{"id":481557,"date":"2022-01-23T16:12:22","date_gmt":"2022-01-23T16:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/?p=1545932"},"modified":"2022-01-23T16:12:22","modified_gmt":"2022-01-23T16:12:22","slug":"keir-starmer-beats-war-drums-to-support-a-government-thats-soft-on-antisemitism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/01\/23\/keir-starmer-beats-war-drums-to-support-a-government-thats-soft-on-antisemitism\/","title":{"rendered":"Keir Starmer beats war drums to support a government that\u2019s soft on antisemitism"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Writing in the Telegraph<\/em> on 21 January, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer beat the drums of war saying<\/a> Britain must \u201cstand firm against Russian aggression\u201d. Starmer wrote this as tensions between Russia and Ukraine increase amid reports that Russia is amassing troops<\/a> on the Ukrainian border. Even more worrying is the support he’s offering a government that voted against adopting<\/a> the UN resolution to combat the glorification of Nazism.<\/p>\n

Under Starmer’s leadership, Labour suspended<\/a> Jeremy Corbyn when he refused to retract his comment saying the scale of antisemitism in Labour was \u201cdramatically overstated\u201d. Yet he still wants the UK to stand in solidarity with a Ukrainian government<\/a> that\u00a0supports<\/a> actual antisemites.<\/p>\n

Instead of using tokenistic diplomacy to call for solidarity with Ukraine, Starmer could use his position to deescalate the current crisis and call out western military expansionism. Unfortunately he doesn’t. So not only is this hypocrisy, but it’s rhetoric that risks all-out conflict between nuclear superpowers.<\/p>\n

“Dangerous claptrap”<\/h5>\n

Starmer laid out his explicit support for Tory defence policy and called on the UK to stand in solidarity with Ukraine:<\/p>\n

I must commend the work of the Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, on this matter. He has worked hard to bring people together, written with moral clarity on the nature of Russian aggression and ensured that the UK continues to support Ukraine’s ability to defend itself through military aid.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Former Labour MP\u00a0Chris Williamson<\/a> of the Resist Movement described<\/a> Starmer\u2019s position as “dangerous claptrap”.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile this Twitter user was among others who pointed out Starmer’s hypocrisy. He made reference to the Ukrainian National Guard’s Azov Battalion<\/a>\u00a0which has neo-Nazi links:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Russia has very real reasons to fear that the Ukrainian army will attempt an attack on the Donbass -a region with many ethnic Russians
A Ukrainian Army that literally includes Neo Nazi formations like the Azov battalion- pictured here pic.twitter.com\/dZ3IP9pXF7<\/a><\/p>\n

— Business oriented Moderate (@Karac1927) January 22, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n