Is this a call to battle for the soul of the Labour Party?
Labour: Tom Williams presents a strong argument that Keir Starmer is trying to destroy everything the party stands for, from the top down.
Tom Williams on Twitter presents an eloquent argument so I make no apologies for reproducing it in full:
It now seems highly plausible that there's an attempt to subvert UK democracy via Labour.
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
Here I will refer to this tendency simply as "the Labour right", but here are two articles by @jemgilbert explaining this tendency in more detail, and another by me explaining how it operates:https://t.co/B3LCTH8w5Zhttps://t.co/IL1Ot9e4Qkhttps://t.co/BE9iykKVag
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
It's also much more popular with a lot of the journalists who cover politics than it is with the electorate. Over the last five years, the Labour right and its media allies have been united by a burning hatred for former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
The reason the Labour right despise Corbyn and the Bennite tradition is that the right had, over several decades, benefited from increasingly right wing leadership of the party, leading to both the PLP and paid staffers responsible for party admin being dominated by the right.
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
Strong evidence of the above can be seen in the #Labourleaks– a damning report from Labour staff supportive of Corbyn that suggested right wing party bureaucrats were guilty of:
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
A number of the people exposed by this report had made ashen-faced appearances in a Panorama documentary about antisemitism in the Labour Party, making serious allegations about Corbyn and people close to him.
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
Throughout this ongoing saga, UK media has taken the side of the Labour right. There are a number of reasons for this, including but not limited to:
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
As a result of this, anything that could be damaging to Corbyn has been amplified, and anything that could be damaging to his opponents- whether the Labour right, the Conservative Party, or the Corbyn-sceptic post-referendum Remain campaign- has been downplayed or ignored.
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
What Starmer was fairly unambiguously offering was a less radical version of Corbynism that strongly resembled the party's 2017 manifesto, but with slicker presentation and a more telegenic figurehead (see his '10 Pledges' linked below).https://t.co/IFDvuVQMX9
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
Since Starmer's victory, it has emerged that as well as money donated by the trade union Unison (a donation which, according to some Unison members, was decided in not-especially-democratic manner), Starmer accepted large sums from a number of wealthy donors.
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
If you've read the whole thread, it won't surprise you that figures from the Labour right were heavily involved in Starmer's campaign. For example:https://t.co/NHB0ls4YcY https://t.co/gSp17P8py2
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
While Corbyn was still leader, Labour had commenced legal proceedings against a number of those involved in the Panorama documentary, with lawyers advising that the party had a case.
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
And now, according to the tweet below, members are being told not to raise this at meetings. These meetings are a fundamental part of what democracy exists in the party.https://t.co/q2w045ObmH https://t.co/djite9chYj
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
This would have the effect of depriving millions of people of the right to vote for desperately needed social democratic reforms at a general election. Whatever you think of Starmer's politics, or Corbyn's politics, if you're at all committed to democracy you should be worried.
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
People from the class who have done nothing while the planet is being destroyed and millions are plunged into poverty and others killed in imperial conflicts are trying to insulate themselves from democracy, and the media is enabling this because it's in the interests its owners.
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
If you are, by any chance, someone who writes for legacy media, I'm not to proud to beg you to PLEASE get something into the Guardian, Huffpo etc. saying at least some of this. Because we are heading towards a very bleak place now.
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
This is what's happening in the Labour Party at the moment, and the fact that you won't read about it in legacy media is, in itself, frighteningly anti-democratic.
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
This has been sent amid rumours of left wing Labour councillors being suspended for liking tweets supportive of Palestinians.
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
— Large father (@shirleymush) August 13, 2020
Well, Vox Political isn’t legacy media but This Site is coming up on its 10th anniversary – it’s well-established – so I’m happy to do my bit.
The argument is very straightforward:
Keir Starmer became Labour leader under false pretences and is doing everything he can to end democracy in the party.
If you are a party member, then you need to do something about this.
You should start by disputing the validity of the email from the new general secretary. Nobody voted to support this unilateral activity by the party leadership so it has no authority according to party rules.
NOTE: This ties in closely to This Site’s recent article about the class war that Boris Johnson is waging against the majority of the UK’s population. With Keir Starmer running Labour, the Opposition party will offer no opposition to it at all. I strongly urge you to read the earlier article and act on it if you can.
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“Is this a call to battle for the soul of the Labour Party?” The answer is a resounding YES!!!
Is there a democratic way we can reject Starmer as leader and have another election?
A vote of no confidence would do it. One has already been proposed by Momentum members in his own constituency.
Let’s get JC to start a new socialist party, I’d join tomorrow, how about you ?