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Diary: Adieu, Comrade Delta. The SWP leader at the centre of sex abuse allegations departs Diary: Adieu, Comrade Delta. The SWP leader at the centre of sex abuse allegations departs
(about 2 months later)
• Like a steamy hot night before a clap of thunder, things have been building up in the Socialist Workers party. Since January, when leaked minutes emerged detailing how the party dealt with sexual assault allegations against a leading light, Comrade Delta, from a female member – casually exonerating him and declining to involve the police to avoid co-operating with the bourgeois system – things have been fraught, to say the least. An establishment that is holding firm, an opposition faction campaigning for better leadership and more transparency. Many wondered just what was the difference between the SWP and those parties it despises in Westminster. And finally, following all that drama, a denouement. For after all those efforts to save him, it is now appears that Delta, who held many senior positions over many years, has resigned his membership. A questionable finale, perhaps. For in two weeks' time he was scheduled to appear before the disputes committee to face yet more allegations of sexual misconduct. That will probably go ahead, but as an ex-member he won't have to be there and can't be sanctioned. Imperfect as a solution. But frees up the factions to fight each other on other fronts.• Like a steamy hot night before a clap of thunder, things have been building up in the Socialist Workers party. Since January, when leaked minutes emerged detailing how the party dealt with sexual assault allegations against a leading light, Comrade Delta, from a female member – casually exonerating him and declining to involve the police to avoid co-operating with the bourgeois system – things have been fraught, to say the least. An establishment that is holding firm, an opposition faction campaigning for better leadership and more transparency. Many wondered just what was the difference between the SWP and those parties it despises in Westminster. And finally, following all that drama, a denouement. For after all those efforts to save him, it is now appears that Delta, who held many senior positions over many years, has resigned his membership. A questionable finale, perhaps. For in two weeks' time he was scheduled to appear before the disputes committee to face yet more allegations of sexual misconduct. That will probably go ahead, but as an ex-member he won't have to be there and can't be sanctioned. Imperfect as a solution. But frees up the factions to fight each other on other fronts.
• An encouraging response all round following the weekend revelations that home secretary Theresa May has diabetes. This will not and should not affect her political career, was the consensus. An outbreak of good sense, and an indicator of the extent to which times have changed. There was a sympathetic hearing in the Mail – Tories rally round brave Theresa – showing things have changed there as well. Our friend and occasional diarist Stephen Bates recalls a different response in days gone by. "When I was diagnosed with the same complaint while a reporter for the Daily Mail in 1987, I got no sympathy whatsoever," he says. "Most people lose weight when they join the Daily Mail," a hard-as-nails editor told him. And that was true enough. Only a lucky few kept a full head of hair.• An encouraging response all round following the weekend revelations that home secretary Theresa May has diabetes. This will not and should not affect her political career, was the consensus. An outbreak of good sense, and an indicator of the extent to which times have changed. There was a sympathetic hearing in the Mail – Tories rally round brave Theresa – showing things have changed there as well. Our friend and occasional diarist Stephen Bates recalls a different response in days gone by. "When I was diagnosed with the same complaint while a reporter for the Daily Mail in 1987, I got no sympathy whatsoever," he says. "Most people lose weight when they join the Daily Mail," a hard-as-nails editor told him. And that was true enough. Only a lucky few kept a full head of hair.
• Many a famous visitor to the London School of Economics. Recently, the garlanded speaker was former French prime minister Alain Juppé. Caused quite a stir in London and, according to reports in Paris, a bit of a stir once he returned home. Several outlets suggest Juppé, on returning to France, recounted his journey to former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who apparently asked how much he'd charged for the appearance. "Nothing, of course," replied the benevolent Juppé, prompting "wide-eyed incomprehension". Sarkozy is said to have received $100,000 from Goldman Sachs last time he spoke in London. And he's been advised he could earn a lot more if he spoke better English – "Blair-money, even," smirked one paper. The result, according to Challenges magazine, has been "an hour of English tuition per day plus three hours at the weekends". For l'argent de Blair: anything.• Many a famous visitor to the London School of Economics. Recently, the garlanded speaker was former French prime minister Alain Juppé. Caused quite a stir in London and, according to reports in Paris, a bit of a stir once he returned home. Several outlets suggest Juppé, on returning to France, recounted his journey to former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who apparently asked how much he'd charged for the appearance. "Nothing, of course," replied the benevolent Juppé, prompting "wide-eyed incomprehension". Sarkozy is said to have received $100,000 from Goldman Sachs last time he spoke in London. And he's been advised he could earn a lot more if he spoke better English – "Blair-money, even," smirked one paper. The result, according to Challenges magazine, has been "an hour of English tuition per day plus three hours at the weekends". For l'argent de Blair: anything.
• Hot on the heels of the fundraising message to Labourites from Lord Mandelson – seeking to aid the fundraising drive of the activist network LabourList – comes another from a fellow big beast, Lord Prescott. "We don't always agree," he said of his fellow grandee. "But we've always seen the importance of LabourList – it's a great way of giving Labour supporters a voice online, and giving the Tories a whack at the same time." And since his resignation from the privy council, he is clearly a man liberated. "Yours not right honourably … LOL," is his sign-off.• Hot on the heels of the fundraising message to Labourites from Lord Mandelson – seeking to aid the fundraising drive of the activist network LabourList – comes another from a fellow big beast, Lord Prescott. "We don't always agree," he said of his fellow grandee. "But we've always seen the importance of LabourList – it's a great way of giving Labour supporters a voice online, and giving the Tories a whack at the same time." And since his resignation from the privy council, he is clearly a man liberated. "Yours not right honourably … LOL," is his sign-off.
• Finally, the rewards of fame are obvious, but let us never forget the costs in terms of privacy and opportunity for reflection. The comedian David Baddiel tells the Jewish Chronicle the demands of celebrity follow him everywhere. "I was at Auschwitz on a Holocaust Educational Trust trip, and I was standing at the site of the gas chambers when a guy about my age comes over and stands by me. We are just quiet for a while, and I think he is going to say something of great value or insight – perhaps a huge truth about the human condition. And he says: 'When's Fantasy Football coming back?'." Tragedy, atrocity, celebrity; modern life treats them just the same.• Finally, the rewards of fame are obvious, but let us never forget the costs in terms of privacy and opportunity for reflection. The comedian David Baddiel tells the Jewish Chronicle the demands of celebrity follow him everywhere. "I was at Auschwitz on a Holocaust Educational Trust trip, and I was standing at the site of the gas chambers when a guy about my age comes over and stands by me. We are just quiet for a while, and I think he is going to say something of great value or insight – perhaps a huge truth about the human condition. And he says: 'When's Fantasy Football coming back?'." Tragedy, atrocity, celebrity; modern life treats them just the same.
Twitter: @hugh_muir Twitter: @hugh_muir
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