This Is Why We Love Social Media!

And why politicians don’t. Stella Creasy is upset. The peasantry are mean to her:

The slogan “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution” holds new meaning in a world where an MP simply singing along to Robyn is labelled a sign of national decline. A tweet celebrating a Saturday night in my own constituency has now been viewed by almost 1 million people – and many more have offered an opinion.

Oh noes! The great British public shouldn't be allowed an opinion! Shut it down!  

Egged on by political opponents and the presenters of GB News, these have included death threats, vile commentary on my appearance and accusations that I’m not fit for office, all because I went to a silent disco.

No, it's because your party is loathed for good reason, as are you yourself. Not for your dancing, for your policies. 

Joy is now seen as something that should shame politicians – as though having frazzled and miserable people in our parliament is good for decision-making.

Your decision making?  It's awful, no matter what emotional state you're in at the time. 

Underlying this is more than just embarrassment about seeing a middle-aged MP dance, it’s a concerted attempt by some to drown out their opponents’ voices through character assassination.

Infamy, infamy, that've all got it in for me!  

Abuse and violence towards politicians is at an all-time high. Every day, MPs trade stories and sympathies about criminal proceedings against those who have harassed them, offices being attacked and poison pen letters, and fears they have for their families and staff.

Yet they do nothing about the causes of it. What did you do when Southend's MP was hacked to death in his office by one of your imports, besides import more of them, while ensuring his daughter's pleas for a public enquiry were ignored!  

It’s not hard to see why making rage-baiting statements is appealing in a world where the next generation will end up poorer than the last. Frustration and fear about the future are widespread and understandable. Politics seems incapable of offering answers at a time when they are needed.

Maybe then we should stop looking to politicians to provide them? 

It is also why dismissing the social-media cesspit misses how behaviour online feeds the real world, as it sets the expectation that we politicians deserve what we get. Since Elon Musk took over, X has promoted conservative material and demoted alternative perspectives.

You've got Bluesky for those.

But public debate and good policy-making only thrive when people can speak freely and listen carefully...

Then stop locking up people for doing just that, and start to argue that people shouldn't be allowed to use the law to silence people arguing against woke policies!  

... it is noticeable that attempts at public shaming are disproportionately handed out to women and people of colour.

Oh, give it a rest!  

If we want to stop politicians being punched, we need to stop using them as punchbags.

Nobodies punching you, more's the pity. We, the public, however, that's another matter... 

They Aren’t Fleeing ‘War And Oppression’, Enver…

...not if they are coming from France. It's not that bad.

Labour will be at real risk of failing to reform the UK’s broken asylum system unless it challenges Tory rhetoric and stops focusing on the deportation of asylum seekers, the head of the Refugee Council has said.

Enver Solomon, the charity’s chief executive, said Keir Starmer must use the language of “compassion and humanity” in order to tackle the vilification of refugees.

That'll be hard, since he doesn't possess those qualities. 

The home secretary’s plans to expand detention without opening safe routes are “costly and unnecessary” and the government must instead accelerate grant rates for asylum claims to tackle the backlog and community tensions around asylum hotels, he said. There is growing concern from charities, unions and left-leaning MPs that the government is adopting the language and policies established by the Tories around asylum and immigration.

Yes, clearly, nothing will halt 'the vilification of refugees' like cramming even more of them into our towns against our wishes. 

Solomon said the Labour government had not yet challenged the political rhetoric that had contributed to the hatred and vilification of refugees. He said: “Angry talk of invasion, stopping the boats and labelling everyone as ‘illegal’ has raised the temperature and had the effect of stripping people fleeing war and oppression from the world’s trouble spots of their stories and humanity.

What 'stories'? The usual load of old flannel they tell the 'Guardian'? What 'humanity'? When they put their children's lives at risk by leaving a safe country? 

“The challenge now is to ensure that the language of compassion and humanity is adopted by all politicians, with government taking the lead.”

“The current private contractors have consistently failed to deliver and it’s now time to bite the bullet and end the contracts as soon as possible. The government must work hand in hand with councils to ensure they are fully equipped to house people in local communities in a safe and dignified way that ensures value for taxpayers’ money.

How will we ever know if we are getting that, when it becomes a state secret? 

“Following the riots, it is also vital that serious work is led by government on community cohesion, including a clear plan on refugee integration,” he said.

Stopping arresting them for protesting would be a good start.  

Translation: "Oh No! We Accidentally Said The Quiet Bit Out Loud!"

Jewish organisations last night slammed an NHS Trust after an email urged its staff to boycott antisemitism awareness training. Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust provoked outrage after it published a statement in its weekly newsletter warning staff 'not to attend' an 'inappropriate' session led by the Antisemitism Policy Trust (APT).

Whoops! Never commit stuff like that to print, chaps! Haven't you heard the term 'plausible deniability'? 

An email — sent by an employee from the Trust's diversity team — followed a handful of complaints about the APT made via the Black Minority Ethnic network. Claire Murdoch, chief executive of the Trust, interrupted her holiday to personally telephone the head of the APT and apologise for the egregious 'error'.In an email seen by the Daily Mail, she told staff that the statement about the training had been made in 'error' after it had not 'gone through our usual sign-off process'.

Well, someone's face is red...or black or brown, I guess. 

She added: 'I have asked that colleagues look into how such a message was communicated in error and we will get to the bottom of it.'There have been a small number of concerns raised by some individuals via the BAME network with the Trust about the antisemitism training.

'This will be properly investigated - which is the right and proper thing to do - and will be shared both with the APT and NHS England.

'I have personally telephoned the chief executive of APT this morning to apologise for what I can only describe as poor process and error on our part.'

And not a slip-up exposing your true feelings? 

It is unclear if the person responsible for adding the statement to the newsletter will face any disciplinary action or will be required to attend the antisemitism training themselves.

I'm betting the answer's 'no' to both. 

'People around here now do not feel safe with the police.'

Well, if 'people round here' refrain from getting drunk and fighting with the cops that turn up, they'll be fine,

Justin Fenn, manager of the Londis shop, said his CCTV cameras had filmed the incident from several angles. He said: 'The policeman pulled up and the man's brandishing a bottle. He's just tipped out contents and he's brandishing it, instantly confrontational to the policeman.

'I can only imagine the policeman's asked him to move, and he just wants to have an argument. He's shouting and screaming.

'[The police officer] got the pepper spray. He's asking for assistance [via his radio set] because he [man in wheelchair] is not doing anything rational.'

Sensible chap, Justin. Sadly, enrichment has ensured he's a lone voice of rationality... 

Diari 'Jay' Salih, 40, who runs a barbershop opposite where the altercation happened, said witnesses were shocked by the incident. He said he had approached the police officer and told him to stop after allegedly seeing the man being pepper-sprayed. Mr Salih added: 'Nobody's happy about this. I can't get the image out of my head. People around here now do not feel safe with the police.'

*sigh* So 'unsafe' you're happy to march up to them on the street and tell them how to do their job? 

Carla Carvalho, 43, who works at a nearby business, described how the man in the wheelchair had been 'in the middle of the road, dancing and singing and all happy when the policeman comes and stops him'. She told the BBC: 'He was trying to get up with a bottle of beer in hand and I think the police guy thinks he was going to throw the bottle at him. Then you see in the video the police guy punches him. 'Whatever they say to each other I don't know, but he doesn't need to do this. He should be waiting for other ones [police officers].'

Everyone's an expert on policing, but you'll note that those commenting would, no doubt, find much more robust policing in their countries of origin.