Unsettled Dust

I have no doubt that @RedStarRedDust really is based in Consett. The reference in its name is fairly niche. And that Twitter account opines: "Lindsay's Left allies, what about #Brexit, friendship with Tories/Tory Lib Dems/Tory Independents, Marxism, Scottish independence, #Catalunya, immigration, climate change, #trans rights, abortion, assisted dying, sex work, drugs, Fathers 4 Justice, #Trump, #Murdoch, #DailyMail?" It would have been rude not to reply:

I have always supported Brexit, like most of the organisations that you profess to represent. I have numerous Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Independent friends, and I will have Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Independents on my parliamentary staff.

Like Jeremy Corbyn, I have never been a Marxist; like him, I see that Marxism asks many of the right questions. I have always opposed Scottish independence. Like the SNP, Catalan separatism is the "taxpayers' revolt" type of right-wing populism that I find utterly unsympathetic.

I support the tighter immigration controls that have long been advocated by trade unionists such as Paul Embery, and which were recently taken up, at least in part, by John McDonnell.

Any approach to climate change must protect employment, encourage development, uphold the right of working-class and non-white people to have children, hold down and as far as practicable reduce fuel prices, and not restrict either travel opportunities or a full diet to the rich.

My position on transgenderism is that of the Morning Star. On abortion, that of John Smith and Ronnie Campbell. On assisted suicide, that of them and of the Morning Star. On prostitution, again, that of the Star. Prostitution, pornography and drugs are capitalism at its very worst.

I would not have voted for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. I do not blame those who voted for him against her neoliberalism and neoconservatism. I would welcome his State Visit for the protests, provided they were organised by people who would have been just as opposed to her.

I saw nothing to fear in Rupert Murdoch's acquisition of Sky News. What was so wonderful about his rivals, especially the BBC? I would take the Daily Mail over Richard Branson any day, and look forward to its exposés of Virgin's NHS and rail privateering.

In reaction, not least because "Lindsay is a vicious religious bigot: #TERF, anti right to choose, anti right to die, #SWERF, pro war on drugs, all dressed up as anti capitalism," we are told that, "The whole Left can & must defeat this man."