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But he’s also seeing over increasing rates of absolute poverty in his own country having been elected on a Labour ticket. I saw a very impressive Gordon Brown speak on the elimination of poverty 2 years ago. He bluntly stated that he never thought he would see the return to poverty he saw as a child in his lifetime. And as someone working in the public sector, I’ve seen very little difference in the last year. Just the execution of cuts planned, but hooing to be avoided when a new government came in. The man has no principles and no heart. I have to say seeing Gordon Brown live, I saw a genuine person using his status as a former prime minister as a force for good, that was heartbroken over the riding levels of poverty.
He is always worse than predicted, and yet feels, probably correctly, that he can get away with it. As he disagrees with France’ over recognising Palestine, he explicitly gives Israel a veto over ‘when’ because it can only happen as ‘part of a wider agreement’, which Israel has already ruled out.
Much worse is his kneejerk ‘we’ll do it’ response to Israel allowing airdrops of food and supplies. The UN and all the aid organisations have said this can only ever provide a trickle of the food that’s needed and often can result in fatalities as desperate people rush and scrabble to get to the airdropped pallets.
There are hundreds of lorries ready to go into Gaza and a UN system of distribution which was working before – . Starmer needs to back the call from the UN and the aid bodies – to get this up and running again. The airdrop is another way of trying to distract from the genocide.
Thanks Prime Minister.
And if Israel knows where their friends the RAF are dropping the parcels, they can position their snipers to continue their target practice when desperate Palestinians emerge to try to collect the food. (Blankets infected with smallpox or whatever the modern equivalent is probably included.)
And, not just any old PM ….. He used to like to claim “human rights lawyer” …..
More like “human blight lawyer.” These aren’t Labour Party values!
🙂
He’s soulless and evil. Let’s face anyone who knows what he knows about what’s going on in Palestine doesn’t act and turns a blind eye, must be.
What’s worse is his public hand wringing whilst sending planes to provide intelligence (and whatever else) to genocidal maniacs. Here’s more of his empty words:
“Sir Keir Starmer has condemned the “unspeakable and indefensible” humanitarian conditions in Gaza after aid groups warned of mass starvation in the territory.
In a statement, the prime minister said the situation had been “grave for some time” but it has “reached new depths”.
“We are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe,” Sir Keir said.”
He’s put out lots of such statements since the genocide started and did nothing whatever. Can’t wait to see him in The Hague.
He could stop shipping arms to Israel, and stop transferring weapons from the United States and Germany.
He could stop supplying Israel with intelligence from British spy planes that have been constantly operating over Gaza from RAF’s Akrotiri base on Cyprus.
He could recognise Palestine.
He could prosecute British-Israeli soldiers taking part in the genocide.
He could stop hosting suspected Israeli war criminals in London, as Declassified has documented.
He could tear up special trade agreements with Israel. The list goes on.
When daily, harrowing pictures of starving children have replaced distractions like Bob Vylan on the front pages we know the propaganda tide has turned. Starmer’s actions must follow.
I agree with all that.
“He [Starmer] could recognise Palestine.”
But the Palestinians are ‘unter mensch’ in the Starmer worldview.
The man is beneath contempt.
This is only because he has a whole bunch of people telling him the opposite.
Strangely enough I wrote exactly the same to my MP, Luke Akehurst, when he responded to my plea for an end to the genocide with the usual platitudes.
Referring to the Labour Party and Luke Akehurst, this is from “Weaponising Anti-Semitism: How the Israel Lobby Brought Down Jeremy Corbyn” (2023) by Asa Winstanley https://amzn.eu/d/4usYLYI
“Such a popular, socialist government would not be a natural ally of the state of Israel—especially if led by a patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Israel and its UK propagandists, then, were natural partners for the Labour right’s long campaign of sabotage against Corbyn. And several key right-wing Labour activists were also Israel lobbyists at the same time. This was the case with the leader of Labour First, Luke Akehurst—a former arms industry lobbyist and the director of a BICOM spin-off candidly titled “We Believe in Israel.”
“Founded in 2000, BICOM’s original mission was “to bring about a significant shift in opinion in favour of Israel amongst the general public, opinion-formers,
and the Jewish community.”
BICOM – Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre
What the Nazi’s did to the Jews, the Jews are doing it to the Palestinians and the whole world is letting them.
Let’s not accuse a group of people like that.
It is true that many Israeli leaders said exactly what they planned to do (which is hopefully enough to convict them). And the State of Israeli (an apartheid state), is being facilitated in acts of genocide by so many Western and Arab states.
Many Israelis and Jews in other countries also want these atrocities to stop. Let’s not be lazy and suggest that (all) “Jews” or “Muslims” (or whatever) are culpable.
Agreed
“Many Israelis and Jews in other countries also want these atrocities to stop”
You are 100% correct. “Many”. But.
The majority of jews living in Israel (and illegal “settlers” on the West Bank) fully support what is happening. The IDF and its citizen soliders (lets not forget that) & its actions are directed by the Israeli government and by extentions the view of the majority of Israeli-jewish citizens. In demos in the UK against what is happening, there are some jewish people. But, the majority of UK jews remain silent, the major Jewish newspapers in the UK tacitly support the genocide in Gaza by minimising it. In the context of Gaza the word “many” is loaded and attempts to minimise a very uncomfortable reality – outlined above. As Finkelstein noted: all the info on what is going on if fully available – everybody is informed.
Mike,
Let me try to be clear- I not an apologist for the Israeli state, anything related to Zionism or the aggressive abuse of technology / weaponry of a terrorising and abusive rogue state.
I abhor the repeated invocation of “anti-semitism” for any critique of Israel, their formerly proscribed leaders and their terrorising military. It also seems that UK institutions are culpable in rewriting history to monopolise victimhood of past atrocities (check out IWM). UK acceptance of the definition of anti-semitism needs urgent review.
However … I do recognise that there are some who seek to blame Jews (or immigrants, or Irish, or blacks, or gays, or ….. ) for society’s ills. The idea of simply blaming an “identifiable other” is what I was objecting to. This doesn’t equate to support of Israel, IDF, genocide, settler murder and intimidation, etc.
We shouldn’t get bogged down in this though. Im sure there is little disagreement that a higher priority must be to stop (international) state sponsored genocide.
Richard,
Like Blair, the ex-PM Starmer will have to live with the opprobrium of the informed UK, which like that for Blair will follow him forever like a bad smell. The characteristic he shares with the Israelis, of course, is that he lies.
Starmer, were he to be a civilised PM, should:
>Recognise statehood for Palestine
>Join the ICJ Genocide Case, initiated by South Africa
>Impose a Full Arms Embargo
>End all military co-operation, including RAF surveillance flights from Akrotiri
>Suspend the UK-Israel Trade Agreement
>Ban all trade coming from illegal settlements
>Notify & pursue UK citizens serving in the IDF as subject to war crimes investigations
>Work to suspend Israeli membership of the UN
>Latterly associate the UK with The Hague Group’s joint statement.
But, of course, he will not do any of that because Starmer is no better than a sock-puppet of the British establishment. The English-speaking West is seriously and subversively conjoined by the ‘5-i’ s (US, UK, Canada, Australia & NZ) of western intelligence along with Mossad. The UK is now steeped in, as revealed by the academic David Miller, possibly thousands of pro-Zionist lobbying bodies. These have multiplied down the decade; one expression being the intimidation of, and bias shown by, the BBC.
So, our establishment will continue with its useful ‘Balfour’ ally; what the 22 year old JFK recognised as a ‘garrison state’ serving western interests but which has now become a Frankenstein monster. The genocidal psychopathy of Israel is unmasked and, as Ilan Pappé thinks, Israel is now doomed. The UK’s lack of leadership will only delay the outcome and add to the chaos, death and suffering in Palestine.
He’s not called Tel Aviv Keith for nothing…
I have been reading about Israeli Palestinian conflicts for years.
It is dreadful.
Mike’s suggestions might be viable for an unsual British PM but Starmer isn’t a world leader in this sense of cutting an independent path, he is the “general manager” of the UK and works hard at keeping Israeli/Jewish supporters onside. He clearly does the same with the Americans. Though with Trump’s latest musings maybe our so-called deal on trade will prove short-lived.
Even if he was more independent and free of US and Israeli pressure I doubt any actions by the UK would change Israel’s actions on the ground in Gaza or indeed elsewhere eg West Bank eg Iran.
UK has little leverage with any of the main participants.
We need to get used to our lack of importance.
Not true.
The UK has lots of leverage with Israel. We supply parts and weapons to them. Our planes fly over Gaza and send info to Netanyahu.
If we stopped supplying them with arms they could not kill so many.
You forget that Starmer has said he is a Zionist, born a Zionist and will die a Zionist.
My MP wears a tee-shirt calling himself a Zionist shitlord.
Starmer talks about a humanitarian catastrophe, rather than genocide by stsarvation. You cannot stick up for him. He is as evil as Netanyahu and should be on trial in the Hague.
Richard, Apologies for posting a 2nd time but came across this v relevant short video by UK ex-diplomat who knows; lots of useful points re genocidal complicity, especially IF one wants to write your MP and\or Kier Starmer & Lammy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLN7SrfTeZ4
Thanks
Richard We the Peoples
I have just watched your posted YouTube video by the former UK diplomat on Israel and Gaza.
Very useful.
Thank you.