With ballot counting completed, Boris Johnson-led Tories have won an 80-seat House of Commons majority—365 seats to Labor’s 203, Sottish National Party’s 48, Liberal Dems 11, DUP 8, Sinn Fein 7, other small parties 8, a Conservative landslide.
The results were far more decisive for Tories than expected, more than enough to “get Brexit done.”
Biggest losers were Labor’s Jeremy Corbyn and Liberal Dems’ Jo Swinson. She lost her seat and is stepping down as party leader over their dismal showing.
Despite reelected to his own constituency, Corbyn announced he “will not lead the party in any future general election campaign,” adding, “I will discuss with our party to ensure there is a process now of reflection on this result and on the policies that the party will take going forward.”
“And I will lead the party during that period to ensure that discussion takes place and we move on into the future.”
“This is obviously a very disappointing night for the Labor Party, with the result that we’ve got”—its worst showing in decades at a time most Brits suffer from the scourge of neoliberal harshness, supported by most MPs.
One observer noted that Britain “ranks among the top most depressed (Western) countries”—a ruling class triumph over the rights and welfare of ordinary people, benefitting hugely at their expense.
Governance in the US, UK, and other Western societies prioritizes war over peace, dominance over democracy, profits over populism, and private interests over public ones—a zero-sum game benefitting monied interests over all others, societies made unfit to live in.
The system empowers powerful interests to set self-serving policies at the expense of beneficial social change—social justice fast eroding under governance of, by and for the privileged few alone, ruling authorities and business partnering against the public welfare.
It begs the question. Why would majority Brits, largely ordinary people hugely burdened by what’s going on, vote for more of the same?
Johnson-led Tories benefitted hugely from UK establishment media criticism of Corbyn, including phony anti-Semitism charges—an Anglo-Zionist plot against him because of his anti-war, progressive agenda.
He called for reversing force-fed austerity, greater social justice, preserving and protecting the National Health Service, higher public sector pay, peace over endless wars, nuclear disarmament, ecosanity, and other policies benefitting all Brits equitably.
Phony anti-Semitism charges against him stem from justifiable criticism of Israeli apartheid abuses and support for long-suffering Palestinians.
At a 2018 Labor conference, Corbyn said the following to Britain’s Jewish community: “This party, this movement, will always be implacable campaigners against anti-Semitism and racism in all its forms.”
Yet anti-Semitism propaganda charges against him persisted by major UK media (including the state-controlled BBC), the Israeli lobby, and right-wing/dirty business as usual politicians, hardline Labor MPs among them.
Pre-election, the so-called Jewish Labor Movement (JLM) falsely accused Corbyn and Labor of becoming a “refuse for anti-Semites, [sic]” the party “no longer a safe space for Jewish people or for those who stand up against anti-Semitism [sic].”
An anti-Labor/anti-Corbyn smear campaign centered around this phony issue, Brits manipulated to believe the deception.
What Johnson called a “very real (Corbyn anti-Semitism) threat” was a dominant media repeated Big Lie that worked by the power of repetition, truth and full disclosure getting short shrift.
Britain’s chief rabbit Ephraim Mirvis was enlisted against him, falsely saying he’s “unfit for high office,” his publicly expressed view a first in UK pre-election history.
The same goes for Archbishop of Canterbury/Church of England leader Justin Welby, tweeting about a “deep sense of insecurity and fear felt by many British Jews” about Corbyn.
Mike Pompeo warned that the Trump regime wouldn’t tolerate a Corbyn-led Labor government, vowing to “push back” to prevent it.
Thursday’s UK election results reflect the triumph of mind manipulating propaganda over truth-telling—Brits getting the best “democracy” money can buy.
How else would governance of, by, and for the privileged few triumph over peace, equity and justice?
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.” Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.
