Some days the world is so stupid that getting out of bed seems to carry too many risks. Today, thanks to the Independent, the bottom of the stupid-pool has been reached. The ‘paper’ has just run a piece by one George Greenwood headlined: ‘Labour-IRA attitude under scrutiny as Young Fabians invite former terror commander to be guest of honour at Christmas party.’
Which sounds very scary indeed until you read down, or look at the photo and discover that the former IRA commander in question is in fact Sean O’Callaghan – otherwise known as probably the most famous double-agent at the top of the IRA. A man who helped destroy the IRA’s operational effectiveness over the course of a decade. A man who at unbelievable risk to his own life saved dozens of British lives. A man who prevented a Brighton-style attack that would most likely have killed the Prince and Princess of Wales. A man, in other words, who is one of the most extraordinarily brave and courageous people who it could ever be anybody’s honour to meet.
But the Independent seems not to know any of this and barely even nods to it in its sub-Wikipedia hit-job of a piece. And nor does Simon Danczuk MP seem to know this. Indeed here he is giving a quote on the investigative genius George Greenwood’s discovery, saying:
‘At a time when Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell’s previous remarks about the IRA are under intense scrutiny, this sends out the wrong message about what the Labour Party and its affiliated groups stand for. ‘As a former treasurer of the Young Fabians I can certainly say this wouldn’t have happened in my day.’
Now I am going to do George Greenwood the favour of assuming that he’s one of the unpaid interns at the Independent, trying to notch up journalistic credits like the legion of unpaid whack-jobs who write for the multi-millionaire Evgeny Lebedev for free at ‘Independent Voices’. I am also going to assume – going on the evidence of his piece – that George doesn’t know anything at all about the Troubles and would need Google to help him work out which bit of Ireland is North and which is South. But Simon Danczuk MP? Surely he is aware that if the John McDonnell – Seamus Milne wing of Labour had any attitude to the Young Fabians inviting O’Callaghan, it would be to stand outside the venue with placards attacking O’Callaghan as a ‘traitor’ to the cause and a ‘sell-out’.
As it happens, I assume that O’Callaghan will be talking about his extraordinary and insightful new biography of James Connolly – a magnificent reconsideration of the myths surrounding the Republican ‘hero’ and his warped place in the Republican mindset. I hope so. I would join the Young Fabians myself to hear that. O’Callaghan is the sort of person any gathering should be honoured to hear from. The Young Fabians – like all of us – are lucky to have him. Only the Independent seems not to realise that.
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