Corbyn, Labour and the Communists I So What You're Saying Is

Peter Whittle sits down with author and historian Giles Udy to discuss the themes explored in his book "Labour And The Gulag: Russia and the Seduction of the British Left".
Udy also explains how these associations are not exclusively matters of history but are still very much with us today. Jeremy Corbyn's inner circle includes figures from the hard left, including those affiliated with the communist party.
Udy explains how Britain’s Labour Party was seduced by the promise of a socialist utopia and enamoured of the Russian Communist system it sought to emulate. He discusses the moral compromises Labour made, and how it turned its back on the people in order to further its own political agenda.
For example, the Labour Party welcomed the Russian Revolution in 1917, excused the Bolshevik excesses and prepared for its own revolution in Britain.
This explains the the then Labour government's reaction in 1929, when Stalin deported hundreds of thousands of men, women and children to work in labour camps. Subjected to appalling treatment, thousands died. When news of the camps leaked out in Britain, there were protests demanding the government ban imports of timber cut by slave labourers.
The Labour government dismissed mistreatment claims as Tory propaganda and blocked appeals for an inquiry. Despite the Cabinet privately acknowledging the harsh realities of the work camps, Soviet denials were publicly repeated as fact. One Labour minister even defended them as part of ‘a remarkable economic experiment’.
You can buy Giles' book here: www.bitebackpu...
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