Ian Austin - A Contemptible Shit

After what his fans are now reimagining as a mere suggestion that there should be a mass return to work, alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson came under fire not only from Trades Unions, but many in the media, over the safety aspects of maintaining social distancing, the need for many workers to use public transport, and the minor fact that those with school age children had a problem, as schools were closed.

A craven creep appreciates being thrown his latest biscuit

But, as so often in the past, the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press had ignored all other objections to Bozo The Clown’s ill-judged exhortation, and decided that it was The Unions Wot Did It. Len McCluskey was singled out for particularly severe and adverse criticism, because, well, he leads a Trades Union, and it has lots of members.

However, and here we encounter a significantly sized however, much of the population still favours safety as a greater priority than restarting the economy. So the inmates of the Northcliffe House bunker have decided to turn to someone they can still identify with the Labour Party, in the hope that recalcitrant workers can be corralled back to work.

Thus they have called on Ian Austin, not so much a has-been as a never-was, someone whose sole achievement as an MP was to assist in plotting against others. For many who were canvassing for the party in the run-up to last December’s General Election, the open letter authored by Austin, urging Labour voters to vote Tory, was the last straw.

The reasoning behind his unprincipled and shameless floor-crossing was to allege that the party under Jeremy Corbyn was riven by anti-Semitism. That sits uneasily with his Mail article, “Sabotaged by the union dinosaurs: By obstructing the return to work, they are cynically betraying the workers they claim to serve”, by extensively praising Ernest Bevin.

He even blames Jezza. Why? Who knows?

Bevin was regarded as an anti-Semite. He opposed the creation of the state of Israel. He was on the assassination list of both the Irgun and the Lehi. Yet here is Austin eulogising his legacy. And attacking McCluskey: “In response to Boris Johnson's call on Sunday night for a return to work, he told staff to refuse to work if it is not a safe environment”.

And, predictably, despite Corbyn no longer being Labour leader, yes, Austin blames him, too: “Compare the way Labour's Clement Attlee supported Churchill to serve his country with the way McCluskey's friend Jeremy Corbyn has sought to exploit this crisis to divide the country”. Worse, Austin hedges his bets on worker safety.

“Everyone agrees that blue-collar workers must be properly protected before returning to work … however, the battle against coronavirus is not just about saving lives but also saving livelihoods … What trade unions … must not do is exploit this crisis to make untenable demands that hinder economic revival”. Safety is paramount, but maybe not.

On he drones: “the unions must play their part. They have to understand that this is a time when we should pull together”. Working conditions are either safe, or they aren’t. That will not be changed by casually smearing union leaders you don’t like.

Ian Austin railed against supposed anti-Semitism. Now he lauds the legacy of someone accused of it, and takes the shilling of the press empire that cheered on Adolf Hitler. The reality is he wouldn’t have reached up to Bevin’s ankles. Or, indeed, Jeremy Corbyn’s.

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