A few days ago, there was a discussion on the BBC TV programme This Week about acceptable and unacceptable jokes. During it, Harriet Harman MP told a joke to presenter Andrew Neil of a type which she said ‘people like Andrew say . . . are perfectly all right’.
The ‘joke’, which I will not repeat, was anti-Semitic, making fun of the Holocaust. Neil, for once, was lost for words. After collecting himself he told Ms Harman to be quiet, and asked how she dared think that he would find something like that funny. He later tweeted that ‘I was appalled and even a little bit upset by what she said.’ He continued: ‘What was wrong was (1) even to tell that so-called joke on live TV (2) claim I would like the joke. Appalling on both counts.’
First, it is necessary to point out that if a Conservative had done such a thing it would be career-ending. End of story, we all know that. Yet we also know that Harman will be back on our screens soon enough, lecturing us all about tolerance and equality and diversity.
The second issue is that Harman was not only slandering Andrew Neil, but slandering all ‘people like Andrew’ – by which she means those on the Right. That’s you and me.
What people like Harriet Harman believe, and a lot of people on the Left think, is that when we challenge the politically correct language police we all sit round making anti-Semitic jokes and using the n-word. Perhaps we also like to refer to women as b*tches or worse – who knows?
Essentially, it goes back to the usual groundless accusations made by the Left against those on the Right who object to the Leftist tyranny of political correctness. The Left label us racist, misogynist, anti-Semitic, homophobic and the rest – it’s good old-fashioned bullying, and it’s been very effective at controlling the political and cultural narrative.
So it’s probably worth remembering that throwing around insults is not challenging political correctness. What political correctness attempts to do is impose Leftist values and policies through the control of language by censuring those who tell the truth.
When you say that men and women are different, you are un-PC. This has quickly moved on to the new PC mantra that if you say that only women can get pregnant and have babies, you are un-PC and ‘transphobic’. If you make any challenge to the latest Leftist revolution, you are something-phobic. In other words, you are mentally ill. Again, this is bullying by the Left.
Stating that marriage has always been between at least one man and one woman for the purpose of procreation and the raising of children, you are being un-PC. The Left will denounce you as homophobic for stating this historical truth in order to pursue their agenda of gay marriage.
If you challenge any element of climate change, you are a climate change ‘denier’, and so forth. If you state the scientific fact that life begins at conception, you can be labelled a misogynist so that the Left can impose their pro-abortion demands upon you. There is still room, arguably, for someone to be pro-choice and also believe life begins at conception, but no matter. No inch is given.
So, there we are. How dare Harriet Harman allege that people on the Right think there is nothing wrong with vile anti-Semitic ‘jokes’. There will be no more lecturing from Harriet Harman, whose judgment is so dodgy that she would tell such a ‘joke’ on live TV. We know where most of the anti-Semites lurk – and it’s not on the Right.
