Are you angry about Windrush? Or, the eight
years of austerity that has seen the poor atone for the sins of the rich? Or,
the decimation of our NHS? Or, the Brexit shambles? Or, the scandalous rise of
homelessness? Or, the injustice of Grenfell, Or, [insert your own list] – Get out
and vote today!
As a therapist, I’m not afraid of anger,
which is just as well because I’ve been angry every day for the past eight
years. The only people I know who are not angry right now are either very rich
(thus inoculated against the ravages of austerity) - or Yoga instructors.
I’ve picked up the pieces of lives crushed
by the cruelty of this Tory government. Injustice is hardwired into every sinew
of the system, with Human rights now only accessible to those who can afford to
buy them.
The hostile environment that spawned the
Windrush scandal was no accident. It’s indicative of a culture that has
enshrined racist rhetoric into practice. Dawn Butler described May’s
hostile environment as the new
face of Tory institutional racism, “ever present from Stephen Lawrence to
Windrush”. She’s right.
In 2011, Theresa
May vowed to get rid of Article 8 (the right to family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights because, she
claimed, it “perverted” the removal of “illegal immigrants”. Her competence as Home Secretary was called into
question when it emerged that the example she cited, that of a pet cat
scuppering deportation, was untrue and appeared to have been lifted, “word for
word,” from a speech made by (then) UKIP leader, Nigel Farage. In fact, the
case had been mishandled by immigration officials.
The morality of her contempt for the right
to family life largely escaped scrutiny and went on to underpin the 2014
immigration Act. It should come as no surprise that this resulted in the
Windrush scandal that has seen families ripped apart, denied access to jobs,
health care, justice, dignity and hope. Diane Abbott, Jeremy Corbyn and John
McDonnell anticipated the “unintended” consequences for Commonwealth
citizens and voted against it.
Racism has rarely been career limiting in the Tory party. In 2011, Tory Dover
councillor, Bob Frost, described people involved in the Tottenham riots as
“jungle bunnies”. He lost his job as a Maths teacher, but the Conservative
Party only suspended him for two months. The emergence of Oliver Letwin’s
sinister racist
memo in 2015 did not result in him being sacked as David Cameron’s policy
adviser.
Under Theresa May’s leadership, racism has become mainstream Tory policy.
Directly (and indirectly) discriminating against black and brown skinned people
- with impunity. When Theresa May appointed Boris
Johnson as Foreign Secretary, it seems she deleted the traditional job
requirement, “Portfolio of diplomacy” and replaced it with, “Portfolio of
racist remarks”.
As Commonwealth leaders gathered in London
amidst the Windrush scandal, who better to mollify the mood, than Johnson?
Regaling delegates with stories about “flag waving piccaninnies” and “Pangas”
with “watermelon smiles”.
If a Labour Politician made even one of
those remarks, they would be hounded out of office, and rightly so. Having been
suspended for using the racist term “N***** in the woodpile” in July, Anne-Marie
Morris had the whip re-instated after only five months.
At least 12
Tory candidates had to withdraw from the today's elections having been
suspended amid accusations of anti-antisemitism, Islamophobia and far right
links. One of whom, a former UKIP candidate is alleged to have racially abused
Diane Abbott on social media.
Theresa May should not be surprised that her "Go home" buses,
hostile immigration environment, the appointment of Boris Johnson as Foreign
Minister and her tolerance of racism generally, has acted as a recruitment
sergeant for the far right. As David Lammy said, If you lie down with
dogs, you get up with fleas.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Today is channel your anger into action
day. All you have to do is get up, get ready and vote the Tories out of your town!
#Vote Labour 💓
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