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Robert Saunders @redhistorian
, 4 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
It is a dangerous moment for any institution - whether a church, a political party or a country - when it decides that its proud history lifts it above criticism. [Short thread] 1/4
Is Labour "institutionally racist"? I'm hardly qualified to judge. But the charge comes from an alarmingly wide range of voices, & a progressive party should want to debate this urgently & think about how to do better. Instead, Lab is dishing out the usual punishment beating. 2/4
Too often, Labour treats complaints about its conduct not as an issue to be debated, but as an attack to be crushed. It invokes Labour's history of anti-racism (which is more mixed than it likes to admit) as a free pass for the present, rather than as a standard to live up to.3/4
Like the Pharisee, Lab spends too much time in the Temple thanking God that it is not like other men. We don't have to agree with Chuka, but let's talk seriously about what he said. And let's strive to be better, rather than shouting at everybody that we're already perfect. [END]
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More from @redhistorian see all

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The conviction that what the world really needs from Britain is "leadership" - indulged by a govt that can barely tie its own shoelaces - is a fallacy with deep historical roots. It has bedevilled British foreign policy since 1945 - & its relations with the EU above all. [THREAD]
2. After the Second World War, Britain's power in the world was severely weakened, but its commitment to global leadership remained undimmed. So govts turned to the Commonwealth as an organisation that "has only to develop its resources to match the power of the United States".
3. Yet hopes that the Commonwealth would provide a new platform for British power were swiftly disappointed, as it became less white, less "British" & less amenable to UK leadership. The result, on the British Right, was a backlash that anticipated later criticism of the EU.
Read 12 tweets
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Rule 1: a total ban on honours for serving Members of Parliament. The only honour to which an MP should aspire is being elected to Parliament by their constituents - and there should be no currency by which the front-benches can purchase their loyalty.
Rule 2: a statutory and muscular "conflict of interest" test. No honours for big party donors, people who have conducted inquiries into the parties bestowing them, or figures in quasi-judicial roles. Like Caesar's wife, honours given on our behalf must be beyond suspicion.
Rule 3: service to a political party, however admirable, is not the same as service to the country. If parties wish to honour chairmen, activists or donors, they should do so in their own way, from their own resources. (We might call this "Cameron's Law").
Read 8 tweets
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Of all the many delusions that have gripped British politics, this is perhaps the most destructive. It's what I call "The Tinkerbell Theory of History" - and it's carrying us down the road to ruin. [THREAD] 1/13
In the Boys' Book of History to which Raab and his ilk subscribe, Britain's glorious past can be traced to a single source. Not geography. Not empire. Not its natural resources or the immigration that birthed the industrial revolution. Just this: sheer pluck & determination. 2/13
Far from being nostalgic for empire, the dominant folk memory of British history is of "plucky little Britain", standing with its backs to the wall in the face of overpowering odds. It's the story of the underdog, hopelessly outnumbered but somehow finding a way through. 3/13
Read 13 tweets

Related threads

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After in posted this #thread on #surveillance in India, a common push back is:

"What do we have to fear, if we have nothing to hide?"

Let me answer that.
Yes, you should be very afraid if you don't have anything to hide.

Because the very act of #surveillance over you, makes you a suspect in the eyes of the watcher.

It's like you are taking a bath and someone is constantly peeping in on you.
When you become a suspect in the eyes of the watcher, you also end up messing up to two basic docrrines of the Indian Constitution.

1. Your fundamental rights are immediately taken away.

2. The balance of power is taken away from the individual and given to the state
Read 12 tweets
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#Thread: Our chair Omingo Magara articulated The Centre for Multiparty Democracy's memorandum to the Building Bridges to Unity Advisory Taskforce consultative meeting with stakeholders held today at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre. #BuildingBridges
The Building Bridges to a New Kenyan Nation is premised on the fact that Kenya has made progress towards consolidating its democratic landscape, but much remains to be done in addressing underlying challenges that threaten political, social and economic standing of the country.
Our democratization process and stability have been characterized by challenges that are well outlined in the Joint Communique of March 9th 2018 by H.E. the President Uhuru Kenyatta and the former Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga.
#BuildingBridges
Read 51 tweets
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Seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status is your place in the social hierarchy. #Thread
Understand that ethical wealth creation is possible. If you secretly despise wealth, it will elude you.
Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games.
Read 40 tweets
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Short thread:

The Labour leadership campaign of 2015 took an unexpected turn by giving prominence to an obscure hard Left backbencher with a long record of unsavory associations and views including a consistently hostile attitude to Jews, Jewish self determination and Israel.
After an already worrying rise in antisemitic attitudes expressed in Britain in 2014 associated with reactions to events in Gaza, since 2015 British Jews have been placed under ever increasing pressure. The escalation has been rapid and has reached crisis levels.
Whilst the last 3 years have taken an incalculable toll on Britain’s tiny Jewish communities, affecting every aspect of our lives - personal, political, democratic, psychological and much else - I think there has been 1 particular positive effect that I’d like to note & celebrate
Read 12 tweets
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Should a church venture into business? Wouldn't that be distracting? What impacts will this on faith and the basic principles of the kingdom? What would happen if chuches in Nigeria start farms and employ their members to work on them? A short #thread

#LetMyPeopleThink
1. Answered Prayers. For the young and agile members who are unemployed. For the business consultants who want to work on new projects. One prayer point would be ticked off the list. #LetMyPeopleThink
2. Stewardship. Working in a "church-run business" will provide Christians with more practical avenues to demonstrate and prove ourselves as caretakers of heaven's resources on the earth.
#LetMyPeopleThink
Read 8 tweets
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A short thread about 'doing' #History, and a glimpse of what I am working on.

#Burma #Myanmar #SOE #Force136 #WW2 #SWW
Step 1: Read translated interview
'After the battle, our company and the Chinese company were ordered to defend the Mawchi road and the Officer-in-Charge was Capt. Thompson of the Bengal Rifles. Jemedar Pan Mya and 16 soldiers were captured fighting the Japanese at Paletwa.'
Step 2: Check out Capt. Thompson
Thompson was not Bengal Rifles, he was 1st Battalion Burma Rifles. Translator or interviewee error? Not to worry. Error found.
Read 12 tweets

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