Phil Woolas' Hate Lit
Former Labour immigration minister, Phil Woolas has been expelled from parliament, after a court ruled that he lied about his Lib Dem election opponent having ties to Muslim extremists in his campaign hate literature show above in a deliberate attempt to the angry White vote. Woolas has also been banned from standing for public office for three years and it's expected that there will be a re-run for the Oldham East seat. That a politician has to resort to Islamophobic and xenophobic hype to get votes is bad enough, but for Labour MPs to vote him into Ed Miliband's shadow cabinet says a lot about the Labour party as a whole, considering Woolas has a track record of being anti-immigrants (remember the Gurkhas, the tier system for visas and foreign ID cards). Below is an extract from an on-point opinion piece by Dan Hodges from Labour Uncut on this issue:
When Phil Woolas’ campaign took the decision to “get the white vote angry” it wasn’t an aberration. They were deploying a localised variation of a national strategy. When we, as a party, call for British jobs for British workers, or a ‘debate’ on immigration, we are speaking in code. And when the code is deciphered it says, “we think you’re racist, but we don’t care. We want you to vote for us anyway”.
When did Andy [Burnham], Ed [Miliband] and the other leadership contenders develop their keen interest in the socio-economic implications of mass migration? Where are Andy’s pamphlets? When were Ed’s adjournment debates? Their speeches, fringes, seminars? These are senior representatives of the mother of parliaments. If they really wanted a ‘debate’ they, more than anyone, have had ample opportunity to engage in one. We don’t want a debate. We want votes. And frankly, my dear, we don’t give a damn where they come from.
When the battle for the leadership reached its crescendo, who did David Miliband wheel out as one of his final endorsers? Mrs Duffy. “This new government is not on the side of people like Gillian Duffy”, he said, “I am determined the Labour party will be”. When his brother had finished his leadership speech, whose was one of the first adulatory hands he clasped? Gillian Duffy’s. Asked whether she thought he shared her views on immigration, she replied ”Most probably yes, it was very good”. Ed’s office said he was hoping to grab a cup of tea with her later.
Pandering to white working class prejudice isn’t the preserve of one junior immigration minister. It’s Labour’s official line to take. Every time the BNP makes a breakthrough, our response is the same; it’s a reaction, a cry for help. People are just protesting against the system. They’re not racist.
The hell they’re not. At the last election the BNP secured 1.9% of the vote. Two percent of the country racist? We should be so lucky.
