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Paul Mason @paulmasonnews
, 8 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
Good that Tory party investigating @BorisJohnson Islamophobia. Yesterday I said he still has time to choose: Bannon or liberal conservatism. 1/ I mean it sincerely... newstatesman.com/politics/uk/20…
2/ When it comes to antisemitism or Islamophobia or plain racism, I am interested in confronting the arguments and the logic and changing people's minds - not condemning them to a forever exile... Here's why... newstatesman.com/politics/uk/20…
3/ British plebeian racism is rooted in its colonial past and illusions peddled by nostalgics. There is every chance to stop that morphing into alt-right neofascism...
newstatesman.com/politics/uk/20…
4/ Those of us who did antifa activism in working class communities in 70s/80s found time and again you could break some football firms, skinheads, racist shop stewards (the existed) etc to radical interracial solidarity...
5/ .. the key is the politics of solidarity. Right now right wing Tories will be going into communities saying: it's "our culture" vs the Burqa. And I will let you guess what the election strategy of an islamophobic Tory leadership would be...
6/ In response, anti-racists need - as I said in the article - an alternative logic and the offer of a "way back" for ppl attracted to a British Pegida/AfD project. That means a dialogue in communities and a narrative of hope newstatesman.com/politics/uk/20…
7/ Johnson's way out should be to publicly engage with Muslim political and community leaders, do training, pledge that the Tory party will never stoke fears based on Islamophobia and publicly attack Bannon's European right project...
8/ If the Tories don't get a handle on this, I'll just remind you what happened last time a prominent Conservative backbencher used his rhetorical skills in this way. It got out of hand. theguardian.com/uk/1999/jan/01…
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More from @paulmasonnews see all

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A Christmas message to the Conservative Party - enough with hard-right Jacobinism... get practical about a very soft Brexit or none ... (longer version on my @YouTube channel...)
Here's the full version:
Here's the @NewStatesman article where I argue the Tories have become as Jacobin and crazed as the people Edmund Burke railed against in 1790!
newstatesman.com/politics/uk/20…
Read 3 tweets
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Headlines full of liberal centrist demands on Corbyn to launch no confidence vote and call for 2nd referendum... if only liberal elite not spent two years trying to destroy him... Thread: 1/
2/ ... when the business elite simultaneously declare themselves "terrified" of a Corbyn Govt yet urge him to bring down Tories, what's really going on? A struggle for agency...
3/ There's no clear party representing the globalist ruling class in U.K. - Tories broken, Labour in hands of working class base, Libs irrelevant, SNP checked out of the motel...
Read 10 tweets
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Okay so I've been modelling the "indicative votes" route in Parliament supported by Rudd, Lidington etc... 1/ To model "every conceivable" option you have to model Labour's; let's call it Norway-minus...
2/ Suppose you ask MPs to pick ONLY their most favoured option. My guess is 60 Tories go for No Deal; 140 for Canada FTA; the rest split 55:60 for Norway Plus and PV...
3/ 10x DUP support Canada; 39 SNP/PC support Norway Plus; 1x Green supports PV; Libdems support PV
Read 10 tweets

Related threads

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I think a plausible explanation is that whatever Corbyn says or does, his critics will denounce - no matter how much hypocrisy it necessitates.

Corbyn opposes the exploitation of foreign sweatshop-workers - Labour MPs complain he's like Nigel Farage:

independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
He speaks up in defence of migrants - Labour MPs whinge that he's not listening to the public's very real concerns about immigration:

theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/s…
Read 52 tweets
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Of the various journalists who back the Corbyn project, @paulmasonnews is much the most interesting and substantial. But I was struck by two passages in his recent @NewStatesman piece, which speak to some of the concerns many of us feel about Labour's new direction. 1/12
First up: this is what Mason had to say about “Wreathgate”, which “Corbyn and his team have handled .. with aplomb”. 2/12
We can debate the rights & wrongs of "Wreathgate", but since when did a progressive party measure morality by its "cut-through" in the polls? It's hardly news that picking fights with minorities can be popular – so let's take Boris Johnson as an example. 3/12
Read 12 tweets
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1/ I watched the full video of Jeremy Corbyn's speech and the rest of the speeches so you don't have to! Here's what I have concluded (short thread)
2/ I have watched this carefully as, with any accusation of racism, it is important to see the full context. This was at the Britains Legacy in Palestine Conference in Jan 2013. The focus was on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
3/ The speeches are generally low key, academic in tone. I recommend the speech of the Palestinian Ambassador, Dr Manuel Hassasian. which is from 3 minutes in. He is eloquent and dignified - I don't agree, politically, with every word he says, but it's a good speech...
Read 10 tweets
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WANTED: A serious progressive approach to foreign policy. Dictator-lovers need not apply.
ALSO WANTED: Intellectuals who oppose bad faith arguments and don't resort to strawmen and deflections when they can't come up with remotely coherent arguments for their know-nothing FP positions.

Noah Berlatsky need not apply.
"Sometimes you have to pick the gun up to put the gun down." -- Malcolm X
Read 92 tweets
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1/x So, Nigel Farage's comments y'day that Jewish power controls America (HT @adamlangleben)...
... One response seems to be "Labour's worse" or "Farage would be at home in Corbyn's party". Why that's stupid in tweets to follow...
UKIP has a long history with antisemitism. In European Parliament, they sit with the far right. @Jennifrazer 2014: timesofisrael.com/how-to-silence…
Read 16 tweets

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