Nothing wrong with supporting Israel.... as long as he spends the same amount of time supporting residents.
Here you can see how much time he does spend supporting ISRAEL
And a resident writes with research on Malc's voting record.
It doesn't look good....
My dear Dame
It was with some interest that I read of your observations on our current Member of Parliament. I have to concur that Sir Malcolm is rarely enthusiastic about meeting his constituents and recall him being quite defensive on the topic of a constituency surgeries during the 2005 General Election campaign.
I am sure many constituents may have a keen interest in knowing as much as possible about their Member of Parliament and the member's voting record and interests. Perhaps these might help ...
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
PipPip,
Kerr M'udgeon
A creature of habit. Buttressed by non Executive Directorships and promoting the Jewish cause, his platform is the Member of Parliament for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea - a sinecure that he was fortunate enough to find after many years of searching from the wilderness. But it becomes increasingly clear that the "deal" requires something in return. Constituents need their representative to represent them. Something that Sir Malcolm is clearly failing to do
ReplyDeleteThe Jewish lobby in K&C is very powerful. Malc is safe in his seat for as long as he wants it.
DeleteThe guy looks and sounds a Scot. Great optics for the cause.
DeleteIf you look up his interests on theyworkforyou (which some truly do not!) you will find this:
Delete'Received fee of £5,000 from United Jewish Israel Appeal, 37 Kentish Town Road, London NW1 8NX for speech at event on 6 May 2014 at Savoy Hotel, London. Hours 1 hr. '
The man took £5,000 for ONE HOUR'S WORK, at a fundraising brunch in aid of underprivileged children in Israel.
If he cares - why take a humungous fee - for ONE HOUR'S WORK?
I recall it mentioned in the local rag, when Sir Malcolm was seeking selection as the parliamentary candidate for Kensington and Chelsea, that he was out of favour with the K&C Tory Jewish Lobby because he had not unconditionally supported Israel during his time as Foreign Secretary.
DeleteAnonymous at 09.01 is right to suggest that Sir Malcolm has a safe Tory seat but is wrong to suggest that it is a safe seat because he is Jewish and there is a powerful lobby of Jewish voters in K&C. According to Census data, the Jewish population in Chelsea is about 2% whereas countrywide it is about half of one per cent. Hardly a mass of Jewish voters keeping Sir Malcolm in his seat.
I very much hope that this is not an opportunity for racists to vent their spleens.Criticise Sir Malcolm's politics by all means, leave his race, religion and culture out of it
There has not been one comment on Sir Malc that could be interpreted as racist. To imply there has is arrant nonsense.
DeleteIt's perfectly fair to point out that being Jewish might influence his attirude to Israel. Not to do so is just pathetic.
And if this is true it reflects very badly on the man.
"The man took £5,000 for ONE HOUR'S WORK, at a fundraising brunch in aid of underprivileged children in Israel."
I am no Zionist and I am not a Tory voter. My sympathies on the Middle East lie with the Palestinians.
DeleteI consider the implications of the comment made by Anonymous at 9.01 to be racist because he is implying that the powerful Jewish Lobby in Kensington keeps Sir Malcolm safe in his seat simply because he is Jewish No one would say that a powerful Christian Lobby would keep a Christian Member of Parliament safe in their seat. To single Sir Malcolm out in this way is, in my view,racist.
No, it's not. It implies that he has Zionist sympathies...very different. Nothing to do with religious beliefs. There are many secular Jews
DeleteShane Carter is right. No one would say that Michael Portillo or Alan Clark were returned to Parliament because of a powerful christian lobby. They held their seats, just as Malcolm Rifkind does, because the majority of voters in the constituency vote Conservative - nothing to do with being Jewish or Christian.
DeleteThe correlation of Malcolm Rifkind being Jewish and keeping the seat owing to a "powerful Jewish Lobby" is racist. Jews are a race as well as a religion and an ethnic group. Anyone who brings up a racial difference in a feeble and practically meaningless attempt to explain electoral success is being racist.
I hope those above who have made thinly veiled anti semitic remarks about Sir Malcolm holding his seat because he is Jewish are now examining their belief systems. The Anonymous Writer at 09.01 probably thinks it's acceptable to say "I have nothing against Jews but........."
DeleteBig issues are swirling around the voters of K&C. Mansion Tax, basements, over development, house prices, empty property, Tri Borough. All of these questions need analysis, leadership, and action. Our current MP is disinterested and absent. It is a poor state of affairs.
ReplyDeleteSir Malcolm is a fine turn and welcome guest at Kensington Garden Parties. He can always be relied upon to deliver a few well chosen words. What more do we need?
ReplyDeleteOne Councillor told me that he did very little in the local elections,
ReplyDeleteYes you are quite right Rifkind was not seen during the local elections. Not bad for someone who works in Westminster and knew that the local elections were coming months ago. Perhaps the local activists of Kensington should repay his generosity in the general elections by doing just as little?
DeleteSir Malcolm is a Member of Parliament, not a Local Councillor. Why on earth should he waste time and become involved in local elections and local trivia??
DeleteFor the same reason that the local councillors help him in his election
DeleteSir Malcolm's unofficial job spec is to attend Kensington Garden Parties arranged by the Conservative Association and he occasionally graces Resident Association parties (or at least accepts invitations but often calls off at the last moment). These "duties" are carried out exclusively in Norland, Holland, Campden and Abingdon Wards. There are no Garden Parties in Delgano, St Helens, Golborne, Notting Dale, Colville and Pembridge Wards where there has never been a sighting of the MP
ReplyDeleteStupid comment. Of course you cannot have Garden Parties in North Kensington. It will be another two generations before this becomes appropriate. What a totally ridiculous observation by Fly On The Wall. In the fullness of time gentrification will spread North. In the meantime our MP will spend his time where it is appropriate for him to do so.
DeleteThere are lots of garden parties in North Ken - but no one will invite Rifkind because they don't know who he is. He can hardly gate crash them, after all!
DeleteSir Malcolm is a good egg. Always recognises me and is most civil.
ReplyDeleteDent Coad has just wiped the floor on television over the Mansion Tax (BBC Total Politics). Labour is clearly leading genuine representation of residents throughout the borough – the Tories, Rifkind and Paget-Brown and their friends are increasingly irrelevant. Since Cunning ham stood down, Labour under Blakeman and now Dent Coad have taken a thoughtful and serious view of all the threats to the borough’s residents – from the asset rich, cash poor to the increasingly beleaguered residents of social housing the Tories are trying to expel from the borough. Why not send a Labour MP to parliament next year and give them the wake-up call they need?
ReplyDeleteI would not want Dent Coad representing me in parliament.
Delete08.51, perhaps you are one of the 'terminally thick and stupid' identified in the foregoing blog, but EDC is not Labour's parliamentary candidate. Indeed she has announced far and wide that she has no ambitions for parliament, despite being approached several times.
DeleteIt would stupid to rely on Dent Coad.
DeleteI am very glad to hear that Dent Coad has no ambitions of standing for parliament. Is Condon Simmonds standing for parliament for the beleaguered Tories?
Delete... and wasn't it Labour MP Karen Buck who had to push Rifkind into supporting her motion against basement developments? As a lifelong resident and Conservative voter, who is heartbroken at the way this borough is being destroyed, maybe, just maybe this time I will be voting Labour.
ReplyDelete