Up for re-selection: It’s what Chris Williamson wants.

He has published an article claiming that efforts to make Chris Williamson go through a re-selection procedure, after he campaigned to make re-selection of Labour Parliamentary candidates mandatory, may be considered a “taste of his own medicine”. Clearly, it is not. It is what he wanted.

Here are a few snippets from the HuffPost piece:

“One of Jeremy Corbyn’s most vociferous supporters – who has pushed for the deselection of MPs critical of the Labour leader – is set to face his own battle for reselection following anger at his attacks on trade unions.

“One fellow MP said he will “get a taste of his own medicine” after spending months campaigning for some members of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) to be effectively booted out.

“The left-wing backbencher is popular among many members of the grassroots Momentum organisation, not least for his Democracy Roadshow campaign for automatic reselection of every Labour MP.

“But what was seen as Williamson’s move to cut trade union members out of the process sparked a furious backlash, with both Unite and the GMB warning that it was an attempt to cleave Labour from its historic roots.

“The issue flared up at the party’s conference last month, with some Momentum supporters shouting “shame on the unions” after they blocked more radical attempts to open up every Parliamentary seat to automatic selection.”

This does not make sense.

The article attacks Mr Williamson for “campaigning for some members of the… PLP to be effectively booted out” and also for campaigning “for automatic reselection of every Labour MP”. Well, which is it?

Labour MPs who may be removed, if they have to go through reselection, can’t complain if it is Labour Party policy, as Mr Williamson wants. And a campaign for “every Labour MP” to face automatic reselection cannot target particular members “to be effectively booted out”.

As for the unions who are targeting Mr Williamson for re-selection – from the article, it appears they blocked an attempt to make the Labour Party more democratic, justifying it by claiming it was “an attempt to cleave Labour from its historic roots”. I understand tradition but there is a place for it and, if it harms democracy, that place is in the past.

Mr Waugh, and the HuffPost, have been upbraided for the misleading (in fact, confusing) report:

https://twitter.com/ToryFibs/status/1049658150469681155

What do you think about Mr Williamson and his campaign for mandatory re-selection? You have an opportunity to make your voice heard, simply by Re-Tweeting the Tweet below:

https://twitter.com/UKDemockery/status/1049662557081010177

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