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Monday 2 November 2015

Don’t Menshn Refugees

Yesterday showed once again that the combination of rank ignorance, self-importance and residing thousands of miles away in over-comfortable Manhattan exile has conspired to show (thankfully) former Tory MP Louise Mensch to be not merely appallingly out of touch, but downright intolerant with it, as she tackled a range of subjects from the 2003 Iraq war to the Syrian refugee crisis (and, predictably, failed to connect the two).
(c) Doc Hackenbush 2014

She gets off to a bad start by responding to Tony Blair’s assertion that the UK was fed duff intelligence in the run-up to the 2003 conflict by scoffing “Woah. You better be able to back that up, buddy. Because blaming our spies, who can’t stick up for themselves, is the lowest of the low”. It has bugger all to do with “our spies”. Most of the rubbish came from Ahmed Chalabi and his Iraqi National Congress. This is well known (except to Ms Mensch).

But the truly distasteful stuff comes when she whines about having to go to the theatre (or perhaps that should be theater, given her current residence Stateside). These actors - they should stick to the script, says Ms Mensch. “PITY the poor audience trapped in the cheap seats at Benedict Cumberbatch’s sold-out Hamlet. ‘To flee, or not to flee’ – that was the question, as the star subjected his captive audience to a barking-mad rant about Syrian illegal immigrants”. Er, Syrian WHAT?

He says ‘refugees’. I say illegal immigrants and their dangerously trafficked children. Has this overpaid luvvie got a migrant living in his house? No? Well, shut up then”. Ms Mensch does have a fixation with “trafficking”, a term she used extensively - and wrongly - when ranting about Edward Snowden and his trove of information. She is also plain flat wrong, and distastefully so, about Syrian refugees.

Leaving aside the tired canard about only being able to talk about refugees if you are prepared to share your house with them, there is, in reality, no such thing as an illegal refugee. The idea that a Government can pass a law and Johnny Foreigner then has to remain in his own country is not credible - especially when everyone from Bashar al-Assad to ISIS to the Russians are bombing the crap out of the place.

Millions of Syrians have been displaced from their country by the constant fighting. Many face a desperate winter in refugee camps. But Ms Mensch isn’t interested: “I go to a lot of plays because my husband loves them … all too often after the curtain call the stars will 'regale' us with their thoughts on the issue of the day … Then too often there is an endless charity appeal that can take upwards of 20 minutes”.

Oh, the suffering! And there’s more: “I’ve been sitting down for two hours in a cramped red velvet seat, I want the loo and my posterior is aching”. Good to see that she doesn’t just give others a pain in the arse, then. But the lack of self-awareness is staggering: refugees don’t get expensive theatre visits. They don’t get velvet seats. They don’t even get toilet breaks. They are lucky to get away with their lives.

It’s sad to see that Louise Mensch just doesn’t care. But then, she is a true Conservative.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tim,

It isn't "lack of self awareness."

It's lying.

Might as well call a Mensch a Mensch. The woman drifts nearer to outright fascism with every passing day. A disgusting, indecent excuse for a human being.

And a warning of what she represents to everybody with a trace of decency in them. It isn't as though there are no historical precedents.

pete c said...

Even if there are any 'cheap seats', no one is trapped there.

Everyone is free to leave as and when they see fit. Some 'ordinary folk' will up and go.

Most 'celebs' will not dare to upsticks, for fear of being outed.

And isn't she the last one to decry someone operating on the principle of "If you have a pulpit - use it".

Andy McDonald said...

'Endless' - 'upwards of 20 minutes'.

She's right, you know. Those Syrians don't know what hardship is.

sigil said...

Tim, what, really is LM's influence these days? It's not that I don't enjoy you taking her down, it's just that it's like shooting fish in a bathtub. People still follow Fawkes and his acolytes, so they are worthy targets, but surely LM should be beneath notice as she surely is beneath contempt?

Tim Fenton said...

@4

Her influence is that she has a rock-solid platform at the Sun which she regularly uses to disseminate falsehood and misinformation, as well as carrying on petty bullying and vendettas.

Ms Mensch also has - for whatever reason escapes me - an audience on social media who consider her credible. So someone has to point out the lack of credibility.

rob said...

There was a middle aged woman named Lou
Who found she had nothing to do
So she twittered away
With really nothing to say
But "I'm here, you're there, hard luck you"