Keir Starmer is the man who drove Jeremy Corbyn and the Corbynites from the Labour Party, insisting that Corbyn’s embrace of Muslim terrorists and his antisemitism were no longer to be tolerated. Now he faces a new challenge and a threat: a group called Muslim Vote, that has in recent local elections made worrying inroads in local offices by having Muslims vote as a bloc, has just issued 18 non-negotiable demands of Keir Starmer if he wants Muslim support at the next general election. Robert Spencer wrote briefly about this here. More on their threat, and the major demands they have issued, can be found here: “Revealed: The ’18 DEMANDS’ Muslim Vote group issued to Keir Starmer after dozens of pro-Gaza activists were elected to councils across UK – from cutting military ties with Israel to ‘ensuring insurance quotes don’t cost more for someone called Muhammad,'” by Matthew Lodge, Daily Mail, May 6, 2024:
Pro-Gaza activists have dramatically issued a list of 18 demands to Sir Keir Starmer and threatened to withhold their support at the next general election if he does not fulfil them.
The Muslim Vote has called for the Labour leader to promise to cut military ties with Israel, allow followers of Islam to pray in school and stop people with the name ‘Muhammad’ being charged more for insurance should he become prime minister.”
The UK is extremely unlikely to break military ties with Israel, at least in the short term. The U.K. military has too much to gain from the advanced Israeli weapons it buys every year. Israel is its third largest supplier of weaponry. Among other weapons that Israel sold to the UK for use in Afghanistan and Iraq, there were:
- The Hermes-450 UAV, a multirole high performance tactical Unmanned Air System (UAS) developed by Elbit Systems which serves as an Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) platform and which is designed to support long endurance and concealed operations. The Hermes was used extensively by Britain in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2014. In 2013 British-controlled Hermes 450s had completed 70,000 hours flight time in Afghanistan.
- The Watchkeeper UAV is a tactical system, modelled on the Elbit Hermes 450, which provides the UK armed forces with intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability. It is produced through a joint venture of Elbit and Thales UK in a contract priced at £800-million.
- M-113 Spike-NLOS, an Israeli fourth-generation fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile and anti-personnel missile with a tandem-charge HEAT warhead.
These are not weapons available elsewhere to the U.K. military.
On the other hand, if the UK were to cease selling arms to Israel, it would scarcely be noticed. Since 2008, the UK has sold $574 million worth of weapons to Israel, which amounts to about $13 million worth of weapons each year, a risible sum.
Would Keir Starmer be willing to do harm to the British military in order to placate the bullies of Muslim Vote?
What of the demand that Muslim pupils be allowed to pray in state schools? This, too, is unlikely to be allowed. No other religious group has special accommodations made for it. Allowing Muslim pupils to leave their classes three times during the school day to go to a prayer room, where even without performing the requisite ablution (wudu), they will stay for between 10 and 15 minutes for each prayer, would be terribly disruptive of the classroom lessons. With the Muslim students gone from the room, how will the teacher proceed? Can he continue the lesson if the Muslim students are not there to hear it? Can he keep the non-Muslim students busy with make-work, essentially treading water in the classroom until the Muslim students return, which puts the whole school on a schedule determined by its Muslim students? This is again an impossible demand to meet without damaging education for all. Muslim parents who insist on their children saying their prayers during the school day should consider taking their children out of the state schools and enrolling them in Muslim schools. Of course, that would require them to pay more for schooling, just as parents who send their children to Catholic or to Jewish schools must pay extra, but if they feel that strongly, they should be willing to make the sacrifice.
A line from Luke comes to mind: “If they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when the wood is dry?”
Goofy says
If you remove blasphemy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ along with anti-Semitism there is virtually nothing left of Islam.
In a Judeo Christian perspective we don’t need to defend God because “Revenge belongs to the LORD!
If we ever start to play with the idea of introducing a blasphemy law we must immediately take the Muslims to court for blasphemy of Jesus Christ and for the Qur’an commanding a lot of crimes under our national laws as well as under international conventions pertaining to human rights and war crimes.
If we are not first the Muslims will have Christianity banned as its gospel of love and salvation offend the self-righteous Muslims!
This is serious!
Paul says
If this does not clearly and precisely illustrate the danger of religious belief, I don’t know what does. At the core of every human being is a clear understanding as to what is good and bad, right and wrong. Islam evokes insecurities in humanity so as to manifest brainwashing that alters our perspective and trades on our insecurities. If you are a well rounded individual, you will not be affected by this propaganda. If, on the other hand, your upbringing has been less than ideal, you can be affected by the lies and propaganda of any religion, not just the islam/muslim variety. We all know how o do the right thing. Some people do not. It all depends on how you were raised.
The hezbollah/islamist variety of brainwashing is particularly dangerous to the rest of the world. Ideally, and to assure a continuing rationale in our discourse, this particular variety of brainwashing has to be eradicated and wiped from the face of the Earth, regardless of the cost.
somehistory says
Blaming “religion” for this instead of a specific “religion,’ lumping all religious belief together, is a serious mistake.
Your contention that this “illustrates the danger of religious belief” shows that the false idea that each person is “born” with a “clear understanding of good and bad, right and wrong” and that “lies and propaganda” can cause a person to be “brainwashed” is contradictory.
If each person is clear on right and wrong, good and bad from birth, then it wouldn’t matter how the person is “raised” in order not to be “brainwashed.”
A child needs training; and many ethical teachings are found, not in political circles or atheism, but in such things as the Bible’s moral teachings.
People actually *need* a Source of, a base in, Something bigger, better than themselves. This is one reason having a good father and mother is so important. Kids look to their parents for how to live and deal with things they encounter.
Religious people look to their God for further, and higher, instruction and guidance.
mozlums do not behave as people of other religions.
B Teboe says
No they do not. And they never will because assimilating to other cultures that don’t love killing and maiming is against Sharia law. These people are brainwashed from birth. And they marry 1st cousins which can have a real detrimental effect on the gene pool, as in diluting intellect. Islam is a governmental system that uses law (Sharia) and religion (Muslim) to keep the adherents in line 24/7/365 from cradle to grave. The goal of Islam is to overthrow whatever govt they come in contact with and implement Sharia. And when they have enough people (civilization Jihad) this is exactly what they will do.
somehistory says
Absolutely right.
Mick says
Good summary. But while the UK trades weapons with Israel, it cannot ‘cleanly’ oppose Israel’s arms supply to Shi’ite Azerbaijan, against Armenia.
Better for the UK to supply arms to Armenia and find another source for Hermes, Watchkeepers and Spikes.