Tops retweeted
What an utterly abhorrent position.
A staggering lack of accountability, historical awareness or even basic humanity.
The legacy of slavery and colonialism isn't confined to history books. The global inequalities they helped create persist today.
This isn't leadership. It's a monumental FUCK YOU to those still living with the consequences.
Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated. We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today, especially given Britain's leading role in ending the transatlantic slave trade.
If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade?
On demands for reparations, whether through cash or debt relief, we have been down this track before. Twenty-five years ago, Jubilee 2000, Drop the Debt and Make Poverty History argued that cancelling the debts of poorer countries would give them a fresh start. More than $100 billion of debt was eventually written off, but many of those countries have since built up even bigger debts. Labour are already spending too much on Britain's welfare state, now is not the time for Andy Burnham to be providing global welfare.
There is no reason British taxpayers today should be held financially responsible for things that happened generations before any of us were born. And I have even less patience for political elites in commonwealth countries who don’t know how to make their own citizens prosperous now looking for another opportunity to blame Britain.
As Prime Minister, Andy Burnham should be Britain’s greatest defender. Instead, he is writing articles saying we need to confront our history (as if we haven't done enough of that) and considering another formal historical apology. Tony Blair already expressed Britain’s deep sorrow and regret for our role in the slave trade nearly twenty years ago. There is no need to do so again.
This is all another navel-gazing distraction. The Commonwealth should be looking forward, not endlessly backwards. That means economic partnerships to make us all richer and deeper military and security cooperation against common threats. If every Commonwealth summit becomes an exercise in presenting Britain with demands for cash then we need to start asking if it is worth the effort.
Tops retweeted
"Slavery was universal" typical deflection dressed as honesty. Transatlantic chattel slavery was a distinct system, racialised, capitalist, with children as inheritable property and African life treated as expendable.
Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated. We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today, especially given Britain's leading role in ending the transatlantic slave trade.
If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade?
On demands for reparations, whether through cash or debt relief, we have been down this track before. Twenty-five years ago, Jubilee 2000, Drop the Debt and Make Poverty History argued that cancelling the debts of poorer countries would give them a fresh start. More than $100 billion of debt was eventually written off, but many of those countries have since built up even bigger debts. Labour are already spending too much on Britain's welfare state, now is not the time for Andy Burnham to be providing global welfare.
There is no reason British taxpayers today should be held financially responsible for things that happened generations before any of us were born. And I have even less patience for political elites in commonwealth countries who don’t know how to make their own citizens prosperous now looking for another opportunity to blame Britain.
As Prime Minister, Andy Burnham should be Britain’s greatest defender. Instead, he is writing articles saying we need to confront our history (as if we haven't done enough of that) and considering another formal historical apology. Tony Blair already expressed Britain’s deep sorrow and regret for our role in the slave trade nearly twenty years ago. There is no need to do so again.
This is all another navel-gazing distraction. The Commonwealth should be looking forward, not endlessly backwards. That means economic partnerships to make us all richer and deeper military and security cooperation against common threats. If every Commonwealth summit becomes an exercise in presenting Britain with demands for cash then we need to start asking if it is worth the effort.
Tops retweeted
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was a European criminal enterprise. The nonsense below is a slew of white supremacist propaganda shorthands designed to whitewash the gravest of crimes against humanity and keep racists happy. Absurd to label it "whole history"; it's antihistory.
Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated. We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today, especially given Britain's leading role in ending the transatlantic slave trade.
If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade?
On demands for reparations, whether through cash or debt relief, we have been down this track before. Twenty-five years ago, Jubilee 2000, Drop the Debt and Make Poverty History argued that cancelling the debts of poorer countries would give them a fresh start. More than $100 billion of debt was eventually written off, but many of those countries have since built up even bigger debts. Labour are already spending too much on Britain's welfare state, now is not the time for Andy Burnham to be providing global welfare.
There is no reason British taxpayers today should be held financially responsible for things that happened generations before any of us were born. And I have even less patience for political elites in commonwealth countries who don’t know how to make their own citizens prosperous now looking for another opportunity to blame Britain.
As Prime Minister, Andy Burnham should be Britain’s greatest defender. Instead, he is writing articles saying we need to confront our history (as if we haven't done enough of that) and considering another formal historical apology. Tony Blair already expressed Britain’s deep sorrow and regret for our role in the slave trade nearly twenty years ago. There is no need to do so again.
This is all another navel-gazing distraction. The Commonwealth should be looking forward, not endlessly backwards. That means economic partnerships to make us all richer and deeper military and security cooperation against common threats. If every Commonwealth summit becomes an exercise in presenting Britain with demands for cash then we need to start asking if it is worth the effort.
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
The transatlantic slave trade involved African rulers, kingdoms and merchants capturing and selling enslaved people to European buyers on the coast. Britain banned the trade in 1807 and deployed naval forces for decades to suppress it at significant cost.
britannica.com/topic/Atlantic…
ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/…
bbc.co.uk/history/britis…
historicalnigeria.com/why-the-slave-…
Tops retweeted
This is one of the most brilliant videos on the +234 internet right now.
Please watch and I dare say SHARE!
Ire o✌🏾
Tops retweeted
Mind you there are children starving all over America yet the focus is on this imaginary idea that children need to be protected from getting sex changes (which literally is not happening btw). These people don’t care about children at all.
Tops retweeted
Actually, different salaries should only affect how luxurious your life is, not your food quality or ability to afford rent. If you work 40 hours at any job, your income should be enough to live in the town you work in. Thinking otherwise is an abysmal indicator of your humanity
A man on TikTok said classism will kill Nigerians before poverty does. He said how can they be forming classism when Lagos smells like a morgue.
He told not one single lie.
This is egregiously outrageous, but completely unsurprising. Palestinians don’t exist to these people.
Disgusting
“Have you spoken to any Palestinian organizations before you wrote your letter?”
@ShehabKhan presses Labour MP Mike Tapp who reported the Green Party over its Zionism motion about whether he’s ever spoken to any Palestinians.
Tapp: “I don’t know any Palestinian people.”
Tops retweeted
I don't actually like the "hierarchy of racism" framing much because I think it misses out that the establishment does not care about anti-semitism if, for example, it targets Zack Polanski, or if it comes from Nigel Farage. They only care when caring is politically useful.
Tops retweeted
This from the National Education Union:
“A young person’s opposition to the Gaza genocide and scrutiny of the Israeli government are not, in themselves, antisemitic.
“We are concerned that addressing antisemitism without an equally clear commitment to tackling all forms of racism risks creating a hierarchy of racism.
“No form of racism should be minimised, and no pupil or member of staff should receive less protection”.
Tops retweeted
She does and that's exactly why she's so stunning.
It's because she aged that her beauty is magnified.
Tops retweeted
Jewish children must be protected from real hatred of Jews as Jews.
Expanding “antisemitism” to cover political badges or criticism of Israel foreign government’s policies does the opposite: it ties Jewish identity to a state Jews have always rejected and invites backlash against them for politics they did not choose.
Judaism is a faith, not a political nationality.
Clear separation is the best protection.
Tops retweeted
The U.K. twice suspended a Black politician because she said there's a hierarchy of racism with antisemitism at the top and anti-Blackness at the bottom. Today, the U.K. made antisemitism a distinct form of racism and came out with a 27-point plan!
🚨 NEW: The Government has accepted all 27 recommendations from the report to end antisemitism in schools and colleges
1. Recognise antisemitism as a distinct form of hatred, not just general racism
2. Strengthen political impartiality guidance, including limits on teachers wearing pro-Palestine badges
3. Establish a national hotline for school leaders dealing with antisemitism
4. Improve teaching about contemporary antisemitism and modern Jewish life
5. Teach pupils to recognise and challenge antisemitic conspiracy theories
6. Include antisemitism explicitly in school safeguarding policies
7. Train teachers to recognise and tackle antisemitism
8. Work with the Home Office and the Prevent programme to help schools identify when antisemitism may be linked to radicalisation
9. Encourage schools to adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism
10. Improve procedures for reporting antisemitic incidents, including signposting
11. Ensure antisemitic bullying and complaints are investigated and acted on consistently
12. Make clear in staff conduct policies that antisemitism is unacceptable
13. Strengthen Holocaust education, including antisemitism's role in the Holocaust, and encourage schools to mark Holocaust Memorial Day
14. Create more opportunities for pupils to engage with Jewish communities, including visits to synagogues
15. Make sure Judaism and modern Jewish life are properly represented in religious education
16. Improve media literacy so pupils can also identify online antisemitism
17. Provide better resources for teaching the Israel-Palestine conflict fairly and sensitively
18. Ensure schools have clear policies for dealing with antisemitism involving external speakers
19. Ensure education unions have clear antisemitism policies
20. Establish a dedicated support service to help schools, colleges and councils deal with antisemitism
21. Use some of the Government's security funding to help Jewish schools and colleges undertake educational visits safely
22. Run a campaign to tackle antisemitic behaviour at transport hubs near Jewish schools and colleges
23. Provide Jewish school and college leaders with mentoring and more security advice
24. Strengthen accountability for schools that fail to deal properly with antisemitism
25. Enable Ofsted and the Independent Schools Inspectorate to assess how schools tackle antisemitism
26. Make local councils identify local patterns of antisemitism and help schools respond
27. Share effective practice and guidance between schools and colleges
Tops retweeted
There are estimated to be up to 60,000 Palestinians in the UK. As far as I know, they would be the only people banned from wearing their national flag at school. This is obvious racism.
Teachers to be banned from wearing Palestine badges as review finds 3 in 5 Jewish pupils have faced antisemitism at school trib.al/00Lztkq
Tops retweeted
🚨 PLEASE SHARE!
I've written to both my children's schools following the Government's antisemitism review.
I WILL NOT accept genocide being presented as a two-sided political debate, or Palestinian history and suffering being erased from their education.
I've drafted a template which I'm sharing for other parents to use or adapt.
Political impartiality must NEVER become historical dishonesty.
Please use them. Challenge your schools. Demand answers.
#GazaGenocide
docs.google.com/document/d/1…
Tops retweeted
Let's get this clear, if someone is upset by a teacher wearing a Palestine badge, the teacher is not being antisemitic. That person is being racist towards Palestinians. This really isn't hard.
Teachers to be banned from wearing Palestine badges as review finds 3 in 5 Jewish pupils have faced antisemitism at school trib.al/00Lztkq
Since the 80s we've had at least 12 government-backed reviews into racism, specifically anti-Blackness, and they all consistently show it is systemic and deeply embedded in our institutions.
Yet, successive governments repeatedly fail to fully implement the recommended reforms.
🚨 NEW: The Government has accepted all 27 recommendations from the report to end antisemitism in schools and colleges
1. Recognise antisemitism as a distinct form of hatred, not just general racism
2. Strengthen political impartiality guidance, including limits on teachers wearing pro-Palestine badges
3. Establish a national hotline for school leaders dealing with antisemitism
4. Improve teaching about contemporary antisemitism and modern Jewish life
5. Teach pupils to recognise and challenge antisemitic conspiracy theories
6. Include antisemitism explicitly in school safeguarding policies
7. Train teachers to recognise and tackle antisemitism
8. Work with the Home Office and the Prevent programme to help schools identify when antisemitism may be linked to radicalisation
9. Encourage schools to adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism
10. Improve procedures for reporting antisemitic incidents, including signposting
11. Ensure antisemitic bullying and complaints are investigated and acted on consistently
12. Make clear in staff conduct policies that antisemitism is unacceptable
13. Strengthen Holocaust education, including antisemitism's role in the Holocaust, and encourage schools to mark Holocaust Memorial Day
14. Create more opportunities for pupils to engage with Jewish communities, including visits to synagogues
15. Make sure Judaism and modern Jewish life are properly represented in religious education
16. Improve media literacy so pupils can also identify online antisemitism
17. Provide better resources for teaching the Israel-Palestine conflict fairly and sensitively
18. Ensure schools have clear policies for dealing with antisemitism involving external speakers
19. Ensure education unions have clear antisemitism policies
20. Establish a dedicated support service to help schools, colleges and councils deal with antisemitism
21. Use some of the Government's security funding to help Jewish schools and colleges undertake educational visits safely
22. Run a campaign to tackle antisemitic behaviour at transport hubs near Jewish schools and colleges
23. Provide Jewish school and college leaders with mentoring and more security advice
24. Strengthen accountability for schools that fail to deal properly with antisemitism
25. Enable Ofsted and the Independent Schools Inspectorate to assess how schools tackle antisemitism
26. Make local councils identify local patterns of antisemitism and help schools respond
27. Share effective practice and guidance between schools and colleges