Any Hecklers?

The other day I switched on Any Questions by mistake. 

The first question was “Has Labour become the nasty party?”  This is a coded question that could mean anything really … but the panel took it as a question about Frank Field MP’s resignation of the party whip on the grounds that the party was too anti-Semitic.  In what form this anti-Semitism might manifest its self Mr Field was reluctant to illuminate us but he did threaten to cause a by-election and then didn’t.  

Anyway, I hear that these days the Labour party is a hotbed of anti-Semitism which is at least a change from what I remember of the Labour party when I was a active listener to their rubbish which was more a cold plastic chair of boring meetings.   But apparently despite having had a 40 year career as a Labour MP Mr Field recons that these days it’s like the Dreyfus Affair round there.

After a bit of waffle by Helen Grant MP – a Tory who was strangely overtaken with admiration of Mr Field as the model of a respectable MP…

”That’s nonsense.  That’s absolute nonsense!”

… shouted a member of the audience.

Shaun Ley in the chair made some comment about ringing in to Any Answers…

Then there was waffle by Isabel Oakeshott – a Tory commentator also strangely overtaken with admiration of Mr Field as the model of a respectable MP - about how terrible it was that Frank Field should be made to feel bad…

”That’s nonsense.  Absolute nonsense!  Is this going to carry on?”

…asked the heckler.  Shaun Ley in the chair avoided the question and made some comment about people being there to listen to the panellists and that it was not customary to heckle politicians. 

This made me cogitate on the fact that actually if this is customary it is a load of tripe.  Why shouldn’t people heckle politicians?   Anyone who has watched parliament on the telly would see quickly that they frequently heckle each other ….yet it seems that silence on behalf of the plebs is de rigueur.

Anyway it’s all been sorted out now because Labour has now signed up to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism.  Some of you might think you already know what anti-Semitism is and have probably even been using a dictionary to define words.  But words, it seems, are not that simple.  In a democracy words are something that must be voted on.  If you don't understand why that's a good idea then as Humpty Dumpty would say...

...it's not my job to educate you.  But it seems odd that a majority should vote on a word to describe what's happening to a minority.  At least where they are the minority.  It sort of reminded me of Pat Bidol's re-definition of the word racism as "prejudice + power" - that went well.  This is why I don't post much.  It's too depressing.  After all either the Labour party is a hotbed of anti-Semitism which is depressing or it isn't but everyone seems to think it is ... which is also depressing.