Labour GRT Row - No Usual Suspects

The welter of condemnation visited upon the Labour Party during Jeremy Corbyn’s time as leader, claiming that the party was “institutionally anti-Semitic”, which was an interesting claim given that Jezza’s immediate predecessor is Jewish, and had been the target for blatant anti-Semitic abuse from some of the same people hurling the brickbats, has gradually dissipated since Keir Starmer became leader last year.

But given the force of the attacks on Labour back then, and that the GRT communities of central and eastern Europe were subjected to genocidal attack by the Nazis on the same lines as that which targeted Jews, one might have expected an attack on the UK’s GRT population by that same Labour Party to have the critics in full cry once again.

They made laws there too. Hint

It’s not happened: a leaflet distributed in the Warrington area, by canvassers including MP Charlotte Nichols, who is Jewish, and titled “Delivering for you in tough times”, contained among its list of bullet points “Dealing with Traveller incursions”. Er, hello? What if that had said “Muslim” or even “Jewish” instead of “Traveller”? Or just “Foreign”?

One Tweeter reminded us of Phil Woolas, whose desperation caused him to be disbarred by an election court. He had tried to “galvanise the white Sun vote” against his Lib Dem opponent, and his narrow victory at the 2010 General Election was overturned.

Elsewhere, barrister Jane Heybroek concluded “It's time to nail your colours to the mast. You are either anti-fascist or you're not. Labour is tinkering round the edges while dog-whistling to the far right, and the ‘brown-shirts’. When Red and Brown mix, Brown always wins”. But from Starmer, and indeed his deputy Angela Rayner, it’s been Twitter silence.

That, at the time of typing, also applies to Stephen Pollard of the Jewish Chronicle and his trusted reporter Lee Harpin. As it does to usually vocal former Labour MPs Luciana Berger and Ruth Smeeth. And Lord John Mann. And Tracy Ann Oberman. And Rachel Riley. So the Jewish Tweeter who observed “At my Jewish school we learnt about the Holocaust in detail & that included learning about how Gypsy & Traveller communities were murdered along with Jews. My point is - if you attack Travellers - you attack me. I hope all Jewish people will call this vile racism out” was, at least for that part, to be disappointed.

Small wonder the GRT Socialists Twitter feed almost shrugged at the news, and the lack of support: “Look we know we aren't a loved community and the campaign isn't a big one, but we don't expect our community to be repeatedly disrespected and trodden all over by our own party”. And Owen Jones was, not for the first post-Starmer time, not holding back.

“The brutal truth is prejudice and bigotry against Travellers, Roma and Gypsies is absolutely rampantly permissible and acceptable in society, and the fact that Labour MPs tap into it - including those supposedly hailing from the left - is completely nauseating”. But unlike with Phil Woolas, it seems no-one is going to do anything about it.

They were so vocal with claims of anti-Semitism. Now there is actual anti-GRT sentiment, right there in election leaflets, we get crickets. Some might get the impression of double standards, or just kicking Corbyn to keep him from power, and that would never do.

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