of ribbing based on the unusual mode of dress of some of them; just as I had to for being made by my school to wear a ‘boater’ (a flat straw hat) in the summers, or my college to wear a mini-gown in the streets? Is their religion too fragile to allow them to deal with that? (As our pride in the sort of school and university we went to – a sort of religion in itself – was supposed to enable us to laugh off the abuse we got hurled at us in our boaters and gowns by the plebs.) Why should the feelings of burkha-wearing Muslims be regarded as particularly sensitive and important; something, indeed, that should be protected by law?

I have no love, or even ‘respect’, for Boris Johnson (look at how he was made to dress at Eton!); but in a free society insulting people on grounds of their religion should surely be as acceptable as satirising them on the grounds of their political beliefs. Otherwise what happens is that superstition simply gets a free run; with the sorts of terrible results the blessed Polly Toynbee writes about in the Guardian today: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/28/religion-ireland-catholicism-abusers. Tolerate religion, by all means – peacefully and as politely as you think it deserves; and there’s some good stuff there – but don’t privilege it.

The Sweden Democrats (or SD: Sweden’s UKIP), as well as wanting to withdraw from the EU, are also proposing to abolish the right to dual citizenship for Swedish nationals. If ‘duals’ still want to retain their Swedish passports, they’re going to have to give up their other nationalities. (See https://www.thelocal.se/20180827/dual-nationality-question-stirs-debate-in-sweden.)

Of course this will affect me, vitally. (I’m still up for joint-Swedish.) But more than this, it runs right against Sweden’s once-proud traditions of openness and internationalism. It indicates a very mean,  narrow and unrealistic view of ‘identity’, as if the Right can’t abide the idea of a person’s having more than one loyalty at a time.

But it’s only to be expected from far-Right exclusionary nationalists. I imagine that UKIP will come round to it soon – if they haven’t already. (Where would that leave Nigel’s German ex?- wife and children, I wonder?)

The SD could get a part in the next government, bolstering up a fragile centre-Right alliance, although up to now the latter have been rather snooty towards them. At present they poll at 19-20%. The election is on Sunday the 9^th. Kajsa is out distributing leaflets. (Not for the SD.) We’re hoping that the ‘Red-Greens’ will win. I’ll report on the result here.

PS. If I get my Swedish passport, and have to choose between the two of them, I’ll probably dump the British. Except that the Home Office will charge me £372 for renouncing my citizenship, which I find extraordinary. (See https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/691774/Nationality-MasterFeesLeaflet_2018_Final_06-04-18.pdf. It’s near the end).

A first-class piece on the ‘anti-semitism’ thing. Good history. (Thanks RR.)

https://economicsofimperialism.blogspot.com/2018/08/jews-zionism-and-israel.html

I’ve written about our dreadful ‘Home’ Office before: https://bernardjporter.com/2018/05/31/our-unhomely-office/. It really does look like it’s metamorphosing into a typical Soviet-type ‘Ministry of the Interior’. Countless examples are cropping up every week of well-established residents and loving partners and parents being expelled from the country at a few days’ notice, their passports confiscated and sent to the airports they are directed to fly from, often on the basis of wrong information, and without any possibility of appeal. One recent one was an Australian:

“After waiting 14 months for my UK visa application without a single update, this month it was refused. I have just a matter of days to leave the country I love, the partner I love, our dog and our friends. I have also been refused the right to an appeal. My passport has been confiscated and will be sent directly to the airport where I will be met by immigration officers. Worst of all – The Home Office used incorrect information in their refusal letter. I don’t want to have to leave the life I have built, and I don’t want others to go through the anguish our family have been through at the hands of the Home Office over the last year. I started a petition to make things better with the hope we can raise awareness for cases like ours, and the thousands of families who are also being affected.”

I’m only glad my Aussie daughter-in-law managed to fix her dual nationality in time.

This seems to have started during Theresa May’s long stretch as Home Secretary: her ‘hostile environment’, and the rest. She really is a monster. I wonder why so many of our leading women Conservative politicians turn out so – well – ‘unwomanly’? (Is that being sexist? But you know what I mean.)* In Thatcher’s case it was widely blamed on her awful father. May’s vicar father is more obscure – it’s difficult to find out much about him on the internet, which has given rise to some rumours (see https://bernardjporter.com/2018/08/21/sauce-for-the-gander/); but we don’t really know. She obviously believes her quasi-fascistic approach is getting her brownie-points among the great unwashed. Let’s hope she’s wrong. And perhaps be grateful that she can’t have children of her own. Cruel, I know; but she’s not a nice person.

With regard to immigration: do the great unwashed realise that under EU rules any country is permitted to expel immigrants who don’t land jobs after a certain period – a right that the British government has chosen never to exercise? And that of course ‘freedom of movement’ doesn’t apply to non-European immigrants – even Aussies? I’ve never seen it mentioned in the Right-wing press. It rather undermines that argument for Brexit.

• It could be: either the assumption that kindness, charity etc. are distinctively gendered characteristics; or by the suggestion that she could only have got her ideas from her dad.

Isn’t it remarkable how many of Trump’s henchmen, whatever their crimes may have been against the democratic process, turn out to have been crooks in other ways? There must be a direct causal link between uncontrolled capitalism and crookery. In this way the present US government really does represent the culmination of the invisible and inevitable forces that are pulling us – via late-stage capitalism – either to our destruction, or to revolution. And I wouldn’t put much money on the latter.

Has Labour got Machiavels on its side too – in order to counter the clever ‘anti-semitic’ slurs the Conservatives are putting out against Corbyn? If so they will doubtless have their eyes on Theresa May’s long spell as Home Secretary, when she famously ‘lost’ a file, compiled by Geoffrey Dickens MP, which was claimed to contain evidence of leading Tories’ organised paedophilic activities in the 1980s. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_paedophile_dossier.) One conspiracy theory has it that her Reverend Anglo-Catholic dad was somehow involved; but there’s no solid evidence for that. (What there is, is here: https://theswamp.media/theresa-may-s-father; it’s pretty thin, but why should that deter any unprincipled propagandist on the Labour side?) Anti-semitism is a vile accusation; but kiddy-fiddling might just trump it. Let’s see if it comes up.

But wouldn’t it be better if we could simply debate the issues? (Or ‘ishoos’, as Tony Benn used to call them.) I’m just now following the Swedish general election debates on SVT: civilized, rational and intelligent – certainly by comparison with ours..