Ken Loach is in the news for his #BDS campaign to stop Radiohead playing in Israel, so here’s a little bit of history about Loach. /1

In 1987 Loach directed Perdition, a play alleging Zionist/Nazi collaboration that was cancelled by the Royal Court Theatre. /2

He was very angry about the cancellation and about the suggestion the play was antisemitic. /3

He said: “I hadn’t tangled with the Zionist lobby before… What is amazing is the strength & organisation & power of their lobby.” /4

Loach complained "they want to leave intact...the generalised sense of guilt that everyone has about the Jews.” Here's the full quote. /5

Loach said all this to Newsline, the paper of the Workers Revolutionary Party, printed on presses paid for by Gaddafi. /6

The WRP’s presses also printed Labour Herald, edited by Ken Livingstone & John McDonnell at different times & funded by the PLO. /7

The WRP was the worst of the UK’s Trotskyist sects in the 1980s. It had a taste for conspiracist antisemitism & its leader was a rapist. /8

Still, it’s all about being on the right side of history, isn’t it? /9

Talking of which, in 1993 Ken Loach told the New Statesman the USA is "the greatest threat at present to individual freedom and liberty" /10

I hope this adds some context to Loach’s #BDS campaign. Radiohead: enjoy your gig. History lesson is over. /End