Mick HallI doubt you would find many socialists who read the Daily Mail, let alone write for it. 

For most of us, its owners, the Harmsworth family, need to be poked with a very long stick. Yet they will not include Sir Keir Starmer who obviously feels it is fine and dandy to write for a paper which has tormented, lied, and attempted to smear the Labour Party since it was first formed – and continues to do so today.

The Daily Mail has always been a viciously reactionary newspaper, prepared to slander and malign anyone perceived to be a threat to its interests and those of the ruling class.

It published the forged Zinoviev Letter in order to damage the Labour Party in 1924. It praised the achievements of Italian fascism in the 1920s. Mussolini, according to Lord Rothermere – the paper’s then proprietor – “was the greatest figure of our age.”

In 1933 Rothermere celebrated Hitler’s coming to power with an article titled Youth Triumphant, in which he urged all young people:

to study closely the progress of the Nazi regime and not to be misled by the misrepresentations of its opponents who were trying to give the impression that Nazi rule is a bloodthirsty tyranny.

In 1938, shortly before Kristallnacht, which left synagogues in Germany destroyed and the streets awash with dead Jewish people, Rothermere praised Hitler in the Daily Mail as “a man of rare culture whose knowledge of music, painting and architecture is profound”.

Since World War II the paper has consistently supported the Tories and was a ferocious supporter of Margaret Thatcher. In 2013 it attempted to smear Ralph Miliband, the then Labour Party leader’s father, in an article which appeared on its front page with the header The Man Who Hated Britain. Never mind Miliband had arrived in the UK as a Jewish refugee from the Holocaust, and went on to join the Royal Navy serving with distinction during WWII.

When Jeremy Corbyn became Labour Party leader in 2015, the paper was amongst the first out of the starting block to try and destroy his reputation. It seems none of this mattered to Sir Keir Starmer: history, principles and loyalty is obviously not a strong point for him. By writing for this wretched newspaper, he has crossed a red line, a blackleg who colludes with the enemy.

As to the article he wrote for the Daily Mail, it could have just as easily been written by a Tory. Look at its header:

“Let’s harness the spirit that has made us the envy of the world.”

For Christ sake – it’s jingoism writ large! 

⏩ Mick Hall is a veteran Left Wing activist and trade unionist.

Working For The Enemy

Mick HallI doubt you would find many socialists who read the Daily Mail, let alone write for it. 

For most of us, its owners, the Harmsworth family, need to be poked with a very long stick. Yet they will not include Sir Keir Starmer who obviously feels it is fine and dandy to write for a paper which has tormented, lied, and attempted to smear the Labour Party since it was first formed – and continues to do so today.

The Daily Mail has always been a viciously reactionary newspaper, prepared to slander and malign anyone perceived to be a threat to its interests and those of the ruling class.

It published the forged Zinoviev Letter in order to damage the Labour Party in 1924. It praised the achievements of Italian fascism in the 1920s. Mussolini, according to Lord Rothermere – the paper’s then proprietor – “was the greatest figure of our age.”

In 1933 Rothermere celebrated Hitler’s coming to power with an article titled Youth Triumphant, in which he urged all young people:

to study closely the progress of the Nazi regime and not to be misled by the misrepresentations of its opponents who were trying to give the impression that Nazi rule is a bloodthirsty tyranny.

In 1938, shortly before Kristallnacht, which left synagogues in Germany destroyed and the streets awash with dead Jewish people, Rothermere praised Hitler in the Daily Mail as “a man of rare culture whose knowledge of music, painting and architecture is profound”.

Since World War II the paper has consistently supported the Tories and was a ferocious supporter of Margaret Thatcher. In 2013 it attempted to smear Ralph Miliband, the then Labour Party leader’s father, in an article which appeared on its front page with the header The Man Who Hated Britain. Never mind Miliband had arrived in the UK as a Jewish refugee from the Holocaust, and went on to join the Royal Navy serving with distinction during WWII.

When Jeremy Corbyn became Labour Party leader in 2015, the paper was amongst the first out of the starting block to try and destroy his reputation. It seems none of this mattered to Sir Keir Starmer: history, principles and loyalty is obviously not a strong point for him. By writing for this wretched newspaper, he has crossed a red line, a blackleg who colludes with the enemy.

As to the article he wrote for the Daily Mail, it could have just as easily been written by a Tory. Look at its header:

“Let’s harness the spirit that has made us the envy of the world.”

For Christ sake – it’s jingoism writ large! 

⏩ Mick Hall is a veteran Left Wing activist and trade unionist.

3 comments:

  1. Barry
    Come out of the closet, YOU are a Tory boy. Labour has been so infiltrated by Tory boys Blair and now 'Sir. Stammer' are making certain a Labour party people centered is unelectable. Good thing about that is it ensures Scotland and Ireland remove themselves from Little England.
    Sir. Stammer trying to go the Little England route to get elected, PRICELESS. Only one gang of thieves can sell the family silver, rob the NHS and get the gobshite gimps to vote them in endlessly by shouting Rule Britannia!! And it ain't Sir. Stammer and YOU Barry.

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    Replies
    1. Larry

      Judging by the amount of "fakedemic" posts you spew out on TPQ, you seem to have come out of your far right closet although you may take that as a compliment.

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  2. Mick - thanks for this.
    Would that not effectively leave any socialist open to the accusation that they are working for the enemy if they ever write in the capitalist press?
    And would that not lead to the Left becoming even more cultish than it already is?
    I think writers should seek to get published everywhere so long as they don't tailor their writing to suit the ethos of the paper.
    I am sure there are enough lining up to hang me for writing in the Belfast Telegraph!!

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