John Spellar is one of the most entrenched opponents of Jeremy Corbyn among the parliamentary Labour Party – and he hates Momentum. Spellar once described Momentum members as a Trotskyist ‘rag bag’ and said that the very term ‘Momentum member’ was an insult.
Members of his Warley constituency claim that this ‘reds under the bed‘-style fixation also extends to the executive of his CLP (constituency Labour party).
Sources inside the CLP have told the SKWAWKBOX that members were deprived of a vote on the CLP’s delegates to September’s annual Labour Conference, where key rules and policies will be decided:
Our CLP had agreed to send 5 delegates, 3 self-funding. All the branches nominated candidates for the next GC [general committee meeting].
We then heard that it had been decided that elections would take place during the EC [executive committee] meeting.
When the delegates went to the EC meeting, they were given minutes of the officers’ meeting, which stated that delegates had already been chosen at that meeting.
The minutes stated that this was because Momentum was going to “flood” the conference with it’s own supporters. Although the treasurer had said that the CLP can only afford to fund 2 people, they’d now increased this number to 3 and have refused self funders.
At the last GC meeting, attended by our MP, (whose campaign we supported, although we’re aware he is an anti Corbyn) our branch chair objections were rudely dismissed.
In other words, Momentum are going to ‘flood’ Conference – by democratically getting their people elected – so “let’s stop them by anti-democratically appointing anti-Corbyn, anti-Momentum delegates and denying our members their democratic right to elect their representatives”.
Was there ever a clearer illustration of why Conference – and the party – cannot be allowed to remain any longer in the hands of blairites and their allies?
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Back in the ’80s, these crude tactics were well known in the Labour Party. Attending NUS Conference, I realised that NOLS had engineered the representation of their factions to suit the emerging Bl***ite movement. Arm twisting,’innacurate’ printed propaganda and direct orders were used as backup. One if the most prominent leaders of this effort later removed from his seat for using similar tactics in his constituency.
Reblogged this on sdbast.
It’s now a socialist labour party not a Blair tories new labour party and we have a life long socialist as the leader of the labour party that’s how the party as got lots of members I for one think all labour MPs back the leader of the labour party if not get out of the labour party
A very special reception has been organised for Iain McNicol and Tom Watson at this year’s conference.
Speller was closely aligned with the right wing of the trades union movement Frank Chappel and Eric Hammond of the EETPU. Frank having helped Thatcher eradicate apprenticeships went on to retire on a farm in Kent. Not bad for a general secretary of a trade union. Where did the money come from? I have heard on a number of occasions that Speller and Chappel were sponsored by the security services? Certainly when Ken Loach made a documentary about how the EETPU was run by the extreme right wing the BBC governors banned it from being shown. Speller appears to be at the end of his career lets hope he is replaced by a Labour candidate who supports the manifesto and works for the many not the few?
John Spellar is one of Labour First’s main exponents of John Goulding’s techniques described in ‘Hammer of the Left’…. how he and Paul Farrely MP defeated the Labour Left.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Golding_(British_politician)
This is not befitting a socialist democratic party. People who act like this need dealing with promptly. Breaches of rules cannot be tolerated.
Something similar happened in Gedling. Entitled to 4 delegates, 3 people were nominated, but only the Executive got to vote and only the one centrist candidate
.
It’s time to rid the labour party of them they need to be told back the leader of the labour party or get out of the labour party thay are only MPs because the members want them so it’s time for the toryies in the labour party to join a different party if they can not back Jeremy Corbyn as he’s the members leader
People like him are not in any way socialists. They are just in it for themselves and any money or prestige they can acquire through it!
EC clean-out and deselection.
syzygysue: Golding’s book is a fascinating read. His dislike of the politics of John Spellar is somewhat surprising.
WHY IS JOHN SPELLAR STILL ABLE TO ATTACK OUR LEADER WITH IMPUNITY?
WHEN I ALONG WITH THOUSANDS GOT OUR VOTING RIGHTS TAKEN AWAY!
HE SHOULD HAVE HIS RIGHTS AND MEMBERSHIP TAKEN AWAY FORTHWITH!
WE SHOULD NO LONGER TOLERATE THE LIKES OF HIM AND HIS CRONIE MATES!
KICK EM ALL INTA TOUCH THE BUNCH OF RIGHTWING TRAITORS!
THESE PEOPLE ARE THE REASON WE LOST THE LAST G E!
They’re a dying breed. Obviously happy to drive the final nails into their own coffins. The rest of us, growing in number with each failed right wing stunt, will soon be tramping the dirt down.
They’re a dying breed. Obviously happy to drive the final nails into their own coffins. The rest of us, growing in number with each failed right wing stunt, will soon be tramping the dirt down.
Roger Shutt: `I can remember Spellar when he was a official in the EEPTU in the eighties when they were expelled from the TUC for signing sweet heart deals with employers (often containing no strike clauses). They made deals at workplaces where they had very few, sometimes no members, just to keep other unions out and the employers loved them. He was at one time a member of The Henry Jackson Society (a right wing think tank that supposed to be cross party) In my opinion he was a disgrace to the Trade Union movement and is now a disgrace to the Labour Party. Do not underestimate him, he is very clever and dangerous.`
Well, when’s the next AGM? Get rid of the lot of them.