Labours New Thought Crime

One of the inevitable results of revolutionary movements, is that once the leadership slays all its external enemies it then starts to devour its own .....

Maximilien de Robespierre Was Eaten By The French Revolution

When stating this fact, its usual to cite the French Revolution, where the eternal blood-letting of madame guillotine moved nicely from class enemies, to external, then internal foes.

The revolution radicalised significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins who ran the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror (1793 - 1794), which oversaw the arrest and execution of numerous political adversaries whom Robespierre and his Jacobin allies deemed to oppose the Revolution. In all 17,000 people were estimated to have been sentenced to death and guillotined .... then Robespierre was in turn, indicted and executed by the guillotine.

No One Messed With Stalin - As Kerensky And Trotsky Can Attest

Similarly, the Russian Revolution and the subsequent Red Terror ended with Alexander Kerensky exiled for life, Leon Trotsky exiled then murdered, and the other revolutionaries killed during Stalin's Great Purge, and The Moscow Trials - in all at least 700,000 people were executed.

I was reminded of this when I came upon the news that Trevor Phillips, the former Chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and now chairman of Index on Censorship (a freedom of speech organisation), has been suspended from the Labour Party over allegations of the new PC crime of 'Islamophobia'.

Now 'Islamophobia' in the Labour Party's eyes, is the definition created by an all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims, in which the religion of Islam, is defined as being like a race. i.e. Pakistani, Arab and African Muslims are all one .... a palpable nonsense that only the most politically correct could come up with. Its like saying that all the Christians from Europe, South America, Africa and Asia all all one race. Not a claim anyone in their right mind would make.

Mr Phillips alleged historical thought 'crimes' are:

• His comments about the failure of some Muslims to wear poppies for Remembrance Sunday.
• Expressing concerns about Pakistani Muslim men sexually abusing children in northern British towns.
• The sympathy shown by some UK Muslims in an opinion poll towards the "motives" of the Charlie Hebdo and other Islamic attacks.
• Assertions that Muslims were "different."

The Labour Party, which has shown a marked reluctance to deal with anti-Semitism complaints over the last few years, has said that it takes complaints about Islamophobia "extremely seriously". It added that all complaints "are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken." They said that Labour's general secretary, Jennie Formby, had suspended him as a matter of urgency to "protect the party's reputation". This despite Mr Phillips observations being several years old and the accusers not being named .... surely the person being charged with an offence is entitled to know who has accused them?

You have to laugh ... rather like the old Soviet Bolsheviks,  they make up a new thought crime, and then posthumously prosecute the criminal. However as they don't have access to Stalin's NKVD interrogators, I suspect that they are going to have another embarrassing public episode of ineptitude, as Mr Phillips shows all the signs of not going peacefully.

He has already said that the Labour Party was in danger of collapsing into a "brutish, authoritarian cult ..... I am kind of surprised that what is and always has been an open and democratic party decides that its members cannot have healthy debate about how we address differences of values and outlooks."

He has also mocked the decision by Labour to adopt the definition of Islamophobia agreed by the parliamentary group. "My objection is very simple. That definition said ... that Islamophobia is rooted in a kind of racism - expressions of hostility towards Muslimness. First of all, Muslims are not a race. My personal hero was Muhammad Ali, before that Malcolm X. They became Muslims largely because it is a pan-racial faith. This is not a racial grouping, so describing hostility to them as racial is nonsense."

On national radio he stood by his previous assertions that Muslims were "different", adding: "Well, actually, that's true. The point is Muslims are different and in many ways I think that is admirable." ...... although the term 'in many ways' can be read two ways and not a complete absolution.

And when asked asked if he would change his language as a result of the suspension, Mr Phillips pointed to this new role as chairman of Index on Censorship, adding: "Frankly, it would be a bit odd if I suddenly decided because I had been kicked out of the club, I couldn't express my beliefs."

It looks like the devouring of fellow comrades in the party is now underway as the Momentum Organisation and its left wing supporters within the Labour Party, vent their spleen over their general election drubbing. Its noticeable that Mr Phillips was a member of 24 public figures who wrote to the Guardian newspaper before the last election, saying that they couldn't vote for the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn because of its association with anti-Semitism.

I wonder how many others in that group of 24, will now be looking over their past public comments to see if they face a show trial?