Why might it matter that David Baddiel thinks Jeremy Corbyn is an Anti-Semite?

In terms of political insight, the opinions of celebrities are no more worthy of consideration than those of the rest of us. That David Baddiel and JK Rowling consider Jeremy Corbyn to be an anti-Semite no more strengthens that case than if you, me, or Uncle Tom Cobley thought so. While both fantasy and stand-up comedy remain integral to the practice of government, a background in these arts does not contribute to political insight. The merit of all lay political opinion should be treated as uniform, until the speaker displays unusual political acumen and rises above the laity.

Regardless, substantial weight is accorded to celebrity opinion. It’s a consequence of audience size. Celebrities and their cultural products have always attracted followers. With new media however, the politically inclined entertainer also has the opportunity to broadcast their political opinions to their fans. Given the infinite cross-fertilising nature of tweets it doesn’t stop there. People who really hate the politics of a given celeb will still bump into their tweets and feel tempted to respond to them; the net casts wider and wider. It is a blessing that stardom is so far removed from egotism and vanity – otherwise things could get really ugly.

Audience size also explains the prevalence of celebrity opinion in corporate mass media. Like huge breasts, and cats that bear a superficial resemblance to Hitler, celebrity opinion is clickbait. Even those who find politics insufferably boring may sit-up when the pill is sweetened with popular culture. The audience then has the fun of judging the celebrity by their punditry: Wise and refreshingly down to earth for someone so wealthy and successful/a big-mouth who should shut their ignorant face and concentrate on football commentary.

Like it or not then, celebrity opinion does matter – not for its insight but for its outreach. Celebrities have the loud-hailers, while the rest of us fumble with our kazoos. Still, you’ve got to work with what you’ve got, so here goes…

With my limited political acumen and non-existent fan-base I am confident to make the following claim: Labour’s ‘crisis’ of anti-Semitism is a politically-motivated smear campaign. The hypothetical future historian (who, incidentally, I have had the privilege to meet in person) will dismiss it as pure propaganda, no qualification. Another Zinoviev Letter dreamed-up by the powerful and eagerly propagated by a complicit mass media.

The religion threatened by Corbyn is not Judaism but Monetarism. The movement behind Corbyn is the first serious challenge to forty years of evangelical Thatcherism. Audaciously, it is the first serious challenge to the economic grip of the arms industry. However realistic or desirable you might consider such policy it is transparently obvious that this is the real threat; this is what unsettles the powerful, rather than a ludicrous charge of racism levelled at an impeccable anti-racist.

Which leaves one uncomfortable question unanswered: Do those celebrities who regularly gnash and wail about Labour’s antisemitism realise this? If they do, then one can only conclude that they are complicit in a propaganda campaign on behalf of big business and the arms industry. If, on the other hand, they don’t realise this then they are unwitting supporters of corporate propaganda - the arms industry’s useful idiots. Take your pick.