EXPOSING DUMB

Twitter, or 'X' as Elon calls it, was a breath of fresh air this year thanks to Musk's takeover.  It is now a mine of information that you just won't get on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or any of the other communist-aligned platforms that use algorithms and AI to censor conservative and libertarian content.  Of course, this all depends on the accounts you choose to follow.  At BTLP we follow a wide range of accounts that include our political opponents.  Over the years we have followed every single elected Labour MP, certain Labour peers and senior Labour politicians outside Westminster - such as Khan, Burnham, Drakeford and Sarwar.  You don't learn much in an echo chamber and it's important to keep tabs on your opponents, otherwise how can you learn what they are up to and what their weaknesses are?

We have been blocked by numerous Labour MPs over the years, including Dawn Butler, Jon Cruddas, Rosie Duffield, John McDonnell, Kate Osamor, Angela Rayner and Karl Turner.  Thankfully, most Labour MPs are not so sensitive and we get to enjoy the occasional daft tweet such as this classic from Birmingham Yardley's Jess Phillips.

This tweet is outrageously stupid on so many levels.  Firstly, if the Albanian was trafficked to the UK to suffer sexual violence, why is her return to Albania fraught with such danger when her abuse is taking place here in the UK?  Surely, keeping her in the UK to continue suffering sexual violence would actually be more harmful?

Secondly, most of her constituents don't want an endless stream of migrants flooding into Britain, especially those who are not actually refugees or asylum seekers - like the Albanian she claims to have met (who may or may not exist).  Public demand for immigration to be slashed is acknowledged by the fact Jess refers to Sunak being 'behind in the polls'. This is a back door admission that cutting immigration is actually popular!

Thirdly, it's duly noted (once again) that a Labour MP has highlighted an (alleged) rape victim that is foreign, non-white or a trans degenerate, while at the same time cocking a deafening silence when the victim is white British.

Finally, the most stupid part of the tweet - 'forced rape'.  Rape, by its very nature is forced, if it was not forced then intercourse would be consensual and that would not constitute rape!  The inclusion of this bizarre terminology probably lends credence to the possibility this exchange took place only in Jess's head.  Like many MPs, we know that she is a hideous narcissist who craves attention and gives herself more intellectual credit than she is due.  Invented or not, this is an incredibly dumb tweet.

This is why we follow Labour MPs on Twitter!

EX-COUNCILLOR CANCELS HERSELF

Former Labour councillor Harriet Bradley may be an 'academic' as she points out in her Twitter profile, but qualifications are not an antidote for stupidity.  On the back of some grotesque banners and chants in recent weeks, an emboldened Bradley thought it might be appropriate to publicly call for the bombing of a Jewish Labour meeting.  Retweeting a fellow anti-Semite, she added: "Somebody blow up the venue!"

It's not clear who 'Former Labour SPAD' is, but it will come as no surprise to find their profile indicates they are a Corbynite and potentially one of his 'SpAds' aka special advisors.  The same anonymous profile incorporates a Nazi swastika into the Star of David, a favourite insult of the far left towards the Israeli state.

While Bradley's own tweet may have been in jest, such a remark in the current climate is dumb to say the least.  It stayed up for two whole days before Jewish activists drew attention to it and it was removed in a rare act of Twitter censorship.  Having not deleted it herself, Bradley's apology five days later rang a little hollow.  She wrote: "I would like to apologise to anybody hurt or frightened by my tweet.  It was a remark made as a joke, but I can see now it was a terrible mistake in awful taste".  The 78-year-old added:  "I am of Jewish heritage, had a Jewish partner for many years and many of my extended family are Jewish.  I feel great respect for the Jewish people but I deplore what Netanyahu and the Israeli Defence Force  are doing in Gaza, killing and mutilating thousands of children and babies."

Bradley is now facing a police investigation by Avon and Somerset Police and has had two honorary  university titles withdrawn.  She had been a sociology professor at the University of Western England prior to her retirement in 2018, but retained the title of 'Professor Emeritus'.  The UWE stripped her of the title three days after the tweet 'with immediate effect'.  Bradley held a similar title at Bristol University, which was also withdrawn the same day.

Bradley has form when it comes to this sort of behaviour, having been accused of anti-Semitism more than once during Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.  The Bristol councillor had the party whip suspended in 2019, before being reinstated and then standing down on health grounds a year later.  She was expelled from the party in 2021.