Trade unionist Paul Embery has provided a chilling critique of the Guardian's decision to no longer post on X, claiming that it provides further evidence of the liberal left's "long march through the institutions" and their intolerance.
His analysis comes after the left-leaning newspaper told its readers that it will no longer post content on Elon Musk’s X due to the "often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform".
The newspaper claims the platform has become awash with far-right conspiracy theories and racism.
Musk's use of what the Guardian calls a "toxic media platform" to influence the recent US presidential election campaign was the final nail in the coffin.
The newspaper believes that the benefits of being on X do not outweigh the negatives and that its resources could be better used promoting its journalism elsewhere.
Although the Guardian’s official accounts are withdrawing from X, there will be no restrictions on individual reporters using the site beyond the organisation’s existing social media guidelines.
Embery claims the Guardian's decision is in keeping with the left's evolution
Paul EmberyThe decision has sparked a furore on X.
GB News contributor Matt Goodwin branded the Guardian's decision "ridiculous", adding that it is "consistent with the evidence. Radical progressives are the most likely to block, unfriend & distance themselves from views they disagree with. They can’t handle it".
In an exclusive interview with GB News, Embery expanded on Goodwin's assessment, claiming that it speaks to the metamorphosis that has taken place on the left.
He's well-placed to critique the left's evolution. He joined the Labour Party in 1994 and has been a trade union activist for 30 years.
He identifies with the Blue Labour movement, which advocates for a socially conservative yet economically socialist approach, emphasising community, tradition, and patriotism.
Embery has written extensively about how the modern left has abandoned these ideals and become co-opted by the "hampstead liberal brigade" - shorthand for what he describes as Labour's shift towards middle-class, cosmopolitan, and liberal values, which he believes alienates its traditional working-class voter base.
The Guardian's intolerance for Musk's X is perfectly in keeping with this ideological shift, he tells GB News.
He explained: "The [modern] Left are just completely opposed to alternative viewpoints and get seriously disorientated when they encounter those viewpoints. It's almost as if they think there should be a single orthodox view on particular issues," he said.
For the longest time, this hegemony went unchallenged, Embery continues.
"They [the Left] have come to dominate large parts of our national institutions and large parts of the media as well. They've suddenly found themselves with a certain amount of influence and power that traditionally, they never had.
"Through the long march of our institutions, the liberal left has embedded themselves within those institutions, within government and the media. It was quite easy for them to say: 'We're the ones in charge now - this is our particular view and we believe that everybody should share that particular view.'"
Then Musk bought Twitter and refused to be cowed into submission, he says.
This is why "organs" of the left, such as the Guardian, are taking drastic measures - because such a challenge to their authority "scares them", Embery claims, adding: "They can only run away."
The trade unionist does not rule out a more sinister intention behind the decision - to encourage others to boycott the platform.
"My view is that they should go and leave the rest of us to debate our opinions freely."
