For many weeks now you have accused many new members of being infiltrators, trotskyites, and arm twisters.
You have taken away a democratic right to vote in the forth coming leadership elections and purged and rejected the memberships of many. Those who support the true values of the Labour party, those who stand by and support the democratically elected leader. You refuse to listen to the opinions and beliefs of the soul of the party, and make no mistake the members are the soul of the Labour party. Although you are not completely wrong, we do have infiltrators in our party, they are the ones making undemocratic decisions, they are the ones dictating the rules and moving the goal posts to suit the personal agendas of a few. While in power under the name of new Labour you took us to the centre of British politics, you threw away the true principles of true Labour, you turned your backs on the working classes and ignored those who needed you the most. You took us into an illegal war, you openly lied and made friends with those who hold our true principles in pure contempt, those who looked down their noses at true labour values and those who hold dear true labour principles. You were even proud when Thatcher announced you were her greatest achievement. You abandoned us and many left, many true Labour supporters were cast into a political wilderness without a say or a voice in the corridors of power. A few true Labour MPs remained, you kept them in the shadows and considered them relics and fossils of a time gone by. Mistake after mistake and blunder after blunder saw the British people reject you, not just once but twice. You didn't learn, you didn't listen, you refused to accept your downfall and are way to arrogant to admit your failings. Now a true Labour Leader is taking the party back to where it belongs, like spoilt brats you have a tantrum, you mock, you blame you insult and belittle. True Labour is back and growing stronger by the day, you are clinging on by every dirty means possible, but you will not defeat us, you cannot win, and you will indeed find yourselves at some point being purged as many come back to their true political home. You say we can't win an election but we will prove you wrong. For the sake of every homeless person, for the sake of every one on a zero hours contract and every family in temporary accommodation. For our working class on a minimum wage giving maximum effort, for the mentally ill you ignored, for our forgotten old and our politicly neglected young. For every doctor and every nurse, for or NHS and all those you left politically abandoned, we will work and we will turn the tide of doubt that you helped create. We can win, we will win and Mr Corbyn will be the next Labour Prime Minister. Opinion: The allegations of entryism in the Labour Party and people simply signing up to get a leadership vote has divided the party further. It is a bit of a mixed bag. At an Owen Smith event in Hull Sunday Mr Smith responded to a question about those excluded from voting with the current usual response-it is right the party has a cut off point for voting in the leadership election and is standard procedure. But here's a thing or two:
Supporters of Owen Smith's leadership challenge talk a good talk. They slate Corbynites and Corbynistas using each term in a derogatory manner. They say many people signed up for Labour simply to support Corbyn, mess with the party and in effect launch a sort of leftist extremist party takeover. But in July Labour MP and Smith supporter Gloria de Piero wrote a piece in the Sun encouraging if not pleading with people to join the Labour Party and remove Corbyn in this year's vote. This is what she wrote: OUR COUNTRY AND OUR POLITICS ARE IN CRISIS BUT THERE IS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT RIGHT NOW. Along with such articles those MPs on the right wing of Labour wanting Corbyn removed began to push their "Saving Labour" campaign on social media trying to flood the party with like minded people. But it was all a con, or was it? Such is the current division in the Labour Party there are many theories floating around the so-called cloud. Me, I wonder if MPs such as Gloria failed to bring in the perceived necessary number of new members to oust Corbyn resulting in a rethink and change of plan. At the Owen Smith Hull event Mr Smith made it plain that political parties do not have a right to exist and Labour could become just another statistic or museum piece if this mess is not sorted out and soon. But those trying to oust Corbyn are causing extensive damage to the party. It is like which came first the chicken or the egg? So is Corbyn unelectable and making the party unelectable or are those who have tried to oust him from day one wrecking the party and its election chances? The steady drip drip of negative Corbyn press continues. Divided we fall and united we stand is something of a labour Party mantra but that has been discarded along with democracy and fair play in the party as the big guns set their sights on peace loving Jeremy Corbyn. This Labour Party saga has it all. Comedy, larger than life characters, greed, self-indulgence, a man of peace, decency and honesty but in the end tragedy. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1381982/if-you-think-the-country-need-new-leadership-i-am-begging-you-to-join-our-party-and-give-labour-the-champion-they-need/ http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/21/labour-ask-public-sector-monitor-employees-social-background A LETTER TO THE PARLIAMENTARY LABOUR PARTY
Dear PLP, We are the ordinary members of the Labour Party. We are the people who didn't join as a career option, the people who don't benefit from the fabulous pension arrangements or generous expenses. We joined for no other reason than to support a party we believe is dedicated to creating a better, fairer country. Many of us are active in our local branch, come election time many more of us volunteer to deliver leaflets, knock-on-doors and man phone banks. But probably most importantly of all, everywhere we go - in our workplaces, pubs, bowling clubs, local football teams - when the conversation turns political, we stand up for, we argue for, the Labour Party and its values. In communities across the country we are the voice of the Labour Party. We do all of this free of charge because we believe in something. And the fate of the Labour Party is now in OUR hands. Ten months ago we elected Jeremy Corbyn as leader of our party. You made it perfectly clear in the run up to that election how unhappy you would be if that happened. We did it anyway. Once again you are making it clear that electing Jeremy Corbyn is (to put it mildly) not your preferred option. Yet, if opinion polls are correct, it looks as though we going to do exactly that. And what is your response to this? Do you show some humility, listen to us, engage with our concerns, perhaps wonder if your high-handed arrogance might be part of the problem? No. Instead you abuse us. You call us 'dogs', 'Trots', 'a rabble' and 'entryists' (despite the fact many of us have been in the party since before some of you were born). You attempt to use the statements / actions / behaviour of a few (whose connection to Corbyn is often tenuous) to smear thousands of honest, hard-working, conscientious party members. WE ARE NOT THE PEOPLE YOU ARE DETERMINED TO MISREPRESENT US AS. We are teachers, dinner ladies, cleaners, shop workers, nurses, accountants, van-drivers and represented in every job category you can think of. Among other things, some of us are married, not-married, parents, childless, gay, straight, transgendered, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and we don't divide people on the basis of 'normal' and 'abnormal'. Obviously Jeremy Corbyn will not be the leader of the Labour Party for ever. Regardless of the circumstances which bring that about, for us, he will always be a hero of the Labour Party: a man of principle who has dedicated his life to creating a better, fairer world. He certainly didn't deserve 171 stab wounds in the back and one in the front from Jess Philips, MP, for the sole crime of being elected leader by us. You keep telling us there is no point in principles without power. Your behaviour in relation to Jeremy Corbyn has perfectly demonstrated to us that you seek power but have no principles. And until that changes, I'm afraid most of us will not be listening to your advice with regard to our future leader. Yours sincerely, Many, many Labour Party members. https://talkofthesteamie.wordpress.com/2016/08/16/scottish-labour-leaders-warn-corbyn/ Local man Terry Ireland is a Corbyn supporter but has some questions that are important. He has sent the following to Mr Corbyn and we hope Jeremy will be able to answer:
Hi Jeremy as a Labour Party member who has already voted for you in the leadership contest I sincerely hope we win in a convincing way. I am veteran of the Armed Services, army, having served in the Cold War. I now work as a volunteer for a local charity in Hull dealing with homeless Veterans, many of whom are suffering with PTSD. I hear many harrowing stories and matters of concern and one that constantly recurs is the possible prosecution of those that served Northern Ireland. I would like to hear your views on this as it seems very one sided that Amnesty has been granted to one side but not the other. This was a conflict in which there were I am sure bad actions on both sides. I know it was a political expediency to bring the agreement into force, but it does go against any concept of justice as I understand it. Although this may seem a minor matter in the great scheme of things it is one that causes much distress to some of my fellow Veterans, who loyally served their country. Terry Ireland Thanks to Terry and we will publish any reply he receives Richard Burgon, Labour MP, posted this comment on his Facebook page, I quote:- 'I feel bad if ordinary Labour members have been suspended for alleged social media behaviour less out of order than that displayed by some MPs'.
My response to this was:- I spend a great deal of time on social media looking for these alleged insults and threats made by Corbyn supporters and I see very few. What I do see is Labour Party funders and MP's openly slagging off Corbyn supporters in the full knowledge that they will get a negative response which they can then expose to an ant-Corbyn mainstream media as proof of wrong doing. We are not allowed to defend ourselves; we are told that we are at fault by people who have orchestrated this coup and are now trying to fit up ordinary citizens and in doing so, these bullies are suppressing democracy. I have never in my 47 years ever felt so victimised and oppressed, by a party that claims to support Working Class people. Even my own Union is backing the Owen Smith campaign and silencing dissent. As much as I respect you Richard Burgon MP, I want to see a great deal more support in the media for Jeremy Corbyn supporters by Jeremy's team. Stronger language and a great deal less platitudes. We the supporters are all holding down jobs in difficult financially desperate times. We are giving up a great deal of our own time, money and effort to support Jeremy Corbyn, over a very long period of time. We understand the cost we must pay for eventual freedom and democracy, but we also need to see some actions to go along with the fine words. If Corbynistas are getting suspended for the most bogus reasons, surely Jeremy's team still has the power to insist on the suspensions of Michael Foster and other leading Labour Party figures that publicly insult both Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters! Some of my dearest friends and Comrades are being purged from the party and I myself am waiting for the knock on the door from the 'Thought Police'. We need now to strike a decisive blow that will invigorate JC's supporters whilst we are engaged in this war of attrition leading up to the Leadership Election results. Let us make some head way and be on an 'offence' rather than 'defence' stance, we cannot be complacent about the coming election result, those ranged against us are using their time wisely they have their collective heads down and are planning beyond the election. They will not be giving up, so they must be pulled up and must be made to obey the same rules that bind us, should they not obey the rules then they need to be removed, the gloves must come off now, too much is at stake! I'm sorry if I'm using language that is militaristic, but the tactics being used against us are just that. This is a war of words and power, no one is getting killed but this is a war all the same. The next twelve months are likely to be as difficult and exhausting as the past twelve months. Let's break the stalemate, we need to see that the rules apply to everyone and that no one however rich and powerful is above the law. Give us a 'Thunderchild moment' to spur us on to greater things! Thank you. I was then answered by another supporter, I quote:- 'We are his media, we speak for Jeremy Corbyn'! Here is my answer to that comment. Under the guidence of Neil Kinnock the Labour Party took a disturbing lurch to the right, He never did any good for the Working Class, but he did manage to expel the heart of the Labour movement and make the party more palatable for the established order and their Neo-Liberal Capitalist cronies. He also paved the way for the champion of 'New Labour' Tony Blair. Ask anyone who was expelled under Kinnock or Blair, this has all happened before, they were got rid of, purged with no real explanation no feasible evidence of wrong doing, they were kicked out without the due process being followed. Then they were scapegoated and the philosophies they followed were blackened, To be called a 'Trot' or a 'Marxist' meant that you were evil and deranged. New Labour then went on to reform the Unions and with the help of the tories they took the teeth and claws of the unions and filed them down. In other words his coup has been going on for years, it is a protracted war against the interests of the Working Class. 'New Labour' is the cuckoo chick in the nest and the real homegrown chicks are being tossed out by the cuckoo chick in order that it can grow fat and bloated and serve its own interests. So what I am saying is yes we are his voice, we are Jeremy's media, but it is not enough. It is by no accident that on a daily basis you hear in the media any number of MP's and Labour supporters mouthing the same tired mantra. 'Jeremy Corbyn is unelectable' 'He lost us the remain campaign' 'He has lost the confidence of the British people' 'His supporters break windows and threatened hardworking MP's'. This is a form of black propaganda and works on the basis that if it is said by enough people for long enough then it must be true, they are drip feeding into the minds of the people a constant lie whilst at the same time causing people to doubt themselves and the people around them. This is a powerful weapon, lying, denial, reinforcing the lie, demonising the opposition and battering them down in the highest courts in the land. It doesn't matter if we are right, we are up against the 'might' of a determined group that is feeding its hate campaign from the very coffers of the loyal membership, Party funds! It is human nature to switch off from a situation after a certain amount of time. It doesn't matter if the world was on fire, people will eventually lose interest and go back to watching something else, the collective attention span of the general public is wearing thin and the New Labour so called 'Moderates' are banking on this. So I repeat we need more than words, we need a decisive and unexpected victory and I don't mean Jeremy regaining the leadership because they have already made contingency plans for that, I mean a 'Thunderchild Moment' a powerful foe that is stood in front of us barring our way must be cut down using the law, not cut down with violence, they must be brought down by the very system that they are using against us, the law. Once the school play ground bullies are felled, then we will have the wriggle room, the strategic advantage. This is exactly what the 'Moderates' are trying for, they want to land the knock out blow. We need to beat them to it or all our support will be for nothing. Hollywood very rarely emulates real life. We must break away from the belief that somehow everything will turn out fine in the end. We cannot be complacent. Wearing 'Jeremy Corbyn T shirts' and attending rallies is one thing, but we must now learn from the mistakes made in the Parties recent history, we must learn to understand what we are up against and the tactics of our foe. Less banner waving and more reading of 'The Art of War' by Master Sun Tzu is what we need now! Thank you With Thanks to Steve Faulkener aka Steve Yeti Flip Flop on Facebook I had a bit of a jaunt into East Hull Sunday.
The city is not that big but there has always an east, west divide with North Hull sitting somewhere in-between. My destination was Hull Kingston Rovers Rugby Stadium but I was not attending a sport's event unless you want to describe a Labour party event as a blood sport. It was an Owen Smith leadership question and answer session organised by East Hull MP Karl Turner. We arrived at the stadium where one solitary protester holding a placard referring to the EU referendum was politely waving said placard. So I was somewhat surprised to see a police presence as we drove into the car park. I half laughed and smiled in confusion as we passed the handful of officers and their van and a couple kindly reciprocated and smiled and laughed back. A little past them was a BBC van. It seems the event was going to be televised, or was it? It was held on the second floor in a stadium lounge. As we puffed our way up the stairs rather than wait for the occupied lift to return BBC North news presented Tim Iredale raced past as he descended the four flights of stairs. We made our way in having a joke with the cute looking young boy who was acting as steward, directing people to the toilets and so on. I asked him if this was slave Labour working a child and on a Sunday and he laughed back my Dad is inside. So we moved on to Dad who was ticking people attending into the event. It was a ticketed event, you just had to apply online for a free ticket. The big room was familiar to me though looked a little smaller. I have been to this venue once before; that was last year when Andy Burnham MP was on the Labour Party leadership campaign trail. The room seemed bigger last year and I wondered if the free-standing partitions had been moved forward for whatever reason. It could have course just been my memory playing tricks on me. Last year I went to the event with my 85-year-old neighbour and we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves; so much so we both voted for Burnham and were initially disappointed when he was not elected. But you see for both of us it was his age we saw as a problem. We are both called Eileen, and as I said she is now 85 and I am 64 so we were not being disrespectful. Jeremy Corbyn the incumbent party leader may be a sectogenarian but he has proved the has the dynamism and energy of a much younger person. He has won we two Eileens over this year and some. We have both already cast our vote for Jeremy Corbyn 2016. So why go to the Owen Smith event? A mixture of many things led me to east Hull Sunday. If Owen Smith does win the Labour leadership election this year Labour Party members who stick around will be faced with him leading the party but we know little about the man. So I listened, quite intently at times, as I tried to draw some conclusions. But first we all had to sit and wait, and wait, and wait, for Owen Smith to arrive. Most people had got there fairly early and there was a refreshment bar selling alcohol, soft drinks and tea and coffee. Myself and my companion settled down and began to chat a little. It was not Eileen neighbour but it was another Corbyn voter. We talked softly at first surrounded by Mr Smith supporters. I have far from a quiet voice and I suspect the jig was soon up but hey ho it was an open event. Around 45 minutes after the session was due to kick off it finally began. Owen had been delayed and it was due to a train though not traingate. That created some early laughter whether it was true or not. It probably was what had happened but he had made time for photos etc. before arriving perhaps with the BBC man mentioned earlier. Not one person organising the event apologised or explained what was happening but left us all sat like a bunch of lemons for more than 45 minutes. So the session began and it began with a young Labour member I do not always remember names but I do faces. I had spotted this young lady as we were waiting for Owen to arrive. She was busying herself at the front, I thought maybe stewarding. Last year she was at the Andy Burnham event. She seemed a nice enough gal and we followed each other on twitter for a time. We parted company, or rather I did, when I noticed her making scurrilous tweets and re-tweets about Corbyn. Still we all poke a little fun at each other at times. Last year around the same time she claimed that she was impassioned by the Burnham event and wanting to get into politics and Karl Turner seemed happy to give her a helping hand. Great I thought as politics needs young people for us to pass the baton to. But the fact that she was the speaker introducing Smith seemed odd. Perhaps that is just me? She is something in Hull young Labour these days. Her speech was long and from well written notes and she talked Labour politics as if she had been involved for decades and personally experienced Labour's highs and lows. She said she was pleased when Mr Corbyn was elected and brought a breath of fresh air to the party but that is not true. Like me she supported Burnham last year and looking at her social media timeline post September 12, 2015, did not make me think she was impressed with Corbyn at all. But what Leanne if that was her name did was introduce Mr Corbyn into the session and that continued throughout the afternoon. Mr Smith arrived and in truth his voice grated on me less than it does on TV but he did not win me over. He talks a good talk but he has yet to prove to me he can and will walk the walk. The q and a began and to be fair it was not all plain sailing. One man wearing an NHS T Shirt got to his feet, politely greeted Owen, but then asked a rather long, awkward question. The men sat on the row behind me all said Corbynite as one. He did get a little engrossed and was asked to sit down; in fact at one point a few shouted sit down and they almost reminded me of those rude members of the PLP who treat Corbyn in a similar fashion in the House of Commons. One man who asked about Trident and was obviously against its renewal was also assessed as a Corbynite. I gave the event my full attention, the surroundings, the other people and:
The event ended and Smith and Turner applauded the standing ovation in the room. They were all applauding each other in true Jeremy Corbyn style. I did not stand or applaud. My mission was done and I try to be WYSIWYG I could not resist turning round to the row of men standing behind applauding and saying spot the Corbynite sitting down ME and we shared a laugh. As a few people chatted with others we realised there were a few Corbyn supporters in the room. One thing that was touched upon but remained unanswered was what next? If Jeremy Corbyn wins what will the PLP do? One angry man, also deemed Corbynite, physically pointed at Alan Johnson's back at Owen Smith and at Karl Turner and said but will you, and will you and will you support him? The answer was vague but and there is a big but. Essentially the Owen Smith reply was if he has integrity so do I; I will go to back benches. But I did not get the impression they are intending to lose this one. The Labour purge is on; members are being ousted from the party in my opinion in the hope Owen can win. Please do not tell me it is for any other reason. The timing of the purge as voting papers began being sent out said it all. As for unity in the party forget that. Owen Smith may be touting himself as the unity candidate if he wins but he did not share how he can unite the party. The truth is he can't. [A much needed glass of red wine made tonight's blog a slow process; by the time I hit twitter there are other images etc out there. But the MSM are complaining they were not allowed in to the event, though Karl Turner has denied that to local reporter Angus Young. I have tweeted them my citizen blog and would ask you please do the same thanks] Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership was never welcome amongst some in Labour. This will not come as a surprise to many people. Ever since before Corbyn was elected as leader of the Labour Party multiple groups of people have been attempting to devise the best way to make sure that he does not have a successful run as Labour leader. If you don’t believe this, listen to this podcast starring Labour’s own John McTernan These groups, which include the erroneously named “Saving Labour”, “Labour First” and “Progress” attempted to use the media initially to destroy Corbyn’s leadership. They chose to do this at a critical time for the Labour opposition, and at the expense of actually opposing the Tory government. Members of the shadow cabinet resigned to ensure that Corbyn did not have the team necessary to continue opposition. They chose to sabotage the Parliamentary Labour Party’s ability to oppose the Tories when we could have defeated them Now, they are at it again. Media smears have failed to topple Corbyn, and many people within the right wing of Labour believe that he will defeat Owen Smith in the Labour leadership challenge. They are not willing to accept Corbyn’s unhindered leadership of the Labour Party, even if he wins. The new plan The group Labour First recently sent out a mail to all of its members. I have reproduced it below, edited for brevity. The full mail can be forwarded to interested parties upon request Dear **** As you can see, Labour First are asking CLPs who have nominated Owen Smith to have official meetings, and suggest Contemporary Motions for submission to the Labour Party prior to the conference. The choice of using Committee meetings was the same tactic used to lock party members out of CLP nomination meetings by some local parties that chose to nominate Smith. I can provide another message from Labour First’s Luke Akehurst instructing CLPs to consider this tactic, if requested. I was interested what was contained in those proposed Contemporary Motions, so I downloaded the document. There were four motions contained inside. Due to my deletion of the tracking link, I reproduce them here for you verbatim MOTION 1: Ensuring Working People Don’t Pay the Price of Brexit Motion 2: Building a Health and Social Care System for All Motion 3: Tackling the UK’s Housing Crisis Motion 4: NATO If those motions seem familiar to you then rest assured, you are not going mad. They are precisely the arguments that Owen Smith is putting forwards in the Labour Leadership debates. You could reasonably surmise then, that the purpose of organising all of the Smith-supporting CLPs to pass motions containing Smith’s policy to the Labour Annual Conference is to ensure that whoever wins, Smith’s ideas are enacted by the party in the future. This could be seen as innocuous, as they are not terrible policies. I personally would argue that the NHS has been slashed heavily by the Tories and that 4% year-on-year increase in funding will not make up for the 60% of planned and executed cuts that have occurred after the 2015-2016 financial year, but the policy does not specify a maximum. I would not be happy with the winner of the leadership challenge being constrained to build the arbitrary figure of 300,000 houses, or the specification that 50% of them do not need to be “genuinely affordable”. I would prefer that the houses built belonged to local councils and kept in public possession. The rotten core of the fruit Contained within the mail was this line: You can read my preview of party conference here: http://labourlist.org/2016/08/luke-akehurst-labour-rule-changes-mean-conference-is-the-first-big-battle-for-new-leader/ I looked at that article, which was also written by Luke Akehurst, and found it troubling. Here is another excerpt. You can read the full text by following the link above It’s the middle of a leadership election but Labour’s rival wings are already focussed on what happens when annual conference starts, literally the day after the result of the leadership race is announced. Damage their term of leadership in the first week? Is that really the plan? […] This troubles me greatly. I respect democracy, and want to see the Parliamentary direction of our party chosen by it’s leader as much as possible. I totally oppose any action which is expressly taken to damage the incumbent or the candidates term of leadership.
What should we do about this? Beats me. I think that everyone should get intouch with their CLP to findout if there is a meeting being held to discuss conference business, and whether or not they are allowed to be a part of that democratic process. I would like to see other motions proposed to shape the future of our party, such as:
When people who understand more about these issues pass on more information to me, I will either post it here or make a link to a more useful information source. Stay tuned. In solidarity, J Simpkin Many thanks to J Simpkin Check out his own blog here https://bladeofgrassuk.wordpress.com/ This is a brief tale of intrigue, deceit, plotters, planning, back-stabbing and more-yes it is a Labour Party update. The Labour party purge of members is on. Emails are dropping into inboxes giving notice of suspension from the party pending investigation. The timing is telling. It will prevent some party memebers and affiliates voting in the Labour leadership election. Is it a democratic, transparent purge or something else? The lack of transparency means we haven't a clue. But we do know that Labour party coffers are in a healthy financial state. The party won a recent court case leaving the losing side to foot the bill. It was a party against party members case which damaged the party further. And we understand Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson is overseeing the current purge. It is almost as if the Labour Party has pressed a self-destruct button or some have written a suicide pact; remove Corbyn or kill the party and start again. Eoin an active Labour twitterer tweets Friday "53,000 who tried to register to vote for a Labour leader will not get a vote. Up to 178,000 recent Labour members will also not get a vote." But it is doubtful they will get a refund. On Wednesday Labour Party Deputy Leader Tom Watson posted a very different tweet. "@GuidoFawkes Exclusive, as advertised in The Economist. jobs.economist.com/jobs/" We wondered why he was tweeting to the right-wing twitter account of Guido Fawkes. Fawkes may claim his website is not affiliated to any political party but his website and twitter timeline often paints a very different picture. So we followed the link to the Economist to view what turned out to be a range of well-paid or over paid roles in the party-which description fits depends on your view. Four jobs all for Team Tom Watson. On Wednesday Watson was either tweeting helpfully or sarcastically four jobs relating to himself to Guido Fawkes. Job number one: Political Advisor to the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Tom Watson an exciting opportunity has arisen to work as a Political Advisor to the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Tom Watson. Job number Two: Writer for the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party The Labour Party is looking to recruit a writer to be based in the Deputy Leader’s Office. The post holder will be responsible for producing written copy to support the office of the Deputy Leader in a variety of forms, including written articles and speeches. Can you capture a political moment in words? Can you simplify complex arguments so that they are easily understood? Job number three: Head of Policy and Research to the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party-fixed term salary depends on experience.
Job number four: Correspondence Assistant to the Deputy Leader-Salary £24,522.53 with an annual fixed sum allowance of £369 You can and will draw your own conclusions. We have observed Mr Watson during his year as DL and at times have wondered just what he does to earn his salary; with that in mind is this "job creation" exercise of his necessary or in the spirit of the Labour Party? You tell us. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tom-watson-released-statement-jeremy-8287864 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/labour-enforcer-tom-watson-filmed-8284779 “For the first time in 14 years we have the leader of the Labour Party unequivocally committing the party to reversing the legislation which has created in England a broken down, market-based healthcare system. Statement issued by the Rt Hon Lord Owen following Jeremy Corbyn’s announcement that he would ‘remove’ private provision within the NHS as part of plans to renationalise the health service. “For the first time in 14 years we have the leader of the Labour Party today unequivocally committing the party to reversing the legislation which has created in England a broken down, market-based healthcare system: one which is unrecognisable from that which was introduced in 1948 and which still exists in the rest of the UK. “Surely now the whole Labour movement can combine together, left, right and centre to make this official party policy at this year’s autumn conference.” Background: “Jeremy Corbyn’s statement means that the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 and the Health and Social Care Act 2012 under these proposals are, in effect, rejected and will be replaced. This surely must end all Labour’s troubled equivocation over a marketised NHS and provide a political route on which party members and supporters can campaign together. Already in Scotland this is in effect government policy. “The Campaign for the NHS Reinstatement Bill has been campaigning on a cross party basis for this outcome through successive Private Member’s Bills in both the Lords and the Commons ever since I presented the first National Health Service (Amended Duties and Powers) Bill [HL] in January 2013. “It is a triumph for learning together, with cross party grassroots organisations working closely with health and legal professionals with persistence and dedication.” http://labourlist.org/2016/08/money-will-go-to-patients-not-contractors-corbyn-pledges-to-renationalise-nhs/ http://www.lorddavidowen.co.uk Owen served as British Foreign Secretary from 1977 to 1979, the youngest person in over forty years to hold the post. In 1981, Owen was one of the "Gang of Four" who left the Labour Party to found the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Owen led the SDP from 1983 to 1987, and the continuing SDPfrom 1988 to 1990. He sat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher until March 2014, and now sits as an "independent social democrat - Wikipedia My email to FT 'journalist' Janan Ganesh who recently called all who support Jeremy Corbyn "as thick as pig s***".
I emailed him this response this morning. 'Dear Mr Ganesh, I am a Labour Party member and have strongly supported Mr Jeremy Corbyn for over a year now. I believe that we can achieve a truly Democratic country with Mr Corbyn as leader. A country where we no longer have the outrageous levels of poverty, child poverty, food bank usage and homelessness. A country where our most vulnerable citizens are no longer committing suicide due to the draconian work capability assessments, where the assessor often has absolutely no experience in the condition that the claimant suffers from. Six out of ten of the top ten happiest countries consistently polled globally are Democratic Socialist countries, and may I remind you that Labour is a Democratic Socialist party. We live in a corrupt from the top-down nation, the press is controlled by the elite establishment, and the wealth gap grows exponentially year on year. You recently called Corbyn supporters 'as thick as pig s***'. I have friends who support Corbyn that have more letters after their names than you have in your name. Me, personally, I have no university education, but I do have an IQ of 138, and I'd be very happy to challenge you to an IQ test. The people who are 'as thick as pig s***', are people like you who bow down in fawning obsequiousness to the establishment, and contribute to their blatantly undemocratic propaganda. Shame on you. Yours Sincerely, Edward' With thanks to Eddy Abbs for sharing [Mr Ganesh's apology of sorts was tweeted Wednesday "Please excuse the trigger-happy tweet about Corbyn/ites. The train farrago didn't warrant it. No return for British Rail though, pls."] Who is Ganesh. Ganesh is a columnist for the Financial Times (FT), author and commentator on BBC Sunday Politics. My email to NEC members Ann Black and Pete Willsman today regarding the recent suspensions and rejections of members:
Dear Ann and Peter, Re: Recent rejections or suspension of new and existing members by the Compliance Unit I write to you both as a matter of some urgency following the news of a number rejections or suspensions of new and existing members to our Party. As you both may be aware, this has even included the suspension of the former miner and Orgreaves Justice campaigner, John Dunn, who has been a member of our Party for the last 45 years, and for no apparent reason beyond his challenge of Owen Smith following Owen's hustings in Orgreaves. Two indeed happen to be Facebook forum members of mine, with whom I have had the opportunity to examine the reasons put forward as to why they were rejected. Frustratingly, for the gravity of these decisions and their consequences, the amount of information or detail supporting the Party's decision to reject seems to be inversely proportional to the seriousness of it! In one case, no more is offered by way of a rationale beyond a single sentence reading, "You tweeted in support of the Green party on 5 July 2016" In the other case, a new member has been informed of her rejection by the following, "You posted comments online which are in breach of the party's recruitment rules" The letters, which unfortunately I do not have specific permission to share at this time, do not go into any more details than that - in the first, we are no more clearer of the offending tweet than we are of the precise rule that has been breached by the online comments condemned in the second. This is haphazard at best, and at its worst comes across as wholly arbitrary, Kafkaesque and capricious. I cannot be alone in thinking that such important decisions must be taken on the basis of sound facts and reasoning, and that such decisions must be conveyed to respondents with as much information as possible so as to facilitate an appeal and rebuttal to these serious charges. In both these cases, the respondents are none the wiser as to their offending actions! We were neither are able to locate this offending tweet, nor the precise rule that has been supposedly breached due to a lack of clarity, which beggars the question how they are to appeal on such a basis! A number of helpful comrades have already advised that affected members ought to contact the barrister Liz Davies using the link http://www.whycantivote.com/. However, with only two weeks to appeal and the possibility of a 12-month ban from joining without an appeal, you will undoubtedly understand both the frustration and upset this has caused. I would be most grateful for your advice under these circumstances and for permission to share your advice with the forum upon receipt. The upcoming leadership election is without doubt vitally important to both the future of our Party, and indeed how we are to go about uniting as one following a difficult and at times unpleasant contest. I am without doubt that you both stand by not only the need for a fair and robust contest, but indeed the need for such a contest to also be seen as fair, robust and impartial. It is my fear that these recent rejections and suspensions clearly are not in the interest of these exacting standards befitting our Party, and I implore you to look into them and to provide the much needed reassurance that this contest will be run to the highest standards we as a Party are able to achieve. I have for the benefit of doubt copied this email to my local branch secretary, Councillor John Tanner of South West Central branch (Oxford). I would be most grateful for your advice and any help you may be able to offer. Yours in comradeship, Thomas Li Oxford SWC Branch The decision by Labour party officials to suspend the bakers’ union leader, Ronnie Draper, from the party and deny him a vote in Labour’s leadership election over unidentified social media posts is shocking, and appears to be part of a clear pattern of double standards.
While Ronnie, a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, has been denied his say in Labour’s election, no action is being taken over the Labour peer, Lord Sainsbury, who has given more than £2m to support the Liberal Democrats. And no action has been taken against Michael Foster, the Labour party member who abused Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters and staff as Nazi stormtroopers in the Daily Mail. Both will, as things stand, be able to vote in this election. Meanwhile, thousands of other members and registered supporters are reported to have been denied a vote without being given an explanation or opportunity to challenge the decision or process. Labour party members will not accept what appears to be a rigged purge of Jeremy Corbyn supporters. The conduct of this election must be fair and even-handed. I am writing to Labour’s general secretary Iain McNicol to demand that members and supporters who are suspended or lose their voting rights are given clear information about why action has been taken and a timely opportunity to challenge the decision. In particular, the specification of particular terms of abuse to exclude Labour party members from voting should not be applied retrospectively. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/25/labour-party-suspends-pro-corbyn-union-chief-ronnie-draper Opinion: Monday voting began to elect a Labour Party leader; a two man race between incumbent Jeremy Corbyn and challenger Owen Smith.
Silly smears against Jeremy Corbyn went into overdrive Monday but worse has followed. The party has put a great deal of time and effort into attracting new members and then giving them the cold shoulder; or at least some new members. But Wednesday evening it became clear that a Labour Party member purge is underway. This blogger cast her vote for Jeremy Corbyn Monday. She doubts that would matter if the party suddenly sees fit to "purge" her from the party and cancel her vote. But she has done nothing to warrant such an action; then again neither have most of those excluded from voting during this party purge. American based firms such as Walmart's Asda regularly trawl social media accounts and if they deem fit staff members are hauled over the coals; it may be a simple chat on Facebook between fed-up colleagues but it could get you your P45. [that's a fact and I cite my husband an Asda colleague pre-retirement] I imagine unions are up in arms when that happens but it seems the Labour Party have taken a leaf or two out of the corporate book of people control. And remember we are talking about a political party and a party with its roots in worker's rights and freedom of speech. Without passionate debate, disagreement and satirical responses politics is nothing. Passionate politics can lead to real change. The other kind just ticks along with the rich getting richer and the poorer catching the crumbs. The amount of crumbs may depend on whether it is a left, centre, right or extreme wing political party in government but it is still crumbs. This story is set to roll as more becomes clear and will be updated. For now here is some useful information from people out there affected
From the NEC's Johanna Baxter August 20 ahead of the vote "Saturday night. A big spreadsheet of member/supporter applications for vetting. The glamorous life of an NEC member..." Thursday one response to that is "@JohannaBaxter This is very concerning -please make public the criteria, and how it was established. It sounds McCarthyist to the uninformed." Ms Baxter was not re-elected in the recent NEC elections but newly elected members of the executive will not be in place until conference in September. Wednesday "@UnityMarchUK @relovedreams I WAS SUSPENDED TODAY 6.15 pm, member & donor for over 25 years & supporter for over 50 years, & do support JC !" Thursday "Been told this morning that a victim of #LabourPurge2 had their vote taken away for retweeting @georgegalloway . See what we are up against?" Someone has responded "@Rachael_Swindon @georgegalloway was it one of his anti Jew tweets ? Having his support is not always a good thing. He turns people off." Other suspensions: John Dunn Orgreave justice campaigner and former striking miner. "Sorry peeps, will not be voting for Jeremy Corbyn. I have just received the following notification from Comrade McNicol. 45 years continuous membership and they cannot even address me by my name!" He is suspemded for "comments" made on Twitter. A social media friend who is a Labour Party member and supporter of 35 years was also suspended Wednesday. He has no idea why. The 'incident' dates back a while. His emotions include anger and for him the fight is on. Wednesday evening #ReasonsToBePurged trended on twitter with some hilarious and obviously fake reasons but behind the comedy there lies a political tragedy; The Labour Party 2016. http://wire.novaramedia.com/2016/08/purge-proofing-for-labour-supporters-a-handy-guide/ Suspensions from the Labour Party are continuing as party members and eligible affiliates cast their vote for Labour Party leader. People are sharing their stories and asking questions:
This is one man's rapid response to an email Wednesday telling him he is suspended: From:************ Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said in a statement: "And no action has been taken against Michael Foster, the Labour party member who abused Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters and staff as Nazi stormtroopers in the Daily Mail. We the people are watching and we do not like or respect what we see.
Below are just a couple of offensive tweets. Little wonder ordinary voters are spitting feathers: ISIS-gate, Train-gate and now Lunatic-gate. The first and last of those relate to Labour Party leadership hopeful Owen Smith, the other to the incumbemt Jeremy Corbyn. After a huge amount of publicity Tuesday questioning whether Corbyn was unable to get a seat on a Virgin train or not will Owen Smith"s description of Corbyn as a lunatic receive as much bad press? Train-gate was headline news Tuesday night with claims and counter claims reaching farcical levels. What about lunatic-gate? The plot to remove Corbyn as party leader has been dirty from day one and it is difficult at times to remember it is one political party not opposing groups. Tuesday night Corbyn and his team addressed a packed house at Newsham but it was a very different story at a Smith event in West London; a thousand or more as opposed to a score or two at the Smith event. Reporting on lunatic-gate the Independent went with: Owen Smith called his Labour leadership rival Jeremy Corbyn “a lunatic” at a rally in west London. He also went on to say "he would fight a general election on a promise to keep Britain in the European Union if elected leader." So Smith the alleged unity candidate has just alienated swathes of the counrty that voted leave in June's EU in or out referendum. He is assuming those who voted leave have all changed their minds. Some may have but many want OUT at any price. But Wednesday what is causing anger is Smith's throwaway "lunatic" comment. However you look at it the choice of word is an "ouch" moment. It is offensive. Smith's politcal inexperience continues to show. Angela Eagle was a stalking horse for Owen Smith but who is Smith a stalking horse for? Some now believe Smith will throw in the towel, the election will be called off and a new candidate step out from the shadows in the near future. Personally I disagree. I think this nasty divisive Labour leadership election will publicly play out and each "bad" news story may drive a nail in Labour's election chances' coffin. There will be another leadership race whether Smith or Corbyn wins and sadly the Labour Party will be too busy in-fighting to fight the Tory government and hold them to account. [Smith has since apologised for the "lunatic" comment] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-leadership-contest-owen-smith-rival-jeremy-corbyn-some-lunatic-at-rally-a7206286.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/24/owen-smith-hits-out-at-lunatic-jeremy-corbyn-as-he-vows-to-stop/ |
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