Owen Jones has, for the last three years, revealed himself to be a man of enormous courage, integrity and truthfulness. No one should think for a minute that his relentless defence of Palestinian rights and historical truth is easy or comes without heavy personal costs. Throughout the genocide in Gaza, Jones remained a tireless bur rigorous and supremely decent voice. I suspect part of what initially moved him was the strong displeasure in being treated like an idiot by the official propaganda – a noble motive in itself – but there is no question he has been genuinely touched by the images of suffering arriving daily from Gaza. And yet, how does his intellectual fixation on a battle between left and right help us understand the horrors of Gaza, or move us to stop them? My impression is that the opposite has happened. People look at what is happening in Gaza and ask themselves what a person on the right or on the left should think. In many cases this is ideology. In most, simply careerism and group association. Jones shows how limited the perspective really is. How about, like the author himself, asking how a human being should feel? How about returning to the world of facts and feelings rather than our endless Marvel franchise? newstatesman.com/culture/boo…

A rare photo of the Flanges from Carry On Abroad! That reminds me, I must buy sausage rolls later... 😜

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