The deeply-unmissed and splinter-sized group that quit the Labour Party this morning took a long time to stop dithering and actually jump – and when they did it was more farce than drama.
(This article originally pointed out that the ‘registrant’ of the leavers’ site is based in Panama. The Guardian newspaper has said about the registration:
Despite viral claims that the Independent Group’s website is registered in the tax haven of Panama, in reality this is the location of a common privacy service called WhoisGuard which is used by many mainstream websites to obscure personal details such as phone numbers from public listings. WhoisGuard, in common with many privacy services, is based in the Central American country in part because it has few laws on data retention.
The Independent Group’s domain is actually registered with a company based in Phoenix, Arizona, and its website was designed by Seraph, a web design business based in Shuker’s Luton South constituency.
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The last time a tiny group tried to sabotage the Labour Party it crashed and burned, and they were led by people of the stature of Roy Jenkins and David Owen. And even Shirley Williams and William Who? were politicians of considerable standing.
Only one of this current bunch is even passably articulate, so unless their owners have a hidden ace*up their sleeve they are doomed in 6/8 time.
*Tony resurrected?
You aren’t wrong about the SDP. But it also damaged the Labour Party, and helped to give Thatcher a free run.
Simply banging on about this bunch of narcissists and fakers won’t address the problem they represent, born of 20 years of ‘triangulation’.
The Laurel and Hardy theme is in 6/8 time. Is that intended or a coincidence?
I decree (again) that they shall ever more be known as the
MENDACIOUS SEVEN Inept fraudsters fighting on the side of injustice,racism, sophistry and hypocrisy.
Note for our party legal team. When are you going start proceedings to recover our costs for their election expenses? If you let them get away with this fraudulent scam it will be an insult to all hardworking members and activists of our party. It’s our money and I know I speak on behalf of most members when I say we want it repaid forthwith.Gaining well paid employment by fraudulent misrepresentation is surely a criminal offence.
If they didn’t agree with the party manifesto and rules they had plenty of time to say so before standing on the Labour ticket and taking advantage of the good will and hard work of their CLP activists.
I urge their local CLP’s to take action asap. Meanwhile these spivs and fraudsters are laughing all the way to the bank with our money and other ill gotten gains in their pockets.
https://www.facebook.com/williamrussell.jones.37/posts/419761008779729?comment_id=419796542109509¬if_id=1550504288569666¬if_t=comment_mention
My respondent to my Facebook post claims thur new Website is based in the USA?
Yes a Panama tax haven! They are supported by Katie Hopkins and they won’t name their donors who are believed to be “Friends of Israel” and on their first day one of them was spouting racism on TV? The “party” has no complaints procedure in place? You couldn’t make this ineptitude up???
On another geeky quirk, Labour Tomorrow, who have curiously taken over editing LabourList this week, were legally dissolved according to Companies House on 29 January, less than a month ago. Strange for a legally no-more entity to be running LabourList.
Labour Tomorrow had 4 directors, Blunkett, Baroness Brenda Dean, Baroness Royall and Nicola Murphy as ND who seems to have done the work. It had £32k in the bank in 2017.
The Independent called it an “Anti-Corbyn group Labour Tomorrow funded by former Blair spin doctor who runs Peter Mandelson’s consultancy firm” in 2016. Odd outfit to choose to run “independent” LabourList for this week.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/anti-corbyn-group-labour-tomorrow-funded-by-tony-blair-s-former-spin-doctor-who-now-runs-peter-a7318056.html
There was an interview with Tom Watson on it tonight being his usual disingenuous self! H needs removing!
Ah, yes. Tom Watson. I was just thinking about this slimy little unmentionable and wondering if he also has a mind to jump ship.
Hopefully he will hurry up and take the plunge, saving us the chore of removing him.
But he might have more brains than we give him credit for. He is nothing if not a wily opportunist/careerist and will not readily ditch his political career and the cushy lifestyle it affords him.
Don’t keep us waiting too long. Tom, will you. Time to mugger off, pronto!
I assume your earlier email was taken down, because your observation that the website was set up in 2015 was incorrect !!?
Whenever it as set up it is a Limited company in a panama tax haven! That much is true!
As the news today is also filled with the report regarding social media which seriously criticises the influence other countries can have on our election system (obviously aimed at Russia). But if countries like Israel are surreptitiously funding MP’s and parties then surely this is completely unacceptable.
What influence do publicly funded Public Service Broadcasters, BBC & Channel 4, have on our election system? How independent are they? Whose interests do they serve?
I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick on this: https://www.davidlandoncole.com/2019/02/the-independent-groups-website-and-panama/?fbclid=IwAR2ZzO6AbLMzqJr_zv7RzTKyPytlSHZ7dMbu6kXErN3owXdEXMAbrbgX2o4
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/independent-groups-office-revealed-above-14016696
An Electoral Commission spokesman said: “The Members of Parliament that are part of this group will continue to be required to report to the House of Commons any donations above £1,500 that they receive in their capacity as a ‘regulated donee’.
“We have contacted the Independent Group to understand the structure of the Group and any further obligations on them individually or collectively to report donations.”
It was not immediately clear why the firm was registered in Altrincham – which is 160 miles from Mr Shuker’s constituency in Luton, Bedfordshire, and home to Tory grandee Sir Graham Brady.