Coronavirus Pandemic - Never Discuss Politics or Religion among friends

With being furloughed from my events company, it has given me time to catch up with friends and family via social media.

I had the opportunity to speak with a companion of mine who I have known for several years. We had lost touch for a time but we were able to renew our acquaintance over the last six months.

We are both keen on politics her more so than I, but it was only when we rebooted our friendship that I realised how passionate she was about her political views and how she saw the world. Maybe I should of guessed her politics, as on her WhatsApp image she has photo of her and a smiling Jeremy Corbyn cheek to cheek.

Personally, I am moderate in all things especially when it comes to politics. In the past you would of refer to me as a Blairite (that was before he invaded Iraq with his brethren President George Bush).

I was never a Jeremy Corbyn fan and was horrified that he became leader of the Labour Party. No denying I was in the camp that wanted this old Trotskyite ousted from the leadership along with his communist companion John McDonald. I predicted nothing good would come of it with these people at the helm of the opposition party.

I hadn't realised that my friend was a fully paid up member of Momentum (socialist movement within the Labour party). They viewed Jeremy Corbyn as a saint, freedom fighter and hero of the downtrodden lumpen proletariat. Unquestionably, for most in Momentum including her, Corbyn is the British equivalent  of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara rolled into one.

This soon became apparent whenever we discuss politics. I tried to explain my political leanings but she would always rebuff my concerns over the labour leader by saying that I was being manipulated by the mainstream media and that anything negative about Corbyn was down to them and the right wing establishment.

When Labour lost the last election (December 2019), losing so many seats in traditional labour constituencies, according to her it was the media along with Labour in-fighting that caused this historic defeat.  Not one iota of blame was attributed to Corbyn and his acolytes.

It was nothing to do with the policies that Labour espoused and the muddled thinking over Brexit. It was all the fault of the establishment and the ignorance of voters. I thought when you start blaming voters that's when you truly lost any semblance of reality.

This came to a head after another feisty debate over the new leader Keir Starmer (who I am a keen supporter of and whom she hates). She texted me later saying she could not be friends any longer with someone who possessed my political views. This was accompanied with other messages which she accused me of being of low intelligence, mentally impaired and a thicko.

I was astounded that she would have nothing to do with me just because I disliked Jeremy Corbyn and the way he went about destroying the Labour Party. It wasn't as if I was a raving right-wing lunatic who admired Nigel Farage, supported Brexit and hated immigrants. For pity's sake we were in the same party!

However, purity was everything for her. If you weren't an ardent socialist, wanting to overthrow capitalism, then you were the enemy and you might as well be a fascist. 

I shall miss her indeed but as they say up in Yorkshire -  There's nowt so queer as folk!