Suppose I should add a comment on wreath thing. Usual disclaimer, not a Labour Party member, not Jewish, treat my opinions with the insignificance they deserve (thread alert): 1/ If you're a senior politician & you've been actively involved in the politics of Israel/Palestine on any side, then you've stood shoulder to shoulder with war criminals, with terrorists, with human rights abusers, with people whose politics are several miles short of ideal. >

Another Brexit related thread prompted by @ProfDaveAndress's Cultural Dementia... in understanding Brexit, I don't think we (and especially the FBPE side) have given nearly enough thought to what the word "control" means in relation to 'taking back control.' > In psychology, stress can be defined as the sensation we experience when we lose the perception of control of our environment & circumstances. In political terms, one impact of the organisation of the working class was to provide people with at least the illusion of control. >

Not picking an argument with DL here because we're pals, but a good opportunity to point out why this tweet profoundly misrepresents MY position on Brexit and (I would imagine) Corbyn and most other Corbyn supporters too. [thread] >

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by @Dorianlynskey view original on Twitter

Brexit will be disastrous for the British economy, and the harder the Brexit the more damaging it will be. At the same time, any attempt to halt or reverse Brexit would plunge this country into a political & constitutional crisis that would paralyse the country for decades >

Didn't tweet about this last night because I didn't want to spoil my evening, but I am so fucking done with #HIGNFY being such a reactionary pile of trash. Honestly, just wrap that show in a sack, smack it over the head with a shovel & dump it in the canal. The last straw? > #HIGNFY had a question about that David Lewis bellend in Basingstoke, giving his idiotic stunt a good few minutes airing so all could have a good chuckle about the idea of someone being a woman "on Wednesdays" with a full "woman-ness of his beard" etc etc. >

Have tried 3 times to watch #bbctbq special on 'masculinity in crisis' & gave up every time it was so painful. Got off to the worst start with an exchange on toxic masculinity which inevitably involved people shouting across each other while using entirely different definitions> It's a phrase I try incredibly hard not to use because it is ALWAYS misunderstood and always generates heat & no light. So here's a thread on what it should mean which may in turn explain why I don't use it. >

Don't think it's been mentioned nearly enough that when the Tory/LibDem Coalition brought in the 2014 Immigration Act which caused the Windrush Scandal, only 18 MPs had the courage to vote against. They included David Lammy, Diane Abbott, John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn. The Parliamentary Labour Party, led by Ed Miliband and with Yvette Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary, ordered Labour MPs to vote the bill through. Didn't want to be seen as soft on immigrants, see.

By some distance, the most catastrophically anti-democratic thing that British political media has done over *decades* is to frame political activism of tens of thousands of people as insignificant & non-newsworthy, while obsessing over the remarks of individual politicians.

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by @jamesrbuk view original on Twitter

James Ball there is just regurgitating received wisdom of the political establishment, they've convinced each other that marches, demos & rallies are insignificant & not newsworthy. It's one of the major reasons why they misread the Corbyn's 17 election campaign so profoundly