The press attacks have begun, with Corbyn blasted as hypocrite and traitor
The Sun didn’t waste time this week before attacking the new Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Monday’s front page ran with ‘Corbyn: abolish the army’, citing a speech from three years earlier. Is this front page news?
Since then the paper’s eagerness to paint Corbyn in a bad light has seen it commit a massive contradiction worth highlighting.
Here’s yesterday’s front page:
As the Sun Says column explained:
“Corbyn, a lifelong republican, will kiss the Queen’s hand and swear allegiance to secure millions in funding for Labour. […]
How many other ‘principles’ will be jettisoned before the scales fall from the eyes of his naive young supporters?”
It turns out the Sun’s own source for the story claims there was no link between the deference and the cash. But on today:
The story says:
“Jeremy Corbyn was last night accused of snubbing the Queen after he refused to sing the national anthem.
The left-wing Labour boss remained tight-lipped at the Battle of Britain memorial.”
In other words, within 24 hours the Sun went from calling Corbyn a court jester to saying he snubbed the Queen.
Imagine for a second what would have happened if he had declined to swear allegiance to the Queen but then did sing the national anthem at the memorial. Would the Sun have just reversed its front covers these last two days?
Whatever Corbyn does here he’s going to be accused of both hypocrisy and treachery. Such is the fate of a backbench rebel suddenly in the national spotlight. The Sun has clearly started as it means to go on: attack, attack, and attack again – consistency be damned.
Today’s story deserves another point, especially as every paper bar the Daily Mail has run it on page one.
There may be an argument that as Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn should swallow his pride and sing the national anthem to avoid causing a row or annoying much of the electorate – especially at a memorial service for the country’s fallen.
But the fact is, neither Jeremy Corbyn nor anyone else may be forced to sing the national anthem.
As Graham Smith, CEO of Republic and Left Foot Forward contributor said today:
“If we live in a free country we must be free to not sing God Save The Queen. […]
Whatever your thoughts about Corbyn he has always been clear about his republicanism.
But moreoever, whether republican or not it can’t be right that people are brow-beaten into singing a religious ode to the Queen.”
Even the most ardent monarchist would hopefully consider this reasonable.
The freedoms we are told were defended by the war must surely include the right not to sing if one chooses.
Adam Barnett is a staff writer at Left Foot Forward. Follow MediaWatch on Twitter
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24 Responses to “Jeremy Corbyn goes from court jester to Queen snubber in 24 hours – so says the Sun”
mightymark
Yes that s the point. It wouldn’t be so bad were he not to support so enthusiastically the national aspirations of seemingly everyone but his own country.
gaswork
i once used the sun to wipe my backside as no toilet paper but i got a shock to find out that i had more shite on me after a simple whipe, but the bigest shite is this man Keith Rupert Murdoch has an estimated net worth of $11.5 billion as of September 2015, backs Obama with the other hand does an oliver twist begging bowl please sir feed the Rich.
andagain
It seems odd that Corbyn is happy to provide platforms for the likes of Hamas, Hizbollah and Sinn Fein but not to sing the national anthem.
Not really. It’s entirely consistant. It’s just not consistant with loyalty to the country he aspires to lead.
And this, we are told, is the position of a principled left-winger.
JohnSmith
So says almost everyone else too !!!
He chose to stand for the job. This is one of the responsibilities that go along with the job
Steve Larson
Corbyn made a mistake in not singing it.
His job is to make the Labour party sit in power and implement its politics.
A lot of traditional Labour voters felt it was wrong and a snub to them. They felt it, whether it is wrong or not is pointless.
Rigidity only leads to snapping in the wind.