she's blogging now

my attention has been drawn, as they say, to a new blog being written by a Labour councillor for Church ward in Reading.  You can read it here, and marvel at the Howarthian spelling and punctuation errors.  Which councillor?  Oh you know the one, she was elected with the help of a racist dog-whistle.

dog-whistle girl

MoToons - to the barricades!



this is satire - Charlie Hebdo

 the weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is publishing - not sure if it is on newsstands, my tabac did not have it this morning - pictures including the cartoon shown here.  It was scary to see Marine Le Pen of the Front National interviewed this morning and to agree with just about everything she said.  Not the language she used, which was pure dog-whistle - "en France" punctuated every sentence, because Muslims are of course Foreign and Not Like Us and Not From Here - but she said that freedom of expression and the rule of law are not negotiable.  Which they are not.  And that if anyone thinks these cartoons have gone too far in the direction of causing racial injury (which is a criminal offence in France) then let them go to court.  The Prime Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said the same thing, just phrased rather differently and without the dog-whistle, and also cautioned against "provocation".  The editor of Charlie Hebdo said the magazine takes the piss every week using cartoons, and only when the cartoons represent (apparently, allegedly) the Prophet Mohammed does it become "provocation".  Anyway, the Charlie Hebdo offices are in lockdown today and surrounded by CRS.  Makes you wonder - Jesus and Mo do cartoons several times a week, most recently captioned "R.E.S.P.E.C.T., I'll burn down your embassy!"  Wonderful stuff.

that pesky election count incident again...

in May, at the election count in Reading, a violent incident was reported to have happened.  Gareth Epps it was, LibDem of this parish, who broadcast that an incident had taken place, in which he, Epps, was violently attacked, perhaps head-butted, by a Labour activist, George Loughlin.  Later, Epps apparently reported the incident to the police.  No other witness has come forward, though Epps and Loughlin were presumably not the only occupants of the room at the time.  Was has not left this alone, and posts about it from time to time.  The LibDem hierarchy appears to have taken it as true that an incident of this kind did happen, according to an email from one of them he quotes.  Other parties have not denied that an incident happened, although Labour has said things like "If an incident did happen..." Loughlin's name has disappeared from later mentions of the alleged incident, so it is my unalloyed pleasure to place in print again the name of that thuggish little git, George Loughlin, for whom a violent attack of such a kind would be entirely in character.  However, that is not to say it did happen.  Was says that Epps is a liar.  He may be right, I wouldn't know.  Was also says that the LibDem hierarchy believe Epps and do not check allegations he makes.  This is what party hierarchies tend to do in respect of their favourite sons, unfortunately.  What interests me here is that Labour has not denied it, so in the unlikely event of there having been no Labour witness to any incident, Reading Labour believe it is possible that such a thing happened.  They are right.  We do not know yet what if any view is taken by Her Majesty's Constabulary.  So this story needs to be kept alive, in my view, for what it has already exposed, and what it may yet expose.  An aside - Was informs us that Epps was intending to take a dog-whistle to the Church ward count.  Why did he not do so?  If I had been there I certainly would have done so.  Which leads us to...

Reading Labour racist dog-whistle

Oh yes, she's one of us.

dog whistle

not racist.  No.

is what is being used by the LibDems here.  The Tory candidate they are fighting is gay, and they use the words "it's a straight fight".  Which of course is perfectly innocent language, hein?  No.  Dog whistle is a very simple thing.  You use plain language about your opponent, and it contains a code word or words which indicate that you are contrasting your party's candidate with the other one by saying that person is gay, or black, or otherwise "other", and your candidate is not.  It could be a number of things.  Typically it is sexuality or race.  Reading Labour has form on this too, as recently as this year's local elections, remember? Reading Labour's white girl is "one of us", unlike the Tory candidate, who was born in Pakistan.

anti-fascist? my arse

When is the Labour Party going to stop harbouring racists and winking at alliances with, and support for, racist groups and individuals, to say nothing of racist dog-whistle tactics?  Just asking...

congratulations

to all the Labour councillors elected yesterday.  No congratulations to the Reading boys who thought a racist dog-whistle campaign in Church ward was a good idea.  Desperate men.  Especially no congratulations to George Dickhead Loughlin who, at the Reading count last night, thought it was a good idea to head-butt a former councillor from another party, who was only saved from serious injury by the physical intervention of one Dave Peasley - if there was a pub fight near me I'd be glad if Dave was minded to intervene.  And no congratulations to M. Salter for his co-authorship of the racist dog-whistle leaflet in Church ward.   Even he wasn't bragging about it when he turned up at the Reading count, unshaven and slobbish and staying well away from Church ward. Update: but he got into the victory photo, looming over her from behind, bad idea. I was especially pleased  to see Daya Pal Singh and Rose Williams elected.  Rose needs no hints from anyone on how to be a good representative.  I just hope the boys let D.P. Singh get on with the job.  I know he will do a good one.   And Tony Jones always spreads a little happiness wherever he goes in politics, so Good News.

The new Labour councillor for Caversham - if the same gang of malevolent lard-arses is still there in Caversham Labour then I wish you luck.  You are going to need it.

Azam Janjua - thanks for all your work for the people of south Reading, and Reading as a whole.  It was a privilege to work with you, and the people of Church ward were luc ky to have you as their representative.

Now, about that Labour vision for Reading ...

the headless man!

headless man flyer

perhaps I have a nasty mind, or a long memory, but putting out a picture of a headless man* is a little, er, insinuatory, hein?  Even if they are too callow or stupid to have meant that - and I do not think Messrs Salter and Howarth are either thing -  the fact that they did not want even to attempt a representation of the man they are talking about speaks volumes in itself.  I remember in John O'Farrell's very amusing book Things Can Only Get Better, about growing up a Labour supporter in the 1980s, he refers to the humourlessness of the time - no cartoon or picture could be created of any non-white person, because that would be racist.  Of course, he and his friends did not personally know anyone who was not white and middle class.  The 1980s is the decade Messrs Salter and Howarth have never left, politically and in other ways.  Fortunately, others have moved on, even in Reading politics.  Now, let's get factual on yo asses: I worked with Azam Janjua for several years, when he was a Labour councillor and I was a Labour MP.  He used to join me at surgeries in the ward, which the other two councillors could not be bothered to do, and I saw him hard at work there all the time.  I remember one time a woman came in to see me, and when she saw Azam Janjua was there, she said to me "Oh, it's OK, I'll talk to the councillor, he knows how to get things done."  Back when Church ward was Labour the other two councillors were Christine Grieve and Chris Goodall.  Despite his reputation Goodall did come out with me on occasion, and he did do some work when approached by residents.  Grieve however could not be bothered.  She was usually at choir practice in Caversham when anything needed doing.  Well, Grieve is history, I am glad to say.  The residents think so too.  "Stuck-up cow" and "bossy-boots" were some of the nicer things they had to say about her.

For the record, Azam Janjua worked hard for the people of Church ward for many years.  He treated people with courtesy and respect at all times, and they voted for him, and have continued to do so, as a result. I watched him work, and he was not a big fan of paperwork.  He was still working as a taxi driver then, long hours, and he used to say that time spent filling in forms was time he couldn't spend talking to people and trying to help sort out their problems.  The only criticism Messrs Salter and Howarth can find is that he doesn't fill in enough forms.  And as for changing parties, why then is it OK for their candidate in Redlands ward, Tony Jones, to go from Labour to Independent and back again when it suits him, but not for anyone else to change parties?

The insinuations being made are gross, disgusting and backed up by NOTHING.  If there is evidence then let it be made public.  Nothing ever has been.  These therefore are filthy slurs.  I don't know the Labour candidate in Church ward.  I do know she didn't write this stuff.  She has made a mistake in standing, because this filth is being sent out in her name.  She deserves to lose, and, win or lose, she will have a lot of ground to make up with decent people in south Reading and elsewhere.

*headless man: code for sexual misdemeanours.  There is or was a famous photograph of a man whose head could not be seen,  I'll spare you the rest.  The Guardian won't.