It is time to sit up and take notice when a ‘consultant’ with a history of racist and misogynistic commentary like Andrew Sabisky is appointed as an advisor to the staff of the Prime Minister. Challenged about Sabisky’s past, Boris Johnson’s press spokesperson refused to respond, despite being asked thirty times by journalists. It was only the serious disquiet voiced by some Tory MPs that led to Sabisky resigning and even then he was allowed to walk away, rather than be sacked. After his departure, it was confirmed that Sabisky had already participated in several meetings with Boris Johnson.
It is a measure of the deeply-ingrained racism that pervades the Tory Party today that this creature was ever appointed to the staff of Ten Downing Street in the first place. As recently as 2014, Sabisky had suggested that politicians should be aware of “very real racial differences in intelligence” when determining immigration policy. He suggested that most black people had IQs at or below 75, “close to the typical boundary for mild mental retardation”.
Sabisky favoured IQ tests for 11-year olds
The same man, in a book review, argued that benefit claimants “tend to be less conscientious and agreeable” and should be encouraged to have fewer children. A year later, he proposed IQ tests for all 11-year olds, so the government could allocate money to schools based on the intelligence of its pupils rather than their economic background – something Johnson’s main advisor, Dominic Cummings described as a “reasonable” idea at the time.
In a 2016 interview, Sabisky said he had always been “straight up in saying that women’s sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to men’s”
Sabisky’s appointment confirms that the Tory Party are now the ‘mainstream’ party of racism in British politics. The decline of the loathsome British National Party and UKIP are not due to a reduction in racism throughout society or in the media, but entirely down to the fact that their ideas have become part of ‘acceptable’ Conservative Party thinking.
“hostile environment” policy directly provoked racism
One only has to look at Tory government policy in the last ten years. One of their flagship initiatives was the “hostile environment”, launched by Theresa May as Home Secretary in 2013, against alleged “illegal” migrants. May organised special lorry-sized billboards to be driven around parts of the UK, carrying the stark message “go home” in two foot-high lettering.
As was predicted at the time, the “hostile environment” policy became an excuse for racist harassment and abuse on a grand scale. The Windrush scandal was a direct and calculated result of this immigration policy straight from the Home Office.
Despite crocodile tears by Tory ministers subsequently – when it became known that long-standing UK residents were being forcibly deported to the Caribbean where they hadn’t been since childhood – there have been no apologies or redress, either for the eighty-odd who were deported or for hundreds more affected. On the contrary, the in-built Tory prejudice against those of Afro-Caribbean heritage, in Home Office Immigration, is ongoing.
The logic and tone of this policy was carried wholesale into the Brexit campaign of 2016, which became a campaign around the issue of immigration more than anything else. It was no surprise that following the referendum result there was a marked spike in racist attacks, particularly against Muslims and Eastern European workers.
Tory Party is riddled with racism and Islamophobia
When it comes to Islamophobia, there is no other organisation that even comes close to the Tory Party. Last November, a dossier was revealed, which detailed the activities and posts on social media of many Conservative Party councillors and members, exposing their hatred and prejudice on Islam. According to The Independent, there were calls for a “ban on mosques” and Muslims were referred to as “barbarians”; Islam was compared to “Nazism”, and some Tories promoted the idea of “no-go zones” or “Muslim only areas”. None of these Tory councillors have been sacked, or, if disciplined, have been quietly reinstated. Despite promises made by every Tory leadership candidate last Summer, to initiate an internal party inquiry into Islamophobia – made on the TV debate– no steps have been taken. Nor will they be.
The Tories have contributed massively to making racism appear mainstream and socially ‘acceptable’. In the USA, Donald Trump is enthusiastically endorsed by white supremacists and the KKK. His reaction is to smile and shrug his shoulders. In the UK, the Tory Party is infused with former BNP and UKIP members, its candidates endorse racists like Tommy Robinson and Downing Street hires a racist advisor. Johnson, like Trump, shrugs his shoulders. “So what?”
Most LP members do not believe anti-Semitism charge
The point should be made that had Sabisky, or anyone even remotely like him, been appointed as an advisor to the Labour front bench, it would have been the headline in the newspapers for days on end. For four and a half years, since Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader, the press, BBC and Labour’s right-wing have perpetuated the myth that Labour has a serious problem of anti-Semitism and there has been no limits on the press bellowing about this issue.
As an aside, a recent poll of over 1000 Labour Party members showed that 79 per cent thought the issue of antisemitism in the Labour Party was “invented or wildly exaggerated by the right-wing media and opponents of Jeremy Corbyn”. Not surprisingly, among Momentum members, the figure was even higher, at 92 per cent and that explains why the leadership of Momentum has at no time consulted its membership on the issue, Jon Lansman et al leading the charge in granting one concession after another to Labour’s right wing. As a contrast, polls show that over 60 per cent of Tory Party members really do believe that Islam is a “threat” to their way of life.
General election campaign
Sabisky’s appointment to 10 Downing Street is a measure of the real character of this government and of a party that masqueraded during the general election campaign as the ‘People’s Party’. The Tories may appear to have an unassailable parliamentary majority at the moment, but their government is far from stable and they will feel the rage of millions of disappointed voters when one after another of their election pledges is ditched. They have done themselves no favours in the BAME community over the Sabisky episode.
For its part, the Labour Party must redouble its efforts to kick this government of racism out. But it must also commit itself to the 2019 manifesto, as a minimum. Racism does not come from the air we breathe; it is promoted by politicians, with the active support of the press and media, because it is an essential component and attribute of capitalism. It is the most important element in the relentless dynamic of ‘divide and rule’ that aims to weaken workers politically and organisationally. Capitalism would not exist without racism.
Andrew Sabisky is a racist pipsqueak and of no account himself; it is what his appointment represents that counts. Labour must target both the Tories and their system, both of which urgently need to be consigned to the dustbin of history.
February 18, 2020
