According to the Times, laughably-termed ‘moderates’ in the Labour Party are threatening an ‘exodus’ of what are supposed to be ‘potentially damaging by-elections’. Here’s how the Times announced it on Twitter:
And in the article:
According to the Times, a group of mostly worn-out old ‘moderates’ are ready to step down to trigger by-elections they hope will punish Labour members for wanting to remove some of their bright (seriously) young allies via that dread word, ‘deselection’:
The insider said: “Any attempt by the hard left to increase their stranglehold over the party will backfire. There are a number of older MPs who are serving their last term and were planning to stand down before the snap general election who would be prepared to go, triggering by-elections. In marginal seats, that could be particularly damaging to the leadership.”
This is most likely either right-wing posturing or Murdoch stirring. But if it’s true, it amounts to “If you lefties try to get rid of us, we’ll make you pay. You just watch – we’ll leave! See what you do then, commie!”
This is the blairite equivalent of the famously funny ‘suicide squad’ in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, who come to ‘rescue’ Brian by killing themselves to spite the occupiers.
(For the avoidance of doubt and ‘special snowflakes: no, this blog is not suggesting anyone hurt themselves or others.)
These MPs would be those who hide behind their supposed ‘constituency mandate’, as if the vast majority of voters don’t vote Labour rather than for a particular MP. There are some fantastic MPs, but very few of them are among the ‘moderates’ and the ‘Corbyn surge’ across the country showed the real electoral dynamic at play in the recent General Election, in spite of amusing attempts by a few MPs to pretend it was a personal triumph.
Just as the Python ‘suicide squad’ was actually removing a thorn from the side of their enemy, Blairite MPs of any age resigning to ‘teach the Trots a lesson’ would actually make the Labour party even stronger, with less dead weight to drag along the excellent path the party has mapped out under its leader.
All this posturing – and please, please, may it lead to corresponding action – achieves is to show, yet again and with crystal clarity, how woefully irrelevant and detached the blairite relics in the Labour party now are.
After all, Corbyn is now even stronger and Labour even more popular, with currently an eight-point polling lead over the Tories according to even Tory-friendly YouGov.
The fact that many of those MPs are in their seats at all owes nothing to them and a lot to the Corbyn surge. They ran lacklustre, whining, navel-gazing campaigns – many of them refusing even to mention Corbyn in their campaign literature.
With young, decent, inspired and inspiring people as candidates, the winning margin will just increase – humiliating the quitters and those of their ilk who stay in their seats even further and strengthening the real Labour base in the PLP (parliamentary Labour Party).
Far from being ‘please don’t go’, it’s ‘don’t let the door hit you on your way out’ – and the only important question is making sure that members in those seats get to pick their candidates democratically with no repeat of the rushed imposition of candidates that happened for the ‘snap General Election’.
As former Corbyn aide Matt Zarb-Cousin put it with perfect sarcasm on Twitter today:
— Matt Zarb-Cousin (@mattzarb) July 9, 2017
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I can but only repeat your words: OH DO. PLEASE DO.
Reblogged this on O LADO ESCURO DA LUA.
Reblogged this on boromoor and commented:
Don’t think I’d lose much sleep, bring it on.
My hope is not for deselection but for every MP to be reselected at each election, deselection isn’t a good look but mandatory re-selection is a normal democratic process. life time jobs for MPs should be a thing of the past
it should Terry I strongly believe the impetus for mandatory reselection should come from the grassroots
Gee whizz. What is wrong with these MPs. Just had successful GE – against all their predictions. I’m truly sickened by these people. They don’t give a toss for those who elected them. Yesterday we had Yvette Cooper defending BBC’s Laura Kuessenberg who is a die-hard Tory. She said absolutely nothing when Richard Burgon was being bullied on Twitter by 5 or 6 Labour MPs AND Mr McTernan. Nor did she say anything about whole scale bullying of Diane Abbot.
If they do not like Labour why don’t they resign their seats and let those who want to serve their constituents take over? Of course you can bet your life the MPs who stand down won’t be the top dogs like Ms Cooper, John Mann, Angela Eagle, Maria Eagle, Coyle, Harman, Hodge, Hoey and all the other so-called Moderates. Power is all to these people. They don’t give a toss for those forced to use food banks etc. Selfish, selfish, selfish.
Blairite MPs narrative they were elected by constituents not due to Corbyn surge. Do a Danqczuk if you’re so confident.Please do. Sent from my Vodafone Smart
(For the avoidance of doubt and ‘special snowflakes: no, this blog is not suggesting anyone hurt themselves or others.)
Absolutely!
Although I wonder if posting berger’s grid, plus the Judean People’s Front Crack Suicide Squad and a link to Gene Wilder all in the same place will have the whoppers desperately looking for a link to ‘anti-semitism’…
…Just askin’.
Maybe the immoderates are flying a kite to gauge the response. I dare them to do it. Double dare them.
Reblogged this on sdbast.
Reblogged this on The Night Owl and commented:
I would really love to see a Labour Party without all the Blairite dead wood, so if they want to keep threatening to leave, I really, really hope they’ll act on their own words!
JUST DO IT
It seems to me that the fading Blairites are just as deluded as their ex-leader. If I remember rightly he was making noises about forming a new party a while ago. Some chance! Why don’t these moaners run off and join Tony in oblivion?
THEY TRIED THEY FAILED.
TWO LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS, BANNING US J C SUPPORTERS, WITH FEEBLE ATTEMPTS TO DEBUNK J C, THEN GOING ON TO WIN THE SECOND ELECTION WITH A LARGER MAJORITY!
IF ONLY THESE CLOWNS HADN’T DONE WHAT THEY DID, WE, TRUE LABOUR SUPPORTERS WOULD NOW BE IN POWER!
WHEN WILL THEY GET THE MESSAGE?
WE WILL NOT GIVE AN INCH TO THOSE WHO DON’T STAND WITH OUR LEADER AND HIS POLICIES!
NOW THE ONLY THING TO DO, STOP THE THREATS, DO IT AND GO!
It’s a funny old world: It is wrong for Labour MPs to be de-selected but it is perfectly okay for them to try to de-select the party leader.
What a very good comment Tony. Succinct And absolutely on the money.
Absolutely. You won’t find anyone at the SKWAWKBOX suggesting that the right isn’t hypocritical
Deselection or re-selection, that is the question.
1. One of the real problems for Labour Leadership is the NEC ‘Thought Police”. We know that this group within the NEC trawled through social media finding anything they deemed to be against Labour’s principles, resulting in wholesale suspensions. We also now know that this was an illegal act. Still waiting to see if Mr McNicol, et al, is going reverse this illegality & reinstate members.
What I find totally unacceptable is to suspend two 80year old ladies with terminal cancer for not apparent reasons other than supporting Mr Corbyn, whilst allowing Mr Mandelson to get up every morning finding ways to get rid of elected leader. Moreover, allowing Mr Blair to remain a member having told the world & wife to vote for Mrs May. Many of us on twitter confronted Mr McNicol with info only to be told that he was sick of people attacking his staff!!! Then when I confronted him with my lovely ladies against Mandelson’s act I was told: It was only “his opinion!” Now therein lies one of the biggest problems Labour has.
2. NEC have right to suspend any and all CLPs at will! Wirral & Brighton both suspended – and who knows how many more. Both sets of allegations against the pro-Corbyn CLPs were proved to be, putting it mildly, inaccurate! Police were involved and said, in the Wirral case, there was “no charge to be answered” by Wirrall CLP or any members of Labour. Claims by MP that she was homophobically abused at a CLP meeting were dismissed. Given that lady in question was at a meeting in London at the time, one can only assume she had damn good hearing. Were these allegations dropped by NEC given all the evidence? No they weren’t. Brighton had footage to prove that no suspected abuse had happened. Did NEC drop allegations? No they didn’t.
3. The NEC needs to be accountable for its actions under the law, not under their own law or reading of it. The NEC should not have the right to stop CLPs from doing their job & representing their constituents. NEC rules must be overhauled and written so that NEC cannot act in accordance with their allegiances!!!
4. We’ve seen that CLPs have not been allowed to choose the person they want as their MP. This happened in Birmingham where two members of anti-Corbyn went in and chose the MP. This must be stopped.
At the moment the NEC tail is wagging the leadership dog. Until this is overturned we will see certainly Labour MPs still riding roughshod over Labour leadership.
Sorry this is so long. Apologies.
Could we be approaching this from the wrong direction? Shouldn’t we be telling the wreckers how much we need and rely upon them and beg them to stay so that they don’t put the Party in jeopardy? Whilst all the time hoping that by increasing their feeling of the destruction they will do it will actually encourage them to f.o.
Playing to their egos would be too much to ask!
Yes, maybe a forlorn hope. So we need to get the CAC to accept the ‘Labour International’ motion.