Warmonger Alastair Campbell was forced to scuttle upstairs as his speaking engagement in Croydon last night descended into disorganised farce.
Low farce: after paying 30 quid for their tickets, attendees were expected to move furniture and to buy Campbell’s book
The event was a campaign fund-raiser organised by Labour MP Sarah Jones, although in reality it was just as much about Campbell flogging a few copies of his latest self-regarding book.
Despite Jones and Campbell trying to keep the location of their £30-a-ticket love-in a secret, a large crowd of pro-peace demonstrators gathered outside The Venue (what used to be Beano’s) on Middle Street, just off Surrey Street.
There, with placards and Palestinian flags, they voiced their anger at Labour’s craven position over the genocide in Gaza.
Reasonable estimates, backed up by video evidence, suggest more protestors were on the street than there were Blairites inside the poorly attended event.
Allegations – by pro-war Labour supporters – that windows were broken were dismissed by protest organisers as “false”. There were no arrests, although one passer-by not connected with the protest was cautioned by a constable for using a rude word…
Star-struck: some Croydon Labour members enjoyed meeting a warmonger
The sensitivities of having Campbell attend a book promotion event in Croydon were clearly understood by Jones and the local Labour Party, from their cloak-and-dagger approach to bookings.
Labour in Croydon had a fund-raising dinner cancelled before Christmas when the owner of that venue took issue with the party’s failure to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Last night, the chanting protestors certainly made themselves heard: Jones and her organisers ordered the couple of dozen attendees to remove themselves from the venue’s ground floor, and take their chairs upstairs to try to escape the din.
That move was not entirely successful, though.
Once everyone had settled down with their over-priced bottles of warm lager to hand, Jones discovered to her dismay that the microphones did not work.
The MP – currently for Croydon Central, though this event was to raise funds for her new constituency of Croydon West – was forced to raise her voice to make herself heard.
As did LibDem voter Campbell, who was becoming increasingly hoarse as the evening wore on.
Unlawfully obtained: Al Jazeera’s The Labour Files exposed how party officials circulated illegally hacked data. Labour never notified the police
Among the attendees were Stuart King, the leader of the Labour group at Croydon Town Hall, Ben Taylor, the party’s candidate in Croydon South, plus a smattering of other Blairite types and party hacks.
In an irony undoubtedly beyond the comprehension of those attending their warmongers’ little get-together, the upstairs room at The Venue was the location for many of the “studio shots” and interviews for the 2022 Al Jazeera television investigation into illegal hacks and corruption in the Labour Party, nationally and specifically in Croydon.
As one insider who slipped out of the Campbell event to tell Inside Croydon how things were going: “There was a comedy element to it all, of course. It reminded me of a scene from Fawlty Towers: ‘Don’t mention the war!’ Though here it was more a case of: don’t mention any wars!”
Read more: #TheLabourFiles: MP Reed, Evans and the Croydon connection
Read more: #TheLabourFiles: Whip letters prove they knew hack was illegal
Read more: #TheLabourFiles: Source of hacked data worked for David Evans
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