What has not been revealed in most of the popular coverage is that Burley was a prominent member of Conservative Friends of Israel.
Of course there is nothing much amiss here. As you may be aware, Tory MP Aidan Burley, who Cameron was forced to sack from his position of Private Parliamentary Secretary (the lowest rung on the government ladder) recently, hosted a stag party in a hotel in the French Alps where guests dressed in Nazi uniforms and repeatedly toasted the Third Reich. Unsurprisingly Burley is an admirer of another racist state, Israel.
A Tory MP getting dressed up as a member of the SS! Hardly news. Don’t both Nazis and Tories hate socialists, communists, the unemployed, anyone who stands up for their rights? After all our ruling classes have always had a soft spot for the 3rd Reich. At least they knew what to do with communists and socialists. So who can be surprised at Adrian Burley, newly-elected MP for Cannock Chase. And aren’t most respectable anti-Semites today supporters of Israel and Zionism?
After all, even the younger members of the Royal Family aka Harry Windsor, also have a soft spot for Hitler and co. It wasn’t that long ago that Prince Harry was dressing up in an Afrika Corps. Uniform. What one may ask was Burley’s offence. Getting caught out? And it should come as no surprise that the Conservative Friends of Israel have defended Nazi Supporter Burley MP.
Here is an entry from the loathsome Burley in the MPs register of members interests. 6. Overseas visits Name of donor: Conservative Friends of Israel Address of donor:
45B Westbourne Terrace, London W2 3UR and Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Israel Amount of donation (or estimate of the probable value): £974 from CFI; £574 from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Meals provided by other hosts below registrable threshold.
Destination of visit: Israel Date of visit: 29 May-3 June 2011
Purpose of visit: fact-finding political delegation to Israel and the West Bank. (hat tip Terry Gallogly)
And another thing one should remember. If accused of ‘anti-Semitism’ the best defence is ‘But I’m a supporter of Israel’. Andrew Breivik, Michal Kaminski, indeed any semi-intelligent anti-Semite usually resorts to this defence. And not without reason. Was not racism against another ‘race’ part of the justification for both Israel and Nazi Germany?
Tony Greenstein
‘Nazi stag’ MP went to Israel as guest of Tory lobby group
By Joseph Millis – Thursday 15th December 2011
A Tory MP “friend of Israel and the Jewish community” this week expressed regret after he was photographed at a stag party in France, where guests chanted Nazi slogans and dressed up in SS uniforms.
Aidan Burley, MP for Cannock Chase Tweeted: “Deeply regret inappropriate behaviour by some guests at stag party I attended and I am sorry for any offence that was caused.”
The MP, who described a visit to Yad Vashem as “most moving”, [some of the best Nazi supporters find Yad Vashem ‘moving’ – wasn’t that its purpose?] was pictured eating and drinking at French ski resort Val Thorens with 12 friends, some of whom chanted “Hitler, Hitler, Hitler”.
After moving on to a British-themed pub, it was reported that some of the group repeatedly chanted: “Mein Fuhrer”, “Himmler” and “Eichmann”.
A French police spokesman said an investigation could be launched into the incident. “Anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi crimes are taken seriously. Anyone suspected of breaking the law can and will be prosecuted,” he said.
While one of the friends toasted the Third Reich, Burley, a senior aide to Transport Secretary Justine Greening, was filmed sitting next to another party goer dressed in a black SS uniform and cap.
First-time MP Burley had travelled to Israel earlier this year as the guest of the Conservative Friends of Israel and the Israeli Foreign Ministry. According to the MPs’ registry of interests, the CFI donated 974 pounds while the ministry gave 574 pounds to the trip. After his visit to Israel, Burley wrote on his webpage:
“Most movingly of all we visited Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial museum, which was an emotional and heartrending experience seeing the exhibits and hearing the stories of the Jews during the war.”
Shadow Transport Minister and chair of Labour Friends of Israel John Woodcock called for Burley to be sacked: “This sickening behaviour brings shame on the country and it is particularly appalling that an MP seems to have been standing by while it happened. David Cameron should stop dithering and sack him,” he said.
However, CFI director Stuart Polak said he had “worked closely and travelled to Israel with Aidan Burley. I know him well and he does not have an anti-Semitic bone in his body. The actions of his friends in France were inexcusable. Aidan should not have been associated with this. “Aidan is a friend of Israel and a friend of the Jewish community.” [Quite – a good friend of Israel and apparently the Jewish community just loves to dress up as a Nazi!!]
But Board of Deputies CEO Jon Benjamin attacked the MP. “We find it alarming that Aiden Burley MP did nothing to confront friends who were dressed in Nazi uniforms and were behaving so appallingly. “Burley, who has confessed to have learned a great deal from visiting Holocaust Museum Yad Vashem, clearly still has much to learn.”
Actually the problem is that he learnt only too well. Certainly he has much to learn because he has been a maverick right wing odd-ball for some time [TG]
Port-fuelled anti-Semitism
The revelations of port-fuelled anti-semitism at Oxford University Conservative Association are shocking but by no means the latest soiling of this right-wing political cradle. A look back through the Oxonian archives yields further anecdotes about their forbears – the crucial difference being that they are now special advisers and MPs.
Step forward Aidan Burley, Conservative MP for Cannock Chase, whose peers may now regret providing Cherwell’s Evelyn gossip column with a running commentary of their boozing and other insalubrious exploits too lurid for this family blog. Activities of the group included the acquisition of strippers (pictured above) and chronicling alleged sexual encounters with visiting family members.
As president of the King Charles Club, a notoriously elitist dining society banned from college premises, Burley arranged entertainments fitting the august institution, including a trip to, erm, a strip club. The alumni magazine of £10,000-per-year King Edwards School in Birmingham, boasted that their former pupil “achieved national notoriety” after he advertised the club’s excursion to Stringfellows in both The Times and Daily Telegraph:
“The King Charles Club of the St John’s College, Oxford, held their annual dinner last night at Stringfellows … after attending divine service at the Banqueting Hall, Whitehall, and laying a wreath at the statue of the Martyr King in Trafalgar Square.”
Parliament is one “exclusive establishment” with rather fewer naked, writhing women than some alumni of King Charles Club have experienced.
EDITORIAL NOTE: While skirting over his expedition to Stringfellows, when approached for comment Aidan Burley denied involvement in procuring a stripper for his friend (inset left above). Unlike his college entertainment, Aidan likes his threats veiled.
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