On 20 January, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy gave a speech at the Fabian Society conference. Lammy’s speech was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters who asked him:
will you condemn the genocide?
and:
how many more children need to die?
The Fabian Society had a predictably grim response to it all:
Power not protest https://t.co/I7DhUO3sYj
— The Fabian Society (@thefabians) January 20, 2024
Lammy and the Fabian Society: all about power
If you’re unsure what the Labour Party-affiliated Fabian Society is, they are to Blairite neoliberal politics what dog shit is to bad smells. When they say ‘power not protest’, what they mean is they’d rather be the ones privatising the NHS than the ones lacking healthcare under it; they’d rather be the ones starting the Iraq war than the ones dying in it; and they’d rather be the ones giving Fujitsu a contract for software that doesn’t work than the subpostmasters going to prison over it.
‘Power’ is an empty word in that they want it purely for its own sake; not because they’d do anything moral or useful with it. And people were quick to point this out:
the protest here is specifically about a (foreign) policy position of the Labour Party. It’s not stopping Labour from attaining power: it’s trying to shape what that power pledges to achieve https://t.co/YQKXUMPWCx
— Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley (@lottelydia) January 20, 2024
What has protest ever achieved besides civil rights and suffrage? https://t.co/Mi4oXyxti0
— Andy Churnwell (@churnwell) January 20, 2024
Bullshit.
The political class is jam packed with career hypocrites. What’s good for them yesterday is bad for you today, and unacceptable tomorrow. https://t.co/bufejWmzkb pic.twitter.com/HrnwDhrsVZ
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) January 20, 2024
And talking about wielding power:
David Lammy had the power, as an elected official, to vote for a ceasefire in the House of Commons
He didn't. https://t.co/4VqGnYNx8Q pic.twitter.com/oD6nbzpAv6
— Josh Housden (@JoshHousden) January 20, 2024
Political commentator Barnaby Raine linked the tweet to the Fabian’s history of grim commentary:
"The British Empire, wisely governed, is invincible."
– Fabianism and the Empire: A Manifesto by the Fabian Society, 1900. https://t.co/JvAOnG0mY9— Barnaby Raine (@BarnabyRaine) January 20, 2024
Shadow party
It wasn’t for nothing that protesters targeted Lammy, as the shadow foreign secretary is also being roundly criticised. Diane Abbott was another person pointing out how useless power is in the hands of these Labour politicians:
David Lammy now says we need a truce in Gaza. But given the chance he refused to vote for a ceasefire #GazaGenocide pic.twitter.com/icqpm0nOqh
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) January 21, 2024
In this interview Lammy said “it’s about change through power, not protest”:
There’s no evidence Lammy protested the poll tax or apartheid in the 1980s. Making this about “protesters rights” rather than his complicity in war crimes, a war crime in itself, is such an obvious bate and switch, which he lacks the talent to do skilfully pic.twitter.com/mRdp5Js6ZP
— ashok kumar
(@broseph_stalin) January 21, 2024
It’s increasingly unclear what this slogan they’re so happy with even means. Will those who protested Lammy be allowed to share the power if Labour becomes the next government? If not, then how will they exert change if they don’t agree with Labour, if not through protest?
David Lammy says power not protest.
Tell that to the Suffragettes
Tell that to civil rights veterans
Tell that to Nelson Mandela
Tell that to Toussaint L'ouverture
Tell that to Fidel Castro.You achieve power THROUGH protest if you believe in anything but the status quo.
— Mark Hebden
(@unionlib) January 21, 2024
Change?
Labour keeps telling us that change can only happen when they’re in power; they also keep telling us they won’t offer any change to the Tories:
BREAKING: Starmer has officially dumped Labour's promise to recognise Palestine as a state.
Previously, Labour had said it would recognise Palestine as a state unilaterally. Now, Labour will only recognise Palestine if it "is acceptable to the state of Israel". pic.twitter.com/CalkkHUwWK
— Stats for Lefties
(@LeftieStats) January 15, 2024
A Labour source said: “We’re going to drop the figure altogether … the £28billion has just become an albatross around our neck.” pic.twitter.com/gUzIPs7ZWE
— Stats for Lefties
Not only is Labour dumping its pledge to expand universal childcare, they actually plan to TAKE AWAY childcare funding from some families who are *currently eligible for it*.
Vote Labour, get austerity. https://t.co/TZ7Qeqv5ty pic.twitter.com/S46qvfAUQX
— Stats for Lefties
Asked three times by ITV's Shehab Khan if Labour would scrap the policy, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper REFUSED to answer. pic.twitter.com/xw7ec4zZjc
— Stats for Lefties
People are protesting Labour not because they think Labour has the power to act now; they’re protesting Labour because they’re worried what Labour will do when it’s in government. They’re drawing a line in the sand and they’re saying we don’t condone this under the Tories, and we won’t condone it under you.
Public dissatisfaction being what it is, Labour has an open shot at the goal in the next election. Despite this, they’re doing their upmost to kick the ball directly at the stands.
Featured image via Sky News
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.