I'm what some people might describe as a fairly typical "Corbynista".
I certainly don't speak for all Corbyn supporters - not least because like any large group, we have among us a very wide range of views & backgrounds.
Time to put a few myths to bed...
Q How do you feel about being called a #Corbynista?
A Many people use the term 'Corbynista' as a pejorative, in order to scapegoat, demonize or negatively stereotype a large group of diverse people they tend to disagree with - but some Corbyn supporters embrace the term.
Q Aren't you part of an extremist Cult?
A LOL! All Corbyn supporters recognise & accept that Corbyn (like everyone else) has made mistakes. In fact, we often disagree about & debate exactly what they were, but the policies we support are popular, & normal across much of Europe.
Q Aren't Corbynistas obsessed with ideological purity?
A No. As with anyone involved in politics, some Corbyn supporters are more or less willing than others to compromise, & we all know that while it's very important to be principled, sometimes realpolitik overrides ideology.
Q Don't Corbynistas believe antisemitism in @UKLabour is all a 'smear'?
A A tiny minority might think this. While 99% of us accept it IS a real problem, which must be eliminated, there's no doubt whatsoever that occasionally its scale has been exaggerated for political purposes.
Q Do Corbynistas hate "centrists"?
A Some do, some don't! Imho, much of the animosity & distrust comes from the belief that some "centrist" @UKLabour MPs are more ideologically aligned with "moderate" Conservatives than with traditional Labour or socialist policies & values.
Q Why do Corbynistas demonize centrist @UKLabour MPs?
A SOME do. Corbynistas hate "free-market" ideology (embraced by some centrists) & many of us believe we'd be three years into a transformative @UKLabour Govt had some centrists not persistently attacked & undermined Corbyn.
Q Why do Corbynistas hate Blair/Starmer?
A Some do, some don't. Many Corbynistas voted for both Blair & Starmer. Keir promised unity, but we're disappointed in this aspect of his leadership. New Labour did some great things, but Iraq & its embrace of neoliberalism disappointed.
Q Surely any Labour Govt is preferable to any Tory Govt?
A Most of us agree. However, many of us fear that reverting back to the failed pre-Corbyn strategy of 'Tory-Lite' will alienate many @UKLabour members, is not a wise strategy, & it will result in failure. Baby, bathwater.
Q So why don't you stop moaning & get behind Starmer?
A Labour must be a democratic Party. Some of us praise Starmer when he deserves it (eg commitment to cancelling student debt) & express displeasure when we think he doesn't (eg SpyCops). Disagreement is normal in politics!
Q if you're so bloody reasonable, why do so many people in @UKLabour hate you?
We're a broad range of people, with diverse backgrounds & opinions, but given our antiquated electoral system, only one of two parties can form a Govt, so many very left-wing people choose Labour.
Q So what is a Corbynista?
A Depends who you ask! Language is malleable, & meaning is always context-dependent. But if I were to try & define it, I'd say it's simply someone who was inspired by Corbyn's values & the policies he introduced. We know he wasn't perfect - nobody is.
Q So why are so many Corbynistas so rude?
A Quite often, people who feel very passionately about the disgusting way already vulnerable people are treated by the Govt & the press, & who are angry about grotesque wealth inequality, let their tempers get the better of them. I do.
Like I say, I don't speak for all Corbynistas - that would be ridiculous. I feel angry about the direction our country is going in, & I feel anger toward the Govt. I try to be civil on Twitter, but sometimes I fail - we're all stressed, & we're all human.
It's fine to disagree.
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The first asks "Is it OK to smoke while I'm praying?"
The Pope replies "No! You should be focused on God!"
The second Priest asks "Is it OK to pray while I'm smoking?"
The Pope replies "Of course, there's never a bad time to pray"
Nigel Farage’s rhetorical technique of framing controversial or inflammatory statements as questions, often defended as “just asking questions,” is a well-documented strategy - sometimes called “JAQing off” in online discourse - that has drawn significant criticism.
This approach involves posing questions to imply a controversial viewpoint without explicitly endorsing it, thereby maintaining plausible deniability. Farage often uses this strategy to raise issues around immigration, national identity, and 'wokeness' or 'political correctness'.
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was a response to the atrocities of WWII and the Holocaust, designed to prevent such horrors reoccurring.
Withdrawing risks weakening human rights, international isolation, destabilised peace agreements, and authoritarian drift.
Adopted in 1950 by the Council of Europe, the ECHR was a collective response to the Holocaust, during which about 11 million people, including 6 million Jews, were systematically exterminated, exposing the urgent need for a legal framework to prevent such horrors from recurring.
The Council of Europe, established in 1949 to promote democracy, rule of law, and human rights, made the ECHR a cornerstone of its mission.
Influenced by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the ECHR ensured states uphold fundamental rights.
Comparing political rhetoric across eras is a sensitive task, as context, intent, and historical outcomes differ vastly.
In 1990, Ivana Trump said her husband Donald owned a copy of “My New Order” – a printed collection of Hitler's speeches – which he kept by the bedside...
Some of Trump’s statements have been noted by historians, critics, and media for echoing themes or phrasing used by Adolf Hitler, particularly in their dehumanizing language, scapegoating of groups, and authoritarian undertones.
Below, with @grok's help, I’ll provide examples of Trump’s quotes that have been cited as resembling Hitler’s rhetoric, alongside Hitler’s statements for comparison, drawing from credible sources, focusing on specific language & themes, ensuring accuracy, & avoiding exaggeration.
Most people know very little about Trump's new best friend, El Salvador’s strongman leader, Nayib Bukele, who's been sat in the White House being adored by Trump and his team of fawning, dangerously unhinged sociopathic bootlickers...
Read this excellent article by Professor of International Politics at Lancaster University, Amalendu Misra, the author of seven critically acclaimed monographs on conflict and peace, whose primary research concerns violence in the political process.
Trump has unleashed a string of controversial policies since returning to the White House that have put his administration at odds with most of the world. He's also forged an alliance with one country that is willing to do his bidding abroad: El Salvador.
The techno-dystopia many have warned about looks a lot closer today, after @WIRED revealed that Peter Thiel's #Palantir (which has a £500 million contract with #NHS England to manage our patient data across NHS trusts) is involved in Elon Musk’s DOGE.
If you're unaware of who unhinged billionaire tech-bro Peter Thiel is, and why he should have nothing to do with the UK or our #NHS, or how he groomed and installed his protégé JD Vance in the White House, or how he's not keen on democracy, read this:
The BMA are concerned about patient data privacy & Palantir’s ties to US intelligence.
DOGE, Palantir, & IRS representatives have been collaborating to build a single API layer above all IRS databases at an event previously characterized as a “hackathon.” publictechnology.net/2023/11/22/hea…
🧵 A scholar who specialises in how Universities respond to authoritarian pressure across different political systems, cultural contexts & historical moments warns that compliance with the Trump administration will not protect their funding & independence. theconversation.com/universities-i…
Many American universities, widely seen globally as beacons of academic integrity and free speech, are giving in to demands from the Trump administration, which has been targeting academia since it took office.
Even before seizing power in 1933, the Nazi Party was closely monitoring German universities through nationalist student groups & sympathetic faculty, flagging professors deemed politically unreliable – particularly Jews, Marxists, liberals & pacifists.