Good old Dale Vince is at it again. The eccentric eco-millionaire seems to be plagued by a bout of foot-in-mouth-disease – as evidenced by his response to the tragedy at Bondi Beach, in which at least 15 people were killed. The green energy tycoon – who gave Keir Starmer’s party more than £5m last year – said after the attack that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘wants anti-Semitism to be a thing’ and ‘acts to make it so’. So much for ‘be kind’ eh?
Vince initially made no other comment on the shooting in which a Holocaust survivor was among those killed. But, don’t worry, an hour later, he did find time to express his sympathies about another tragedy. ‘Ten million turkeys are killed every year to celebrate Christmas’, he wrote. ‘It’s a Turkey Holocaust.’ As Clement Attlee – a rather better Labour premier than Starmer – once said, ‘A period of silence on your part would be welcome.’ Words that Vince ought to heed sharpish…
The backlash to his remarks has been swift. Tory politicians have demanded Labour return Vince millions, with Kevin Hollinrake, the party chairman, saying that : ‘This is disgraceful. Any language that excuses or legitimises terrorism gives extremists cover and undermines our values. Labour must return all donations received from Mr Vince, refuse future ones, and make clear that terrorism has no moral ambiguity.’
It was only after the backlash at midday Monday that Vince found the time to write:
My words on this subject were not intended to excuse or legitimise terrorism, or any form of racism – what happened at Bondi beach is an atrocity. My words are aimed at the intervention of Netanyahu who in my opinion overlooks the impacts of his own terrorism. If anti semitism is rising in the world today then surely on any rational analysis, the biggest single cause of that will be the genocide in Palestine. I condemn all acts of violence and all forms of racism.
Bit late mate…
UPDATE: A Labour party spokesperson messages Mr S to say:
We are absolutely clear that the antisemitic terrorist attack against Jewish families at a Chanukah event at Bondi beach is sickening. There can never and should never be any excuses made for barbaric acts of terrorism. The Labour government and the whole Labour movement stands with the Jewish community in Australia, in the UK, and around the world at this awful time. Both before and since we entered government, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has made tackling antisemitism a key priority and this crucial work will continue so that Jews living at home and abroad can live safely, without fear of violence or prejudice.”
Comments