Here’s another reason Blairites need to reconsider their membership of Labour: John Spellar
John Spellar (right) on the BBC’s Daily Politics.
Labour MP John Spellar… appeared on the BBC’s Daily Politics programme and launched into a breathtaking rant about the party membership and voters – who are now all to the left of him.
Dismissing the membership as “Trots” – Spellar revealed the utter contempt with which the Blairite wing of the Parliamentary Labour Party holds their 380,000 members and millions of voters.
The embarrassing episode began with Conservative columnist and thinker Peter Hitchens telling the Labour MP for Warley in the West Midlands:
“You belong to a party which became Blairite, and Blairism has gone now.
The Blairite party in the country now is the Tory party. You and the rest of the people in the Labour party who’ve been left behind by that…and are still Blairites have a choice to either sit there and moan, or go and join the true Blairite party – which is the Tory party – where you clearly belong.”
Spellar fired back that Hitchens “sounds like a member of Momentum” (a grassroots Labour movement).
Guardian columnist Zoe Williams challenged Spellar for “using ‘member of Momentum’ like an insult’”, reminding Spellar that these are people who have joined his own party. Spellar retorted:
“Yeah from the Greens, from the Socialist Workers, and the Alliance of Worker’s Liberty and all the other Trots”
Williams cut Spellar off at this point and delivered some home truths that it might be worth repeating to the Blairite community as a whole:
“The PLP at some point has to stop talking about the membership of the party with scorn and disdain.” she says.
“Whatever you think of them, they are your party. So, you either make your peace with them, or you leave. You can’t come on television and talk about them as though they’re lunatics.”
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Anybody would think that Spellar’s wing won the last election. Delusional.
at a labour party fringe meeting at conference Spellar was very patronising and rude to me , the meeting was shocked and defended me. I often ask questions from a women,s point of view and a few of the blairites have been more than objectional to me…they are often surprised at the meetings response in support of me
Mike, It really does beggar belief! All that pent up hatred spewing out and rubbishing all the real members of the Labour Party. Trots! Can’t remember when I last heard anyone say that! Man must be deranged.
I know. I associate the word “trots” with the “backdoor” variety, and there was certainly a lot of the backdoor trots spewing from Mr Spellar’s mouth (if you get my drift).
I’d reply if I could, but SSL error “It’s too long” – at 3 lines???
Really?
Have you tried again since?
I find it difficult to regard Hitchens as a thinker. A former Trot he spouts Tory bile at every opportunity.
The battle for labour soul has just started, we will know if Corbyn can win, but if the right wing cause the left to lose, then a split will be on the books. Who gains the name the labour party will be crucial. Talk is a Progressive democratic party is on the books for the right sound nice meaningless though just Blair love of America , but Blair will be past his best will he take on the task as leader maybe if he then loses .
Interesting times ahead.
The red tories should be made to leave Labour!