Far left form electoral alliance against Labour

 

It seems that the various organisations that have been either formed out of the Corbyn movement and one pre-existing group have decided to form an electoral front to challenge the Labour Party. An announcement was made on twitter that the Breakthrough Party, Northern Independence Party, Left Unity and the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition have signed a "memorandum of understanding" about future electoral strategy.

The "largest" and longest established element is the TUSC which is run by the remnants of the Socialist Party that survived a world wide split let alone internal ruptures in the UK losing the bulk of it's international and several hundred of it's English membership. The SP also lost most of it's experienced cadre inside the civil service union PCS which they had de-facto control of with Mark Serwotka for years.

The TUSC is financed in part by the RMT union which broke with the Labour Party under it's late General Secretary Bob Crow. Also participating in an extremely limited form was Resist the group founded by Chris Williamson a former Labour MP who was expelled from the Party. He provided just 4 candidates. Whether Resist (which has a active membership of barely three figures) is actually part of this arrangement at this time is not known.

Williamson has been seen to have engaged in a political love affair with the notorious Tony Greenstein (who has also been kicked out of Labour and either reigned from or expelled from every other party he's been involved in) has established his own political party Socialist Labour Network which also has around a hundred or so members. 

The Breakthrough Party is a small group of youth activists who were disillusioned by the Corbyn projects failure and lay claim to having one Parish Councillor who defected to them from the Labour Party.

Left Unity is a tiny group led by the Ken Loach a rabid anti-Zionist another extremist kicked out of the Labour Party. The group once debated a motion that called for "critical support for ISIS that emanated from one of it's more deranged activists. I recall one delegate insisting on singing her contribution to their founding conference streamed on line some years ago. Although the comrades clapped, the embarrassment of many attendees and those watching on line was more than apparent.

The Northern Independence Party are one of the odder outfits who included another former Labour MP, Thelma Walker who lost the plot. They seek an independent north as their name suggest and use a Whippet as their symbol though some wags refer to them as "the Weasels.

NIP tried standing Thelma Walker as their candidate in the Hartlepool by-election but failed to complete their registration papers with the Electoral Commission forcing her to stand as an Independent. She managed to get 250 votes (0.8%). 

Oddly the leader of NIP one Philip Proudfoot lives in that well known northern town Brighton. Could he get further down sarf one asks!

It's always interesting to see these tiny groups talking about "unity". You'd think these comrades would practice what they preach and form one organisation but the trouble with these cults they all have leaders who think they should be in control. The "political gangsterism" of the Socialist Party and some of the RMT's activists is well known.

The other point to note is that all these groups keep mentioning the thousands of members who have left the Labour Party yet don't stop to notice how small they are both organisationally and politically. The far-left of today turned to banal hive-mind cultism during the Corbyn era and lack the critical intellectual ability to recognise their own tomfoolery.

Ideological purity has never achieved anything.  They will simply try to devour each other as the whole history of left-wing extremism has illustrated.

Ex-Labour hard-left launch Socialist Labour Network

 

It seems that the remnants of the organisations formerly known as Labour Against the Witch Hunt (LAW) and Labour In Exile (LIE) have decided to form a new organisation outside the Labour Party. They announced on Twitter tonight:

Socialist Labour Network is a group formed by the merger of Labour Against the Witch-hunt and Labour in Exile Network. SLN will continue to resist the witch-hunt of socialists from Labour and provide a forum for members to stand in solidarity. Join us & grow the socialist network.

They couldn't call themselves the Socialist Labour Party because old King Arthur (Scargill) owns the rights to that name and is registered as a political party with the Electoral Commission standing candidates with money that no one knows the origin of. Apparently they will be announcing a new logo soon. 

The SLN had their launch meeting last Friday where they were addressed by Ian Hodson the General Secretary of the now disaffiliated Bakers Union (which was supported by their activist caste but no member vote was taken). They announced it's remit as:

Socialist Labour Network aims to unite socialists unfairly suspended, expelled, or resigned in dismay from the Labour Party.

Clearly membership of the group should lead to automatic expulsion of the ever diminishing band around Greenstein and his deluded followers. Given the love affair between the vile one and his counterpart  Williamson in Resist it's surprising that they just didn't merge all their groups into one. This would have at least a three figure membership, however the hard leftists all need their positions from which to preach and pontificate their tomfoolery.

Talking of pointless debates it seems Tony Greenstein the SLN's new Fuhrer figure and Jack Conrad of the now rapidly declining Communist Party of Great Britain (Weekly Worker) are having a mass debate to the observant disciples of both groups this Friday. I'll be washing me hair others may wish to head down the pub and leave the deluded comrades to their incestuous dialogue.

Meanwhile Terry Deans self confessed Marxist Gardner (nope me neither) thinks the SLN beckons:

The unity of all socialist groups is the irresistible force that cannot be defeated

From memory and experience if there's one thing we can all be sure of, the words "unity" and "Socialist groups" have never gone together and never will.

Another amusing if hopeless development by some of the worst of the left has to offer.

The Blackburn Mosques conducts "damage limitation" after praising memory of local terrorist

It was bad enough reading about the disgusting attack on innocent worshippers at the Texas Synagogue without having to hear in the Daily Mail attempts by his family to attribute blame on everybody but their evil son. They attacked the USA for letting him, for allowing him to get a gun and the words "mental" and "health" raised their head as usual whenever one of these attacks take place.

Let us be clear. Akram did not act alone. So far two others have been arrested in this country and hopefully whoever supplied him with a gun in the USA will follow.

My only sympathy goes to the individuals who were held hostage by this political terrorist whose choice of a synagogue was clearly racially based which suggests there remains a lot of work to be done in the Muslim community not just about extremism in the form of fundamentalism which frankly isn't much of a jump from so-called "conservative Islam" that dominates much of their community in the UK but also the prevalence of antisemitism.

The original post put up by his Mosques praised the memory and wished him entry into paradise a clear message of support for this Jihadist action but they were soon forced to back down when the consequences of their statement became apparent.

They then published a "disclaimer" saying this had been a "standard" template that had been used which show but since when did such "templates" include statements about "rumours" when by the time Akram's name was released his crime was clear?

Now the Mosque has made the following statement claiming all religions blah, blah  peace..yeah right. Too little too late.





Frankly the Security services of both this country and the USA should be thoroughly investigating this Mosque, it's leadership, sermons, preachers and congregation.

The Searchers -Tana French (Penguin)

 

Finally got around to reading the third thriller from the "Richard & Judy Book Club" and once again this was from an author that I am familiar with. I have previously read The Wych Elm & In The Woods both of which were good novels. In fact this novel reminded me of The Wych Elm as the author builds a world into which the reader is drawn long before any kind of mystery appears.

In this case the move by Cal Hooper a former Chicago cop to the backwoods of the Irish Republic builds a picture of a rural way of life that allows the scene to be set for the inevitable disappearance and possible murder. There's plenty of village characters to meet. The dodgy farmer next door, another who thinks aliens are maiming his sheep, the nosy shopkeeper and a local eligible lady.

Did I mention puppies? It's all there are Trey appears on Cal's doorstep wanting something but keeping a distance until one day kid asks Cal to use his skills to trace a missing brother. At first reticent the retired cop muses and decides to help leading to local secrets being exposed and some dodgy characters are encountered.

Trey comes from a local troublesome family and Brendan is one of those Irishmen who thinks he's got the gift of the gab as they say as he tries to better his life before disappearing. What has Brendan done. Where has he gone. This book weaves a mystery in a village that keeps the reader gripped to the very end.

Rating: 5 Stars

BLIND GUARDIAN - Deliver Us From Evil (Nuclear Blast Records)

Every so often I come across a new band that catches my ear so to speak and though they may be new to me and other British Rock fans this German band has been around since 1984. I rather liked their new single (released last year) Deliver us from Evil which I found whilst exploring You Tube.

Their record company Nuclear Blast has a number of class acts that I've listened to and sometimes purchased in the past. This single is an import and arrived at 8AM this morning via Royal Mail Parcel Force unexpectedly.

This being a single rather than an album contains just three tracks including their version of Merry Xmas Everybody which will be familiar to all Slade fans. Not bad but nothing beats the the original.

Their current line up consists of: Hansi Kursch (lead vocals), Andre Olbrich (lead guitar, backing vocals), Marcus Seipen (rhythm guitar, backing vocals) Frederik Ehmke (drums), Johan van Stratum (bass) 

Blind Guardians twelfth studio album is due for release in September 2022. 

Official Website: www.blind-guardian.com

Pakistan’s longest serving blasphemy convict has been given death sentence

 

Please Note: This article was originally received as an e-mail from the British-Asian Christian Association with a request to share. As a committed secularist I am happy to oblige. This case illustrates why religion and the state must always be kept seperate. The persecution of Christians in so many Muslim countries, especially Pakistan continues not only to give cause for grave concern but is woefully and perhaps wilfully ignored by so many in the political community.

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Fears that Zafar Bhatti, Pakistan’s longest serving blasphemy convict could be the first ever to be lynched have increased after a judge increased his sentence from life imprisonment to death.

Judge Sahibzada Naqeeb Shehzad, of Sessions Court Rawalpindi made this ruling despite clear evidence of the innocence of Zafar Bhatti.

Hopes of Mr Bhatti’s release rose when evidence submitted by British Asian Christian Association’s (BACA) solicitor Naseeb Anjum was said to be weighty by the Judge on 16th December 2021 (click here).

However after arguments were heard on 24th December 2021, the District Judge nonchalantly ignored this evidence as she raised the quantum of punishment for Mr Bhatti on 3rd January 2022.

Please sign our petition (here)

Pakistani pastor Zafar Bhatti (56 yrs) has been incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Central Jail since July 2012, when police charged him with the offence of sending blasphemous text messages. He is now the longest serving blasphemy victim in Pakistan having overtaken Asia Bibi as Christians continue to have a torrid time in Pakistan.

On 3 May 2017, Pastor Zafar was sentenced to life imprisonment for blasphemy, a charge he adamantly denies. Rather peculiarly Pastor Zafar’s conviction occurred despite the mobile phone in question not being registered to his name. Learn more and view timeline (here)

Since December British Asian Christian Association, has taken over the case of Zafar Bhatti after an appeal for his release was dismissed by previous solicitors and the window for an appeal to the Supreme Court missed.

BACA also inherited a judgement made by Lahore High Court in October calling for the District Court to review their earlier judgement. They sought that Pastor Zafar’s sentence be increased from a life to death sentence, which is mandatory for section 295C of Pakistan’s Penal Code under which Pastor Zafar was convicted.

On 16th December 2021, Advocate Naseeb Anjum raised serious questions about the conviction of Zafar Bhatti, after points were raised by BACA’s team. Judge Shehzad, iterated to the opposing advocate that the questions were weighty and asked for answers to them to be submitted at the next hearing. This gave BACA, Pastor Zafar and Nawab Bibi some hope for leniency. You can read our submitted questions (here)

24th December, the judge heard the argument of Advocate Muhammad Yasir, the complainant counsel. He simply reminded the judge that the hearing was focused on the severity of the punishment and not the conviction itself, which he argued had been deliberated on at length and a decision made to reject the previous appeal. Judge Shehzad, agreed with his sentiments and gave a date of 3rd January for a final decision.

On 3rd January 2021, BACA’s team arrived at Rawalpindi in the early morning and collected Nawab Bibi for the court decision. However when they reached the court Judge Shehzad announced that the decision would be announced at 11pm in Adiala Jail before Zafar Bhatti, not in the court room. The BACA team were advised to return to Rawalpindi District Court at 2pm to hear the final decision.

At 2pm the team returned hopeful that the Judge would be favourable in consideration of the significant evidence of Zafar Bhatti’s innocence before him. But hearts were broken as Nawab Bibi and the rest learned first-hand that Judge Shehzad had ruled that a death sentence be imposed on Zafar Bhatti.

News of the decision broke Nawab Bibi who when she got home, became distraught and unable to talk, she cried endlessly fearful of the potential for Zafar Bhatti to be killed:

Nawab Bibi, spoke with us today, she describes her anguish:

“I was broken by yesterdays court decision.

“I could not stop crying and praying it was hard to take.

“I returned home empty handed.

“Real criminals are getting bails but our biased courts are still refusing to release Zafar”

Nawab has asked us to share this video today and asks Christians everywhere to pray for him and to ask global politicians to fight his case like they did for Asia Bibi:

Several attempts have been made to convert Zafar to Islam and have him set free on that basis. Each time Zafar Bhatti has outright refused to quit his faith.

Advocate Naseeb Anjum, has also spoken with us, he said:

“I was very much hopeful for the release of Zafar Bhatti.

“The judge has contradicted his own previous judgment awarded to Zafar Bhatti.

“He is not convinced of the penalty of death for Zafar Bhatti but has followed the directions of the High Court.”

He explained further:

“I have met Zafar Bhatti in jail and have explained the current situation of his case.

“Zafar Bhatti has confided in me and has said he is willing to face the worst.

“He knows he is innocent and God will have the final judgement.

“Zafar has signed the documents required to apply for an appeal against this judgement and a second one so we can appeal the original conviction.

“On Thursday, I shall go to Rawalpindi and submit his appeal in the High Court and will take the time to meet our brother and pray with him in jail also”

Juliet Chowdhry, Trustee for British Asian Christian Association, said

“Pakistani courts continue to free murderers and rapists from jail especially those who pay a compromise payment.

“However, they have repeatedly refused Zafar bail or an acquittal when no evidence exists of a crime.

“The amount of hatred that has been generated against Zafar by extremists means he has does not have to attend court hearings as the state could not protect him.

“Today’s decision is serious – Zafar can now become the first person killed under Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws.

“The courts, the police the Government all seem hell-bent on killing an innocent Christian to appease Muslims who are still incensed at the freedom of Asia Bibi.

“Sadly the universal global condemnation by international governments concerned about Asia Bibi has not manifested in the same way for brother Zafar.

“Unless a concerted effort similar to that which manifested for Asia Bibi is begun by the west, we are looking at a very dire outcome.”

Mounting a defence against the death sentence for blasphemy and his bail is expensive. We need to cover £1000’s of legal fees, in addition to supporting his wife Nawab Bibi who has been under our care for 3 years. You can donate towards our work defending Zafar Bhatti and protecting his wife Nawab Bibi along with many other victims by using the many payment options found (here).

Please sign our petition (here)

FROZEN CROWN - The Water Dancer (Scarlet Records)

It's been a while since I've posted and wish you all a belated Happy New Year.

Meanwhile....

Frozen Crown's album isn't new as such having been released in April last year but I only came across this excellent Italian Power Metal band last month and their CD likewise didn't drop on my doormat until New Years Eve.

Frozen Crown were formed in 2017 and Winterbane represents their third studio album after a personnel shake up last year. Frozen Crown consists of:

Giada "Jade" Etro – vocals (2017–present)
Federico Mondelli – guitars, keyboards, vocals (2017–present)
Fabiola "Sheena" Bellomo – guitars (2021–present)
Francesco Zof – bass (2021–present)
Niso Tomasini – drums (2021–present)

Here's a sample of their music. Worth a listen or two!

Website: frozen-crown