DEFIANT BECKETT FIGHTS BACK

Unite's Howard Beckett has defended himself against accusations of racism following his absurd tweet in which he called for Priti Patel and other 'racists' to be deported.  Beckett spoke to Sky's Adam Boulton this morning and claimed that the Home Secretary's Indian heritage played no part in his use of language.

During the interview he repeatedly referred to Home Office policy as 'racist', although he failed to provide any evidence for this. Let's be clear, an illegal immigrant can come in any shape, colour or form.  There is nothing 'racist' about removing people who are in this country illegally.  This is the lie of the left.  The people who surrounded that Home Office van in Glasgow were waving placards that read 'refugees welcome', but the men were not refugees, nor - as Beckett stated in one of his tweets, and this interview - had they fled a war zone.

Beckett says that the Labour Party should speak for working class people, but he does not.  An open borders policy like the one he espouses will only make life worse for working class people.

The full Sky News piece, including Beckett's interview, can be seen below.

Incidentally, despite the emotive words of senior left-wing politicians in Scotland, it has now been revealed that the men detained in Glasgow on Thursday were not even Muslims.  Nicola Sturgeon, Humza Yousef and Labour's Anas Sarwar had all made capital out of the timing of the arrests, having fallen on Eid, but it turns out that both men are actually Sikhs.  One could argue that such a sweeping generalisation of Asian people is also in itself a racist attitude.  What say you wee nippy?

LABOUR SUSPEND BECKETT

Labour has suspended a top union official after he tweeted that 'Priti Patel should be deported'.  Howard Beckett (pictured above) is a member of the Unite union and is hoping to succeed Len McCluskey as general secretary later this year.  He also sits on Labour's National Executive Committee as a Unite representative.

Following yesterday's stand-off in Glasgow over the arrest of two migrants, Beckett tweeted the following:

Following a swift backlash, Beckett deleted the tweet and issued a string of tweets that became gradually more apologetic and culminated in a direct apology to the Home Secretary.

Much like the leftist mob that prevented the removal of the two migrants on Thursday, Beckett's use of emotive language is based on lies.  The men in question are neither refugees or have fled war zones - they are both Indian nationals.  This was confirmed in a Home Office statement:

"The UK government is tackling illegal immigration and the harm it causes, often to the most vulnerable people by removing those with no right to be in the UK.  The operation in Glasgow was conducted in relation to suspected immigration offences and the two Indian nationals complied with officers at all times.  The UK government continues to tackle illegal migration in all its forms and our New Plan for Immigration will speed up the removal of those who have entered the UK illegally".

The Glasgow flash mob was well organised and dozens of 'refugees welcome' placards could be seen.  The far left nature of the crowd was in evidence with some protesters holding red flags, while a Palestinian flag was hoisted to a lamp post next to the Home Office van.  

Empowering the mob with condemnation of the Home Office were the usual suspects.  Nicola Sturgeon, her justice secretary Hamza Yousef and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar were among those voicing their disapproval.  Sarwar's reaction was retweeted by Keir Stamer.

It's Black Lives Matter all over again.  Condoning mob rule does not end well.

No-one voted for left-wing mobs.  No-one voted for Howard Beckett and his communist ilk.  The silent overwhelming majority demand law and order.  If these men are illegal immigrants then they must be removed, plain and simple.  Perhaps next time though - in order to wrong-foot the leftist losers - the job should be done on a Sunday morning.

PRO-CORBYN NEC WALKOUT

Thirteen members of Labour's ruling National Executive Committtee staged a pre-planned 'walkout' on Tuesday morning in protest at Keir Starmer's leadership and his decision not to restore the whip to Jeremy Corbyn.  The protest was reportedly led by former MP Laura Pidcock and Howard Beckett of the Unite union.  As the meeting was virtual we can only assume they merely hung up their Zoom connections.

Both Pidcock and Beckett raised points of order prior to leaving, criticising Starmer.  Embarrassingly, the walkout allowed a new chair to be appointed - a decision that riled up the left even more.  Veteran MP Margaret Beckett was voted into the position unopposed, but the left had assumed that the role would have automatically gone to the vice chair.  Ian Murray (not to be confused with the MP of the same name) was vice chair and as a representative of the Fire Brigades Union is also a strong supporter of Corbyn.  However, he was reportedly also one of those who walked out, so could not voice his opposition at the decision.

Laura Pidcock and Margaret Beckett

The Corbyn loyalists later pointed out that the chair was usually appointed on a rotating basis whereby the vice chair would automatically assume the position.  They have now complained to Labour's general secretary David Evans.  Perhaps if they hadn't staged their petulant walkout they could have prevented it!

Their letter is reprinted below.

"Dear David

As proud members of the NEC we find ourselves unable to stay in today’s meeting.

As you will be aware we recently wrote to you to request that you admonish the leader of Labour, Sir Keir Starmer, for his decision to undermine the role of the NEC by withdrawing the whip from Jeremy Corbyn MP.

The withdrawal of the whip directly undermined the legitimacy of the NEC decision to reinstate Jeremy Corbyn’s membership. It was made worse by Keir Starmer subsequently permitting his shadow cabinet members to make commentary on media that was clearly intended to undermine the legitimacy of the NEC process.

At today’s NEC the agenda item of election of the chair and vice-chair of the NEC appears. It is a matter of disagreement as to whether these agenda items can be heard absent the officers agreeing the agenda.

But regardless it has become apparent that the longstanding protocol of the vice-chair being elected as chair is not to be followed. Instead the leadership has lobbied for Dame Margaret Beckett to be chair. The public reason for such lobbying is to be given as Dame Margaret being the longest-serving member of the NEC. This is not protocol and is another example of the leader promoting factional division within Labour.

We believe the true reason for the leader lobbying for Dame Margaret, and indeed the reason that had been given by senior party MPs in private, is because the vice-chair, Ian Murray, was a signature to the previous correspondence sent to you seeking admonishment of the leader.

The leader’s decision to again promote factionalism comes at a time when the historic relationship with trade unions is under tremendous strain. Already we know that the Bakers’ Union are balloting their membership as to affiliation and the decision of the Leader to lobby and brief against the president of the FBU taking the chair, as would be protocol, must be seen in this context.

As the general secretary of the Labour Party you should be stepping in to uphold the rulebook, maintain protocol, remind the leader that he is an officer of the NEC and prevent factionalism.

We have decided not to remain in the NEC meeting today in order to show very clearly how factional the decisions of the current Labour leader have become. We will be returning to future NEC meetings to be the legitimate voice of the membership and to continue to demand that the party unite and reject the current factional approach of the leader".

How ironic that the same wing of the party that previously engaged in hate-filled purges of moderates is so quickly up in arms when they are on the receiving end.

DARLING LOSERS

The 'darling of the left' is a title generally bestowed on a loser.  It is someone who the left aspire to one day become a great leader, but who is destined to languish in opposition.  Zarah Sultana is the current occupant of the title and, like her predecessor Laura Pidcock, no-one outside the left-wing bubble takes her seriously.

In any other circumstances Sultana would never have been selected, but the loony left were running the show in 2019.  At the next election she could find herself following in the footsteps of Pidcock by serving just one term.  Whereas Pidcock had an almost 9,000 majority going into her December 12 defeat, Sultana will be defending a paltry majority of 401 going into the next election.  Given her dedication to overseas causes that don't concern the overwhelming majority of her constituents, perhaps she will also be consigned to the scrapheap of left-wing darlings.  Best not tell Howard Beckett that - he thinks she's a future PM.

Zarah Sultana,

It was said that when Jeremy became leader he’s greatest achievement would be that someone he inspired would one day be Prime Minister. I believe that person will be you.

To receive these words of endorsement from you leave me speechless. pic.twitter.com/vCGUfndAT9

— Howard Beckett (@BeckettUnite) July 16, 2020

The semi-literate Beckett is favourite to take over from Len McCluskey as Unite's next general secretary.  McCluskey is reportedly stepping down next year and if Beckett's glowing endorsement of Sultana is anything to go by then the union could be headed for yet another red at the head.