When, a little under two months ago, a prominent ‘truther’ by the name of Dr Nicholas Kollerstrom was found to have published articles and comments on a ‘revisionist’ website which claimed that the only gas chambers at Auschwitz were those he supposes to have been used for delousing bedding and that conditions at the camp were something akin to those of holiday camp, it was the political left who took on the task of exposing his prurient and ahistorical views to public scrutiny.

It was Quarsan, at Blairwatch, who broke the original story, ably supported by Rachel North and Johnny Void.

I got involved after Kollerstrom protested about being labelled a Nazi sympathiser and starting making noises about possible legal action against Blairwatch, demonstrating that irrespective of how Kollerstrom sees his own political views, every single piece of source material on which his writings on the Holocaust are based was derived from source material written by Holocaust deniers with known and well-established links to far-right groups and organisations.
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The untimely death of the journalist and broadcaster, Tim Russert, has rocked America’s political and media worlds. continue reading… »

If we want to see a more equal, socially just, environmentally friendly and free society then we can’t just hope for it – we have to fight for it. And we have to do that by having a vision and spreading it. We have to take that vision out to society.

You are the part of a new generation of citizens who can spread those ideas. You are part of the media. You and hundreds, even thousands of bloggers, can collectively impact national politics.

But how? And to do what? Can anything actually be achieved through blogging?

Come and find out…
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Britain was once a beacon of Liberty. Our writers and thinkers pioneered the very essence of modern Liberalism. And now? Well we’ll probably soon suffer – thanks to this most illiberal and arrogant Labour Government – one of the most authoritarian detention systems in the democratic world. To this long-time – albeit on/off – member of the Labour Party, this is the final straw. There is no point in fighting this cancerous authoritarian ignorance from within, because the leadership has now torn itself from any remaining sinew of hope. Brown has surrounded himself in a bubble of blind loyalty; a cabinet with neither backbone nor capacity. As for David Davis? I quote Mr. Eugenides: “either this man’s a self-important lunatic, or we’re witnessing one of the great principled stands of modern politics.” Now, enough of me, onto the links…

Liberty – Shami Chakrabarti’s statement and Liberty’s points of contention.
Amnesty – Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen’s statement.
OurKingdom – Anthony Barnett, OpenDemocracy’s founder and editor, ponders a new ally in David Davis.
Iain Weaver – takes a historical look at other MP’s who have put their career on the line for principle.
Chicken Yoghurt – Justin swings both ways as he weighs up Davis’ resignation. continue reading… »

Yesterday, on emerging from the bowels of the Picadilly line as is my wont at half six on a Thursday, I was dismayed to see a wall of armoured police surrounding a pair of electronic weapons-detecting barriers through which the good residents of Wood Green were being made to walk.

So I took it upon myself to engage a couple of members of Her Majesty’s Constabulary in conversation.
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LabourHome is doing its monthly grassroots survey for June. This month they ask if they should take a more overtly negative stance towards the leadership.

Jon Trickett MP has resigned as spokesperson for the group Compass following criticism over the 42 days vote. He admitted to having lost “the support of a significant number of active colleagues” within Compass in a statement.

What David Davis did today was not unprecedented, but it was something quite rare. However, I would urge caution on rushing headlong to leap into bed with him and give him our support.
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