Yesterday, the SKWAWKBOX published an article exposing the blinkered monomania of right-wing Labour ‘gangs’ ‘Labour First’ (LF), Saving Labour and Blue Labour, showing how – while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spent last Saturday fighting for the NHS and heading ‘NHS Day’, Labour’s biggest-ever campaign, the right-wing groups spent it smearing Corbyn and plotting to grab control of the party.
The notable absence in the article was Progress, the most damaging group, to which a too-high number of Labour MPs owe fealty. But although they weren’t specifically mentioned in the post, they were at the centre of all the goings-on, with Progress gloominary Tom Watson and its director Richard Angell heavily involved in LF’s awful “Putting Labour First” conference that took place on Saturday.
But if right-wing Labour is about anything, it’s about image, PR and ‘message control’. It’s all they’ve got, after all.
So, given that every speaker at the event was congratulating themselves on Labour First on their importance as ‘activists’ and ‘campaigners’, Watson and Angell didn’t want to be seen to be completely ignoring the NHS.
Trouble is, they weren’t actually bothered – so they wanted to create a perception with the least possible effort.
When a Twitter user called out Angell for focusing on internecine plans on NHS Day, Angell responded by posting a picture of himself holding an NHS placard – and boasting of his multi-tasking ability:
But a sharp-eyed Twitter user spotted Angell’s ruse:
Angell’s idea of “campaigning about real everyday issues” such as the NHS is.. to step outside the Brandhall Labour Club where the event was being held and hold up a placard for a photo-opp.
Big wow, as my kids might say.
Not to be outdone, Watson went one ‘better’. At least Angell bothered to step outside. Watson, on the other hand, just held the same placard on the stage inside the club, with a few other attendees around him:
As another Twitter-user observed, “Campaigning normally involves talking to the public not just your own weird faction.”
So, Progress made a huge contribution on Saturday – by showing beyond any doubt that they have no scruples, no integrity and no genuine interest in massive issues that affect the vast majority of people in this country.
But they’re quite happy to fake it.
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