Civil War in this Sceptered Isle

Battle of Naseby (Encyclopædia Britannica online – Public domain) 

I opened this morning’s copy of The Telegraph to search for some material for my Blog. I did not have to look very far, the first headline grabbed my attention:
“Jeremy Corbyn backs hard-left plan to bring cities to a halt”
Reading the very worrisome article, I was left with the strong impression that the United Kingdom is embroiled in yet another civil war.

For my younger readers, who might not have paid too much attention to their geography teachers, the United Kingdom consists a handful of small islands somewhere up in the North Sea. It is a fairly new country, formed in 1801 when Ireland joined England, Scotland and Wales, as British prime minister Sir Benjamin Disraeli had cause to point out in 1835 when he was attacked in the House of Commons by an Roman Catholic who referred to Disraeli’s Jewish ancestry. Disraeli replied, “Yes, I am a Jew, and while the ancestors of the right honourable gentleman were brutal savages in an unknown island, mine were priests in the temple of Solomon.”

Civil war is not unknown in England; a series of civil wars took place between August 1642 and September 1651. The dispute as to how England should be governed was primarily between Parliamentarians and Royalists. It resulted in a win for the Parliamentarians, led by Oliver Cromwell, and King Charles I losing his head.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, an anti-Semite and holder of strong anti-Israel views, urged his MPs to join protesters planning to ‘occupy bridges and blockade roads’ in 10 major cities across the UK. Other prominent members of the Labour Party were quick to add their fuel to the flames.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor said, “The British people…have stood up to dictators before and they will stand up to this one as well.” A not so subtle suggestion that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was acting much as Adolf Hitler had done.

So far, the civil war has not turned violent, although there were ugly scenes in Westminster on Wednesday night as some 5,000 pro and anti-Brexit supporters fought in the street outside Parliament after the Mr Johnson’s announcement of its early closing.

Just how far the UK has sunk was amply illustrated by Sir Philip Pullman, an English novelist who tweeted that “when I hear the name ‘Boris Johnson’ for some reason the words ‘rope’ and ‘nearest lamp-post’ come to mind as well.” Pullman had to delete the tweet and apologise after this incitement was reported to the police, but the damage was done. (Note to the discerning reader, if you want to read a good book, avoid Pullman’s fantasy trilogy and try the Len Palmer Mysteries by Roger M. Kaye from Amazon.)

To stop Parliament overriding the will of the people, whose opinion was clearly expressed in the ‘Brexit’ referendum, Mr. Johnson is trying to send members of Parliament off on holiday a few days short of the official closing date. John Bercow, the Speaker, currently on holiday in Turkey, has been plotting with Remain-backing MPs to prevent Mr. Johnson closing Parliament. The Speaker, who is not allowed to take sides, has described Mr. Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks as “a constitutional outrage”.

Fortunately, the days when these far-off islands could have much effect on us here in Israel have long passed. But, for the sake of the few Jews who have mistakenly chosen to remain in the UK, we hope that the government gets its act together swiftly and the civil war remains civil. As we know only too well, if the situation deteriorates, the Jews will be the first to take the blame.