Marginalised in a Marginal Seat: Thoughts of an anguished voter

Today is the first day my vote has ever mattered in a British general election. Chingford and Woodford Green has always returned a large Conservative majority. Now it’s a marginal seat.

Today is also simultaneously the most obvious voting decision I have made. But it’s also the most complex. Let me explain.

I was comfortable voting for David Cameron in 2010 and 2015. I was anguished voting for Theresa May in 2017. I am disgusted to have to vote for Boris Johnson in 2019. But that is what I must do.

I am totally aware who I am voting for. I don’t need reminding of how Boris Johnson has made racist remarks, got journalists beat up, lied repeatedly or decide to support the economic and societal upheaval that is Brexit because it would help him become Prime Minister (well done Boris, what’s next?). He is the first British Prime Minister who I find repugnant: I try to be tolerant towards leaders. I think Tony Blair and David Cameron deserve to be remembered for the good they did, not just the mistakes. Theresa May was not a successful Prime Minister but she was a model public servant, who gave her all in difficult circumstances. In addition to all that, I am against Brexit. And if any Brexit has to happen, I don’t trust the Brexiteers running the Conservative party to deliver it.

However, I still feel an unqualified moral and historical imperative to vote for him. Or rather, I feel an unqualified moral and historical imperative to ensure Jeremy Corbyn is defeated, and by a large margin.

I won’t waste your time listing Corbyn’s antisemitic history here, whether his own actions, his tolerance for others’ or his clear animosity for the Jewish community, its institutions, leaders and members – it’s been well documented. But here’s my view on why he is on a different planet of unsuitability to Boris Johnson.

First, Boris Johnson’s comments have been repugnant, but they are not ideological. They were thoughtless, arrogant and nasty. But whereas Johnson’s worldview is to do whatever it takes to get elected, Corbyn’s antisemitism is at the heart of his entire belief system. Corbyn is willing to tolerate the suspension of any progressive cause, whether women’s or LGBT rights, in order to support anti-Semites and fight against Israel. In power, I do not believe that Boris Johnson’s policies will be discriminatory against minorities. It is not in anyone’s interest to institutionally discriminate against minorities in Britain today – but Corbyn is not a pragmatist, otherwise he would have made peace with the Jewish community long ago.

Second, Electing Jeremy Corbyn is a vote to overhaul the entire system of British society. His cabinet will be led by Marxist revolutionaries. There is no guarantee that the other institutions guaranteeing democracy and tolerance would be safe with Labour in power. Boris Johnson will not overhaul the institutions of state, and therefore would be held to account (and indeed, would likely lose an election if faced with a stronger, moderate opposition). The social upheaval of a Corbyn government would dwarf any form of Brexit that Boris Johnson takes out of the oven.

Third, Jeremy Corbyn would endanger national security. Despite what he has been forced to say over Trident, he is a pacifist who believes the British army commits war crimes. Indeed, he is critical of every action the British army ever takes. If he is in power, his foreign policy will be pro-Iran, anti-USA and anti-NATO. Other countries will not share intelligence with the UK, making the country far less safe. Boris Johnson will do none of this, because his worldview does not include destroying the Western capitalist system from within.

Lastly, a common view among Corbyn supporters is that Conservative austerity has ‘murdered’ people. Unkind, unfair, unethical – maybe. But this assertion takes us on a dangerous path whereby public policy either ‘saves’ or ‘murders’ and ascribes malign intentions to politicians with which one does not agree. On the other hand, Jeremy Corbyn has been openly supportive of people who have actually committed murder against Jews and British citizens. I can tolerate a Prime Minister whose policies are misguided or wrong. I cannot tolerate a Prime Minister who supports murderers.

My vote was cast by proxy, as I am sitting thousands of miles away in Israel. But I care to write this because I am proud of being British, and I have fond memories of the life I had there. My British passport matters to me, and I am legally allowed to cast a vote as a foreign national. Yet at the very time that my thoughts and energy are focused on the UK’s future, and when my vote really does make a difference, I also feel distant. It’s partly due to the insensitive and antisemitic comments I have received on social media for sharing my views and partly the realisation that millions of my fellow Brits could vote an anti-Semite into power.

So, I’ll hand over my ballot paper to be counted among those who will claim it is another vote to get Brexit done at all costs. But what I need you to understand is that the cross is the easiest and hardest voting decision I ever made. It represents my British values, my fears, my politics, my morals and my Jewish identity. It is a vote cast not just to make my family and community safe, but the whole of Britain. I hope I never have to make such a choice again.

Mauricio Pochettino: He's a Role Model, you know

When I write or blog on social media, I usually write about things that mean something in life. Religion, politics, education. Rarely football. I am a huge football fan but I class it as a leisure activity that I enjoy, not essential to what I stand for or aim to achieve.

Yet, as the news breaks of Mauricio Pochettino’s sacking, I can’t help myself put pen to paper to reflect on one of the most incredible, exciting – and yes meaningful – football journeys I’ve experienced.

Because Pochettino is not just a manager, he is a role model – and created a team of role models, for how football was to be played and life to be lived. Here’s why:

1) Pochettino doesn’t believe that football is more important than life itself. Football is there to be enjoyed, but it’s never a ‘real drama’. Without taking away any passion – on the contrary he is one of the most passionate people in football – he helped people understand that real dramas occur in real life.

2) He taught us what being loyal means. Pochettino had every opportunity to leave Tottenham but never did. If a player or staff member believed in his mentality and worked hard for the team, he repaid that loyalty. In today’s world, loyalty is seen as a bonus relative to the need for success. For Pochettino, loyalty takes precedence.

3) He is humble. Never taking credit for himself, always showering players with praise. It was always about the club, not himself. And he also conveyed this to his players, who consistently in interviews emphasised that message.

4) Modern western society, with football at its epitome, constantly reminds us of what we don’t have and ‘should’ desire. Money buys happiness, money is the solution to problems. And yet with Pochettino money isn’t the essence. He believes that with hard work, passion, determination and raw talent, there is no end to your potential. Tottenham nearly won the Champions League having not bought a single player that season – it is typical of Pochettino’s belief that the intangible human values are more important than money.

5) Politics and society have become infested with the need to blame. Someone must be at fault for our problems – and it’s never us. Unlike most managers, Pochettino rarely blamed referees, opposition players or his own players. He was introspective, believing that if something went wrong, he needed to work harder and take more responsibility. Pochettino’s world is less angry and more reflective – and the world would be in a better place if everyone had this attitude.

6) Pochettino is, in one word, a ‘mensch’. He respected every player, manager and club from Barcelona to Colchester. He did not gloat or capitalise on the failures of others, nor did he covet other teams’ players. He was ambitious, but not at the expense of others. In today’s world so often the people at the top are ruthless, selfish and single-minded. Pochettino taught us that it’s possible to be a leader, achieve greatness and yet not make an enemy on the way, treating friend and foe with the utmost respect.

7) He created a team who worked for one another, spoke kindly and respectfully in interviews and became role models for young people. In the image of their manager, we have seen Harry Kane become a deserved England captain, Dele Alli become a professional and not the prima donna party boy he threatened to have been – and the team built around personalities such as Heung-Min Son, who showed after the Gomes incident what a genuine character he is.

I’m sure there will be people who point out to me his failings, and when he didn’t live up to the above praise. And it’s true – because he’s human. But in today’s world it’s considered normal to expect perfection from others while not striving for it themselves. In Judaism, no one person in its illustrious history, even Abraham or Moses, is considered to have been perfect because no one can be. And for those fans who live and breathe football, they can do no worse than looking to Mauricio Pochettino as a role model in life.