Why do people think we’re idiots?

Why do people think we’re idiots?

That we’re going to accept any old nonsense dished out, because it comes from a ‘celebrity’? I don’t understand why film stars are supposed to be political authorities, nor why footballers are supposed to understand economics better than the Bank of England. They are obviously entitled to their opinions but why they think we’ll take any notice of their views is a mystery.

Miriam Margolyes now says that Jeremy Corbyn was “forced to stand down as leader of the Labour Party by a conspiracy within the party, motivated from Israel.”

I have no idea whether there is any truth in this, but there is hardly a precedent for remaining the political leader if your party has just had its worst result in a general election for 80 years. Among the lost leaders in similar circumstances have been Ted Heath, Neil Kinnock, and Sir Alec Douglas Home. So Mr. Corbyn is in good company.

They all lost elections; that’s the kiss of death.

What about this alleged conspiracy? Certainly there was a determined effort to get rid of Corbyn by the right wing press, but anybody who is surprised by that is just being childish. The right wing press don’t support Labour and the Daily Mirror doesn’t support the Conservatives.

Was this alleged conspiracy motivated by Israel? Well, going back some years, was the coup d’etat which overthrew Mossadeq in Iran in 1953, motivated by the CIA and MI5? You bet your life. We wanted the oil revenues. Did the French interfere in Algeria, the Russians in Czechoslovakia and how about Suez? How about Chinese foreign policy today? Of course, every country tries to see that its friends are in power in other nations.

But can you prove it? Where is the indubitable evidence? Just making accusations only convinces people who share your own views. The truth usually only comes out years after; one way or the other. It is in America’s interest to persuade Mexico to stop migrants reaching the United States. Will Mexican politicians be helped to achieve this by the State Department? You bet your life, but I readily admit I can’t prove it

It isn’t a revelation to accuse a country of trying to help its friends in other nations. The importance of Israel to the West is that it is the only democracy in the Middle East and firmly allied to NATO. Who will we rely on in that part of the world if Israel is destroyed?

There is another point which always seems to be ignored. If a country is at war, it can fight its enemies with any weapons it can get. Iran, Iraq and Syria remain at war with Israel after 72 years. There was no peace treaty in 1948. Only an armistice. Five armies invaded Israel in 1947 with the avowed intent of massacring all the Jews in the country. They said just that on the day they invaded. They lost.

If you lose a war, you often lose territory. How about giving  America back to us? How about the French Riviera going back to the Italians? It’s all very well complaining, but if you get involved in a war, there may well be adverse consequences.

Is Jeremy Corbyn an antisemite? It’s water under the bridge now because not enough importance was given to the fact that the accusation of antisemitism in Britain is a large election loss-leader. The vote proved that yet again. If you want to win an election in Britain, don’t under any circumstances, be accused of being an antisemite. The country isn’t, and has never been since we were allowed back in 1661.

Does that mean you can’t criticise the actions of the Israeli government? You can criticise who you like; you live in a great democracy. It won’t do any good because you haven’t got a vote in an Israeli election. Are the Arabs in Israel being badly treated? Compared to the Uighers in Xinjiang province in China? The Chinese are being accused of genocide. Or the 1.5 million who were killed by Pol Pot in the Cambodian genocide? Or the massacres in Ruanda?

There are different degrees of discrimination. They are all wrong, but, in fairness, some are worse than others, and I didn’t hear Ms. Margolyes making a row about  the Cambodians.

It’s not a fair world and we’re extremely fortunate to be living in Britain, where Mr. Corbyn is very likely to be only a small footnote in its history. It’s not a question of ones personal politics. I’m the last of the Whigs. I think Lord Melbourne did an excellent job teaching Victoria how to be a Queen.