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Gaza protesters out-number Labour’s singers at Keir-aoke

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A controversial event went ahead last night to raise funds for a Labour Party election campaign. Yet there was more support outside, for those who oppose war

Our smiles beat their brutality: plenty turned up on a dark December night for a Gaza vigil outside Ruskin House

Croydon Labour’s tawdry little singalong, or “Keir-aoke” as they called it, went ahead last night in Ruskin House.

But there were more anti-war protesters outside in the dark December night calling for a ceasefire in Gaza than paid the £17 per ticket to get into Cedar Halls, where they discovered that the Labour leader on Croydon Council can’t sing…

Keir Starmer wasn’t there. He was never going to be.

Steve Reed OBE, soon to be the MP for Streatham and Croydon North, was a no-show, as is so often the case.

Sarah Jones, the current MP for Croydon Central, cut a somewhat lonely figure. Inside Croydon has been unable to confirm that she delivered an off-key version of I Will Survive.

There was no Labour parliamentary candidate for Croydon East there because, well… the party Establishment has got caught out fiddling the selection, with complaints about membership lists and voting fraud, so with the General Election getting closer by the day, Labour doesn’t actually have a candidate for a seat it is expected to win.

But as Private Eye reported last week, the expectation is that Starmer’s Blairite lackeys will impose a candidate for Croydon East in the New Year. Though only after they have taken cash for Keir-aoke tickets and donations from the very Labour members in Croydon East who are likely to be denied a say in who will be their parliamentary representative.

Maddie Henson, the owner of the company behind the controversial Anonyvoter remote balloting system used by the Labour Party, was in the hall last night. She was selling raffle tickets, a skill that she really has perfected.

Selection stitch-up: how Private Eye reported on the Labour voting fraud in Croydon, and across the country

The Addiscombe Eest councillor, however, appears to believe she is suited to be the party’s candidate for Croydon and Sutton in next May’s London elections. That is if that selection process is ever resumed… It was originally intended that the selection would be conducted only using Anonyvoter.

Self-important Henson sang a duet with Martin Whelton, the Merton councillor who has also put himself forward for the Croydon and Sutton London Assembly gig (in the sure and certain knowledge that the Labour Party will make no effort to win the seat, since that might jeopardise the prospects of one of their mates who are candidates on the list system).

The performances of councillors Janet Campbell and Leila Ben Hassel, who chose Dirty Old Town (a Shane MacGowan tribute, or commentary on the state she and her colleagues have left Croydon in? You decide…), both stood out.

But the singer of the night for many was former councillor Jerry Fitzpatrick who chose the Buddy Holly classic, It Doesn’t Matter Any More. Maybe there was a message contained in that, too?

Outside, the Gaza peace vigil was allowed to use the lawns in front of Ruskin House for speeches and chanting. The song of the night there was, “Steve Reed you can’t hide!

“We charge you with genocide!”

The Croydon Trades Union Council had met on Thursday night to discuss their options for getting the Keir-aoke at Ruskin House cancelled, as a form of protest against Reed and Jones’s failures to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Following the horrific attacks by Hamas against civilians on October 7, the Israeli Defence Force has over the course of two months carried out a series of war crimes and indiscriminate attacks on hospitals, schools and civilian targets. Tens of thousands of people have been slaughtered, many more have had their homes utterly destroyed.

Ruskin House has for nearly 70 years been the home of the left in Croydon, although the Labour Party no longer has its borough HQ there. But the Communist Party and the Morning Star newspaper both have offices in Ruskin House.

Thursday’s meeting concluded that no action could be taken to cancel the Keir-aoke booking, but a vigil was agreed. Three other organisations – Crystal Palace Friends of Palestine, Croydon 4 Palestine and Streatham and Croydon Concerned Constituents – also took part.

Still going strong: some of the protesters gathered together in front of Ruskin House after the speeches and demo

There were estimated to be around 60 people at the vigil at its peak, with motorists on the busy Park Lane frequently tooting their support for the flag wavers and banner holders on the roadside.

“It is unfortunate, but the Keir-aoke event went ahead,” said one activist. “And whatever the Ruskin House bar took that night is what they got. Hope they are happy with that.

“The trades union movement in Croydon and across the country will have to decide what kind of relationship it really wants to have with a Labour Party that continues to endorse genocide by Israel in Palestine. And continues to endorse apartheid in Israel and Palestine. Basic choices.

“The police in attendance were very cordial. They said as we were leaving the site that the vigil was very well done.

“They seemed to suggest it was exactly what they want at such events in terms of people expressing themselves wholeheartedly but not causing the kind of issues where they feel they have to intervene.”

Read more: Labour cancels Croydon selection after voting fraud claims
Read more: #TheLabourFiles: MP Reed, Evans and the Croydon connection
Read more: The fix is in: Labour excludes members from Croydon selection


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