Don’t be fooled by fake news: Frank Field left Labour rather than be kicked out
Frank Field: He knew his days in Labour were numbered so he left.
Does Frank Field really think we are all that stupid?
He did not leave Labour because of the way the party is dealing with anti-Semitism.
He resigned the whip because his constituency Labour Party in Birkenhead overwhelmingly supported a vote of “no confidence” in him as their MP and called for the withdrawal of the party whip, after he propped up the Conservative government by supporting it in a crucial Brexit vote.
And he had the sheer barefaced cheek to accuse his fellow Birkenhead party members of taking part in “a culture of intolerance, nastiness and intimidation”!
His claim that this fake culture “is being driven, in part, by members who in previous years would never have been able to claim Labour Party membership”, coupled with the other assertion, should be justification for members of his CLP to take legal action against Mr Field.
The claim by Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson – that Mr Field’s resignation is a “wake-up call” for the party – a “serious loss” that “reflects the deep divisions in the party and the sense of drift engulfing us” is bilge of the smelliest water.
Have the mass media forgotten that this is a man who demanded that his own party disregard its disciplinary procedures and abandon action against Margaret Hodge and Ian Austin – for no very good reason – after they accused party leader Jeremy Corbyn of anti-Semitism… for no very good reason?
To me, this smacks of Mr Watson trying to make good on his threat to plunge the party into “a vortex of eternal shame and embarrassment”.
But it won’t work. We all know he’s talking through his hat.
Mr Field cannot remain a member of the Labour Party. He must resign his membership within 14 days or be expelled. He will not be allowed to remain a party member and represent Birkenhead as an independent Labour MP. He is out – for good.
And the possibility of other Labour MPs splitting off and sitting as independents, or even forming a new party? Negligible.
Without the party’s endorsement, they are nobodies. If they resign the party whip, they know they are guaranteeing the loss of their Parliamentary seats at the next general election – which may not be that far away.
Birkenhead CLP is now free to choose a new candidate for election next time – one whose values concur with those of the party in general. And yes, that includes opposition to anti-Semitism.
Mr Field will sink back into the obscurity he deserves.
Remember: He saved the Conservative government – a racist administration which has caused huge harm with the Windrush scandal, with its blatant Islamophobia, with its support for Saudi Arabia’s war against civilians in Yemen, and with its support for the apartheid regime in Israel.
The Labour Party does not need MPs who prop up racist governments.
Jeremy Corbyn has been warned that the resignation of the veteran MP Frank Field from the Labour whip, over antisemitism and what Field called a culture of nastiness in the party, must be treated as a wake-up call.
In a blistering letter to Labour’s chief whip, Nick Brown, Field wrote: “It saddens me to say that we are increasingly seen as a racist party” and added that antisemitism alone would have been enough to prompt his resignation.
The MP for Birkenhead, who recently faced a vote of no confidence from his local party over his support for Brexit, highlighted what he called a “culture of nastiness, bullying and intimidation”, saying this was at best ignored and at worst tacitly tolerated.
Source: Frank Field resigns Labour whip over antisemitism crisis | Politics | The Guardian
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Exactly. He has previously stated that his constituents arte sovereign (I agree with him on that one of course), but I note that he is unwilling to give them an opportunity to judge his decision by triggering a by-election – probably because he knows perfectly well that as a candidate for anyone other than the Labour Party he would be obliterated at the polls.
Well said.
The MP’s behind all these lies should be labled anti-constituents. They do not represent the people who voted Labour and have swelled the Labour party membership in the hope that their representative in Parliament would speak for them. As for the repeated anti -semitism accusation, I have yet to see supporting evidence…oh yes one MP stood up in Parliament as she had been Tweeted or e mailed with nasty messages, how many people in the public eye suffer this on a daily basis. That is unacceptable but no further evidence has come to my notice.
Nor to most of us in my opinion. They are desperate to vilify Corbyn in anyway they can. JC has always acted by belief & social concepts For the many & not the few. A true Labour man to stand up with
If Field has resigned the whip over the antisemitism row then why hasn’t he resigned from his Labour membership – morals huh ?! I call B.S
It is really good these people are now beginning to be called out and the true reasons for their treacherous behaviour. Is asking for loyalty intimidating and bullying?
“But it won’t work. We all know he’s talking through his hat.” WE might but we are not majority of people in this country. The sad thing is that he might, despite lying, speak truth. What if £abour is increasingly being seen as a racist party, due, in no small part, the the conflation of anti-Semitism with racism; I had to be corrected by my Jewish friends and others, on that point; the Jews are NOT a race. That aside, where is the racism with which the Party has been painted? Public perception of the same? Therein lies the discrepancy.
With regard to Mr. Field having to terminate his membership, within 14 days, is this true? He may well say that he has been expelled form the party and claim bullying; let’s see what nonsense Media disseminate.
As I said, before, it’s about perception. Many people are informed and swayed, greatly, by Media and the lies that they read and hear on almost a daily basis. No smoke without fire becomes difficult to ignore.
What I don’t understand is why nobody in our Media seems to be asking, “why Jews?” Most people couldn’t tell a Jew from the next man. In terms of demographic, Jews are not a hugely significant part of the population and £abour, being the underdog, is not in a position to be throwing support away. It doesn’t make any sense yet people are running with it. It just goes to prove my sleepwalkers statement. We are becoming a nation of sleepwalkers but the people do not realise that they are being fed sleeping pills. WAKE UP, BRITAIN!
Also, it suggests that there might be some truth behind allegations that this is about more than Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr Field should listen to his constituent members; Thats what he is there for, not to express personal biased opinions.
Right on! I notice that “Twatson” has put his oar in.I actually voted for him as deputy. Never again! A though crosses my mind: Field is 76. Has he been put up on the basis that if he fights the seat at a by-election or the next general election, a loss won’t be catastrophic for him, as he’ll still trouser the huge pension for his parliamentary sinecure.
According to reliable sources Frank Fields was given a job by David Cameron and
was disappointed that the Tory coalition government were not being hard enough on people claiming benefits, he wanted Cameron to be more tougher…this coming from a Labour MP i think Fields have now shown his true colours…