Rent-a-quote MP should be attacking terrorists not Corbyn!

by Les May

"Complete with a photograph captioned 'Simon Danczuk, the rent-a-quote MP for Rochdale', The Guardian recently ran a piece by Roy Greenslade which asked,  'What is with the Sun and “Labour” MP Simon Danczuk? One minute the paper is quoting him approvingly because he criticised Jeremy Corbyn’s Cenotaph nod and the next it is deriding him as a “Labour big-mouth” for his own remembrance day faux pas.'

Today Simon was at it again with a Sun piece headed 'Time for Corbyn to get in tune with people on terrorism.' What seems to be upsetting Simon is that Jeremy isn't indulging in grandstanding, Danczuk style, about the killing of Mohammed Enwazi. Helpfully Simon puts him on the right track with:

“Jeremy also needs to show moral indignation towards the terrorists.”

“There’s no room for hand-wringing pieties or academic chin-stroking.”

“Unfortunately, Jeremy got it wrong in his response to Jihadi John’s death. There was no way he could have been arrested without sending British soldiers to Syria.”

Now I don't know who Simon thinks he's speaking for here but it certainly isn't for all the friends and relative of those murdered by the Isis executioner, who were more thoughtful in their response.

Bethany Haines, daughter of the first Briton murdered by this man is quoted as saying 'Much as I wanted him dead, I also wanted answers as to why he did it.' The brother of Alan Hemmings has been quoted as saying he was glad Emwazi was dead but would have preferred him to face justice. Diane Foley the mother of James Foley, Emwazi's first known victim, said she was saddened that Americans were celebrating the killing of this “deranged, pathetic young man” and that she felt no sense of justice. Adding “It's just so sad that our precious resources have been concentrated to seek revenge or kill this man.”

If Simon really wants to do something to break the grip of Isis he should be pressuring the British government to work with other nations to halt the sale of oil by Isis which has enabled it to become the richest terrorist 'brand' the world has ever known."

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2015/nov/12/simon-danczuk-the-labour-mp-beloved-and-pilloried-by-the-sun

http://www.sunnation.co.uk/simon-danczuk-time-for-corbyn-to-get-in-tune-with-people-on-terrorism/

NEW CHARTER 'REPORTER' NEWSPAPER RE-LAUNCHED TODAY!

After ceasing publication on 13th September, due to financial difficulties, the Tameside Reporter is to be re-launched today (Thursday) following a buy-out by the housing company, New Charter Housing Trust Ltd.  In a joint statement issued by both the newspaper and New Charter, both organisations have stated that as from tomorrow, 15,000 newspapers are to be delivered free and a further 10,000 are to go on sale to the public at a cost of 45p.

Although all previous staff were made redundant, Nigel Skinner the Editor, is to remain in charge of both the Tameside Reporter and the Glossop Chronicle with David Jones remaining as news editor for the Chronicle. The newspaper is also to recruit two new trainee reporters.

Although New Charter and the Tameside Reporter, say the newspaper will remain 'entirely independent' with its own editorial staff and will be 'community focused', this has been brought into question due to the intimate links that exist between New Charter and Tameside Council.  The Manchester and Salford branch of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), have even suggested that there is 'suspicion' that New Charter could  be acting as a 'proxy' for Tameside Council in buying the newspaper.

There are currently five Tameside Councillors who have declared their employment with New Charter in the register of council members interests. The Executive Leader of the council, Kieran Quinn, is listed as a Director of the New Charter Building Company. Cllr. Jim Middleton, is also a Director with the company as well as Cllr. Gerald Cooney, who is the Chairman of New Charter Housing. Cllr. Maria Bailey, is a board member of the New Charter Housing Trust and Cllr. Vincent Ricci, is a board member of the New Charter Building Company.

Apart from now owning a Tameside newspaper, New Charter also owns Tameside Community Radio Ltd and sponsors three Academy schools in Tameside - New Charter Academy (formerly Hartshead school), Silver Springs (formerly Ridgehill school), and Copley school in Stalybridge. In addition the C.E.O. of New Charter, Ian Munro - a former Tameside Council employee - sits on the board of school governors of Tameside College, New Charter Academy, Silver Springs, and the Tameside Sports Trust, that runs recreational facilities on behalf of Tameside Council.

Time will tell whether the Tameside Reporter continues to exercise editorial independence under its new owners. But will the paper be happy to print articles and readers letters that criticise the local council, New Charter or their various other business interests? Some poeople think not! One person who recently reponded to the Roy Greenslade, Guardian media blog, had this to say about the New Charter buy-out:

'We are in for lashings of corporate agenda and the banning of dissenting voices.'  If this is the future for local democracy in Tameside, then God help us!