oOp-ed: The Daily Mail often referred to as the Daily Fail is up to its usual tricks spinning a story for maximum exposure and negative impact; negative to Jeremy Corbyn, his supporters, party members and by association the Labour Party. It relates to wealthy Labour Party donor and one time 'wannabe' MP Michael Foster. Michael Foster has, finally, been suspended from the Labour Party after a series of Labour Party supporters and members have been purged from the party, depriving them of a leadership vote; until this weekend Foster has been sitting pretty. Many of those purged are Jeremy Corbyn supporters and most have been excluded for silly comments on social media. Few have actually crossed the red line of decency and abuse. Even fewer have been reported by the mainstream media but Mr Foster is headline news Sunday. MPs have been posting abusive comments for some time, perhaps acting as a red rag to a bull and drawing people in before Labour's dreadfully named Compliance Unit moves in suspending people. Little wonder there was an angry response to Foster's earlier Daily Mail piece likening a Corbyn rally in Cornwall and its audience to a 'circus' and 'stormtroopers'. Sunday as he is suspended Foster claims the Mail added the word 'Nazi' to their piece but he does not fool me. "In the article he wrote: "To me, respect for the rule of law is fundamental to a democracy. Once political parties believe they are above the law it ends with all opposition silenced, whether it is my grandparents in Dachau, or the Left in Erdogan's Turkey rounded up and held uncharged in prison. "The courts decided that the rules as they stand allowed it. This decision advantaged Corbyn and his Sturm Abteilung (stormtroopers)." If the alleged addition of the word "Nazi" bothered him he could have distanced himself from the Mail but today we have his party suspension featured in the Fail with the ridiculous title "Jeremy Corbyn reignites race row engulfing Labour as he launches vicious act of revenge and purges top Jewish donor who criticised his regime." What a nice inflammatory title. You may never read the story or the background but you may assess Corbyn as the dictator of a regime, decide that somehow Foster's suspension is to do with "race", that peace loving Jeremy is vicious and the party is "engulfed in a race row." What rubbish but damaging reporting. It is pure Daily Mail bunkum from start to finish but even the headline will drip feed into the minds of some. Other publications have gone for titles such as "Labour donor Michael Foster suspended from party over 'Nazi stormtroopers' article" and "Labour suspends donor for 'Corbyn team Nazi comparison." The Mail and Mr Foster apear to have a working relationship as it was their weekend publication that fully removed the lid off this real can of worms. But Mr Foster has been a vocal opponent of Jeremy Corbyn from day one. Corbyn was elected party leader September 12, 2015, and at an event a couple of weeks later Mr Foster was making waves and headlines: A Labour supporter who heckled Jeremy Corbyn at a Labour Friends of Israel reception has explained his reasons for shouting at the party leader. The fact Mr Foster is Jewish should be irrelevant but that report in the Jewish Chronicle stressed his religious faith. Mr Corbyn's refusal to say the word Israel in response to Foster's childish demands highlights the measure of the man; Jeremy has backbone and does not resort to personal attacks or game play. Fast forward to July and Foster dragged the party through the courts as he fought to prevent Corbyn being automatically on the leadership election ballot. But how could there be a leadership challenge if the incumbent leader was excluded from the election? The PLP plotters knew they could keep Corbyn off the ballot if he neded nominations but they also knew he stood a fair chance of being re-elected if he was allowed to stand. The National Executive of Labour voted to allow Jeremy an automatic right to be on the ballot by a majority vote. But Foster was not happy with party democracy when it did not suit his aims and dragged the party through the courts: Michael Foster, whose family has given £400,000 to the Labour Party, said he was concerned over the "apparent manipulation" of party rules by the ruling body, the National Executive Committee (NEC). So what does wealthy Mr Foster care if the Labour party is being ripped apart and ordinary working people left out in the cold? Will he really care if Labour fails to win elections or splits? Draw your own conclusions. http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/146195/labour-donor-explains-why-he-heckled-jeremy-corbyn-israel-event http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/14/labour-donor-to-mount-legal-challenge-over-leadership-ballot http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/labour-donor-michael-foster-suspended-8811755 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37329153 http://www.newtekjournalismukworld.com/british-political-scene/jeremy-corbyns-day-in-court http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3783399/Jeremy-Corbyn-reignites-race-row-engulfing-Labour-launches-vicious-act-revenge-purges-Jewish-donor-criticised-regime.html
Georgie Harrison
11/9/2016 09:28:04 am
Excellent piece thank you Eileen. I am pleased that the compliance unit has finally caught up with Foster. Hopefully McTernan and others are also under investigation too.
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Eileen
11/9/2016 09:43:33 am
Thanks Georgie-McTernan, Campbell, Austin, Woodcock and a few others if the party is even pretending to be fair and equitable
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Geoffrey H Taylor
11/9/2016 03:37:24 pm
I feel that bringing the Jewish dimension, into this argument is basically a red herring designed to deflect attention from Foster's outrageous and insulting behaviour.
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Eileen
11/9/2016 06:34:10 pm
Could be Geoffrey
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