Spiked Racism Hypocrisy

After Priti Patel, who is claimed to be Home Secretary, fronted the Government’s daily briefing last Saturday and showed a crude lack of empathy, and indeed numeracy, some took the piss out of her. Others noted the difference in the way our free and fearless press treated her, as opposed to its pursuit of her former Labour shadow Diane Abbott.

But no-one had protested that Ms Patel was the victim of racism, which is probably because she was not: criticism focused on her non-apology - “I’m sorry if you feel that” - and her making a Horlicks of reading out the number of those tested for Covid-19. This situation therefore incurred the displeasure of Brendan O’Neill from the planet Spiked, so called because it should have been long ago. He decided there had been racism.

And so it came to pass that The Great Man fired up his quote generator and told anyone not yet asleep “What this all boils down to is the idea that Priti Patel is a ‘nasty woman’ … It’s time to cut the crap. Patel-bashing is not political critique … This is where wokeness and its obsession with racial issues crosses the line into something like actual racism”.

There is more. “They hate Patel because she is disobedient; because she deviates from their vision of the good immigrant descendant; because she ‘smirks’ rather than smiling softly and saying ‘Yes, boss’ to the PC elites”. Ah, those “PC elites” that he just made up. As opposed to the elite of which he is very much an integral part.

No more than a tangential reference to Ms Patel’s non-apology, and no reference at all to her numbers problem. Instead, we are told “The prejudice simmering under the surface of Patel-bashing was clear from the fact that nobody seems to have listened to what she said at the press briefing”. Wrong. The criticism is because we DID listen to what she said. Otherwise, how could anyone have commented on it?

But he does know, after doing rather a lot of chattering, that, er, “The chattering class’s hatred of Priti Patel is crossing the line into something like racism”. Now compare and contrast with his sniffy, condescending and dismissive attitude to Diane Abbott after the latter’s recent appearance on BBC Question Time. “Man up, Diane”, he commanded.

And away he goes. “Abbott is so unbelievably patrician and condescending [while Priti Patel is not, eh Bren?] … Corbyn crew claim QT presenter Fiona Bruce interrupted Abbott more than the other guests … the sad bastards … The Labour machine’s reaction to the QT row has been chilling, even sinister … We can only hope that the BBC tells Labour to piss off and refuses to bow to its shrill, censorious demands”.

Then it comes. “A really obnoxious aspect of the Abbott / QT row has been the playing of the race card”. As opposed to the race card you just played defending Priti Patel. But do go on. “These race-card antics are incredibly demeaning … The suggestion is that blacks cannot handle robust debate … if Abbott is unpopular, it isn’t because of her race”.

Racism is not racism. But what is not racism really is racism. Or, most likely, Brendan O’Neill saw Toby Young being handed a column by the Murdoch Sun and wanted to remind the inmates of the Baby Shard bunker that he’d rather like one too.

Even if it involves him facing both ways and standing on his head. What a trouper.

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