Paul Weller labels British politicians “mugs” and expresses support for Palestine
Paul Weller, former frontman of The Jam, has issued his support to the people of Palestine during the ongoing conflict with Israel, and slammed the British political class as “mugs” ahead of the upcoming general election.
Weller has never been afraid to voice his opinions on political matters. In recent years, he has spoken out against Brexit and Donald Trump as well as supporting Jeremy Corbyn while he was the leader of the Labour Party.
Furthermore, in the 1980s, Weller formed the Red Wedge collective alongside artists such as Billy Bragg, Jimmy Somerville and Kirsty MacColl. The group’s aims were to support the Labour Party in the 1987 election against Margaret Thatcher, who was then Prime Minister.
Following this period, Weller suffered a change of heart and felt disillusioned with the state of British politics, a stance he re-affirmed in a new interview.
Speaking to The Guardian, Weller was asked for his thoughts on Keir Starmer, Rishi Sunak and Nigel Farage all recently being pictured in Adidas footwear, with the latter two wearing the trainers with suits, which Weller claimed is “not right”. On a sincere note, he continued: “But anyway, fuck all the people you mentioned. Mugs, all of them.”
While he likes Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, who he described as “the one who’s a normal working-class mum,” the rest of the figures in mainstream British politics aren’t to his taste.
He also hit out at the “corruptness and cronyism” that has been on display in recent years from “most of those politicians”. Additionally, Weller described the NHS as “one of our crown jewels” and labelled the ongoing privatisation of the health service as “a total piss-take”.
In the same interview, Weller explained why he recently had a Palestinian flag on display during a show at London’s O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, stating: “Am I against genocides and ethnic cleansing? Yes, I am, funnily enough. Ican’t understand why more people aren’t up in arms about what’s going on.”
The musician added of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has seen over 35,000 Palestinians lose their lives since October 7th, “We should be ashamed of ourselves, I think. One minute you’re supplying bullets and bombs and guns, and then you’re sending over food. How does that work?”
In a three-star review of Weller’s latest album, 66, Far Out wrote: “The record is reflective, sentimental, and, in places, spiritual. For the most part, Weller sings with a warm optimism that only meets doubt on a couple of occasions for comparatively introspective ballads.”
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