Are the hard left becoming "as bad as Marie Antoinette?"
I have blogged a few times in the past few days about the decision of Claire Kober, Labour leader of Haringey council, described (by people on the left) as the most senior Labour woman in local government, to stand down as leader and from the council in May following what she describes as "bullying and sexism" from Momentum supporters.
I previously linked to a Times article and interview here giving Claire Kober's side of the story, and another in the Guardian, which makes a valiant effort to cover all sides of the issue here.
A further take on the manner in which Momentum operated in Haringey as part of a wider look at how middle class hard-left virtue signallers can end up hurting the poor is provided in an article by Rachel Sylvester, which suggests that
"The Hard Left are just as bad as Marie Antoinette."
I have no doubt that there will have been some genuine problems with the development proposals which Momentum activists have been jumping on bandwagons to oppose; no real-world scheme is ever perfect and as Thomas Sowell said,
Nevertheless, among the cogent criticism in Rachel Sylvester's article about wealthy socialists who lived elsewhere seeking to block developments which might have provided better housing and opportunities for people less fortunate them themselves, there was one particularly telling quote about the Momentum campaign against a local development vehicle in Haringey:
"Campaigners against the development have no alternative proposal for dealing with the housing shortage that has left 3,000 families living in temporary accommodation."
(Their main ideological objection, by the way, appears to be that the development vehicle included a partnership with the private sector.)
At some time between now and 2022 there will be a general election which could very easily result in the election of the most left-wing government Britain has ever had. At least people will no longer be able to say that democracy has never provided them with a choice.
Neither the present state of affairs or the present government are perfect and it is right that people should look at a range of options. But I hope that when they come to cast their votes people will look carefully at the track record of extreme socialist ideas where they have been implemented in other countries such as Venezuela, the Soviet Union or in local councils.
There is a 100% record of failure in all those countries which have tried to completely replace private ownership or the market; extreme left measures have nowhere, nowhere at all ultimately succeeded in helping the poor, or anyone else.
I previously linked to a Times article and interview here giving Claire Kober's side of the story, and another in the Guardian, which makes a valiant effort to cover all sides of the issue here.
A further take on the manner in which Momentum operated in Haringey as part of a wider look at how middle class hard-left virtue signallers can end up hurting the poor is provided in an article by Rachel Sylvester, which suggests that
"The Hard Left are just as bad as Marie Antoinette."
I have no doubt that there will have been some genuine problems with the development proposals which Momentum activists have been jumping on bandwagons to oppose; no real-world scheme is ever perfect and as Thomas Sowell said,
Nevertheless, among the cogent criticism in Rachel Sylvester's article about wealthy socialists who lived elsewhere seeking to block developments which might have provided better housing and opportunities for people less fortunate them themselves, there was one particularly telling quote about the Momentum campaign against a local development vehicle in Haringey:
"Campaigners against the development have no alternative proposal for dealing with the housing shortage that has left 3,000 families living in temporary accommodation."
(Their main ideological objection, by the way, appears to be that the development vehicle included a partnership with the private sector.)
At some time between now and 2022 there will be a general election which could very easily result in the election of the most left-wing government Britain has ever had. At least people will no longer be able to say that democracy has never provided them with a choice.
Neither the present state of affairs or the present government are perfect and it is right that people should look at a range of options. But I hope that when they come to cast their votes people will look carefully at the track record of extreme socialist ideas where they have been implemented in other countries such as Venezuela, the Soviet Union or in local councils.
There is a 100% record of failure in all those countries which have tried to completely replace private ownership or the market; extreme left measures have nowhere, nowhere at all ultimately succeeded in helping the poor, or anyone else.
Comments
Its a bit of a give away really.