The MP for Brighton Kemptown, Who Supported Palestine When It Suited Him, Abstained on the Anti-Boycott Bill – As Did Dianne Abbot and Richard Burgon
Corbyn, McDonnell and Crispin Blunt Speeches Opposing the Tory’s Anti-Boycott Bill
I have amended this article to take out my criticism of Zara Sultana, who had a legitimate reason for being absent
Whenever I think of Lloyd Russell-Moyle I think of his exact opposite, Divina Levrini. One is an opportunist for whom everything is a tactical game designed to advance his career. The other is or rather was a 30 year old Swedish mother who, despite a serious illness, went on the 2018 Gaza Freedom Flotilla in order to fight for justice and freedom for others regardless of the cost to herself. Divina was beaten up and denied her medication by the savages who run Israeli detention facilities. Divina died 9 months after returning from detention in Israel.
Divina Levrini holding the Gaza Freedom Flotilla banner at Brighton’s Old Steine
Moyle and Divina could not be more different. One sacrificed her life for the freedom of the Palestinians, the other used the Palestinians to help his career, making fine speeches full of sound and fury but literally signifying nothing.
When in 2018 the Gaza Freedom Flotilla came to Brighton and Hove Russell-Moyle was happy to come to the party in their honour at the Verdict, a Brighton jazz club and be pictured alongside these heroes who put their lives on the line, literally. But when it came to standing up for the Palestinians in parliament this week, despite making a short intervention in the debate, Moyle was conspicuous by his absence.
The national conference of Woodcraft Folk, which Moyle chaired, which voted overwhelmingly for Boycott – at that time he had no problems with BDS
This is especially the case since Moyle chaired the national conference of the Woodcraft Folk which voted in July 2010 to support a full boycott of Israel. Moyle knows the arguments, he knows that Israel is an Apartheid State yet when push comes to shove he bottled out and abstained.
No greater cowardice can there be than someone who is happy to stand in the limelight but afraid to stand up and be counted when it matters.
The late Divina Levrini
See Divina Levrini – A Star that will forever burn brightly in our memories
People may think that I’m being hard on Russell-Moyle. After all he is little or no different from all the other cowards and traitors who sneer and bray from Labour’s backbenches. Moyle was a member of the ‘Socialist’ Campaign Group who make fiery speeches once a year at Labour Party Conference, posturing and preening themselves and spend the rest of the time cowering in the shadows. In a way I am being harsh on Moyle because he is no different from the rest of the parliamentary traitors.
LRM grabs the mace
For all I know Moyle may still consider himself a socialist but thinks that it is best to bide his time. The problem with this is that by continually making concessions to the right one becomes part of them. The will to do good will have atrophied through lack of use.
Moyle is fond of making firebrand speeches, even if he finds it hard to live up to them. There was his speech at the election count, where he accused Tories of killing people. That didn’t last long.
fiery speech at count
Then there was the speech at the 2021 Labour Party conference where he said that Starmer is “not a politician for the Labour Party”. Well that lasted all of 5 minutes.
Lloyd Russell-Moyle – Starmer was “not a politician for the Labour Party”.
Then there was his promise to put his arms around all those who had been unfairly purged, which is about 99.99%. That too didn’t last longer than the first hostile headline. Moyle said:
“I want to apologise from all of us but me in particular. Because if we have made you feel like you are alone, if we have not reached our arm around you enough in these tough times when you are being purged or set up with false allegations, I not only apologise, I will endeavour to do better because we have to support each other.”
The spiritual mentor of Israel’s Police & Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir is on record as saying that one Jewish fingernail is worth a thousand non-Jewish lives
I have to confess that I never asked Moyle to put his arms round me but I would have appreciated it if he hadn’t written to Iain McNicol urging that my expulsion be sped up! Especially since at that time he was Chair of Brighton and Hove Labour Party which had just passed policy deploring my suspension.
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A few more photos from the time when Moyle found it useful to be seen to support the Palestinians
According to the local Argus, Sussex Friends of Israel’s Fiona Sharpe, a racist who doubles as Labour Against Anti-Semitism said:
“Keir Starmer has taken some positive steps to remove anti-Semitism from the party, and we urge him to take immediate action and remove the whip.”
No sooner had he spoken than Moyle was backtracking. On Twitter he began the retreat:
“there are anti-Semites that have rightly been expelled from party” but there was also people “who have been threatened with expulsion or investigation for no reason.”
“No arm should be put around people legitimately removed from Labour”, he added in another tweet, “but those wrongly threatened for supporting trans rights or supporting Labour MPs has created a chilling effect which has made activist feel vulnerable and not respected. It’s to those we should show solidarity.”
Guido Fawkes, the Tory libel site, ran with the headline “Moyle for the chop”. Guido suggested that
“if Starmer is serious about detaching Labour from the hard-left, his outriders think Russell-Moyle’s now ripe for the picking”.
LAAS posted on Twitter to say that a letter had been sent to Starmer to “urge him to remove the whip” from Moyle.
Lloyd promises to ‘put his arms round’ all the victims of false anti-Semitism accusations.
Moyle’s promise to hug and put his arms round the hundreds of victims of false antisemitism accusations lasted as long as his speech. As soon as the Zionist backlash began LRM retreated and he has been doing so ever since. In 2017 he was attacked for supporting Melanie Melvin, Brighton Labour Party’s Women’s Officer after she came under attack. Again he retreated. Moyle’s record ever since the ‘anti-Semitism’ campaign began is one of retreating under pressure.
This is the Israel that Moyle says is not an Apartheid State
Lloyd Russell-Moyle Supported the Tory Anti-Boycott Bill
But none of this can justify the fact that last Monday 3 July, when the second reading of the Tory Anti-Boycott Bill was held, Moyle abstained. This is truly unforgiveable. If this Bill had been in force in 1933 it would have made the Jewish anti-Nazi Boycott illegal. It would have made the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against South African Apartheid illegal. It would also have made the Boycott of Slave Grown Sugar in the Caribbean illegal.
Now just imagine if the White Slave Owners had protested that Boycotting their sugar was discrimination against them on the grounds of colour! This lity is what the Zionists are saying. That we are discriminating against them, not because they murder Palestinian children, not because they demolish their homes and confiscate their land. Perish the thought. It’s because they are Jewish!
This is what the anti-BDS campaign is about and Moyle has joined hands with the most reactionary racists, Zionists and imperialists. Because when an Opposition abstains on a government measure it is tantamount to supporting it. Keir Starmer we know is a Zionist ‘without qualification’. Starmer is a proud and unashamed racist and this is who Moyle has joined hands with.
Israel’s new government is stuffed with people proud to be fascists and homophobes
The best that can be said of the vote last Monday is that at least 10 Labour MPs defied Starmer to vote against this racist measure. They were Apsama Begum, Dawn Butler, Barry Gardiner (surprisingly since he is down as a Labour Friends of Israel sponsor), Ian Lavery, Andy McDonald, John McDonnell, Ian Mearns, Grahame Morris, Mick Whitley and Beth Winter. This is in addition to Jeremy Corbyn and Claudia Webbe who have had the Whip removed.
Moyle also provided a testimonial to anti-Roma, harasser of women and anti-Palestinian hate activist Luke Stanger
But where were Dianne Abbot, Clive Lewis, Nadia Whithome (the AWL MP), Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Dan Carden, Kim Johnson who only recently called Israel a fascist and apartheid state, Rebecca Long Bailey, Kate Osamor, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Sam Tarry and Jon Trickett?
Despite having been a Corbyn supporter when it benefited his career, Moyle refused to sign a petition calling for the whip to be restored to Jeremy Corbyn
On paper the SCG has 35 members, but in practice it is in a state of political collapse. To put things into perspective 10 members of the Liberal Democrats, Zionists to a man and woman, also voted against this Bill on civil liberties grounds. Even 2 Tories did. The refusal of Moyle, Burgon and co. to join them is nothing less than shameful.
Tony Greenstein
