Tom Watson’s attempt to hijack Labour processes has ended in humiliation
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson’s recent attempts to increase his profile and influence by hijacking Labour processes caused him to endure a ‘day from hell’ today – with two rebukes by front-bench colleagues and an embarrassing cancellation.
Watson was taken to task by Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry during this morning’s meeting of the Shadow Cabinet for his posturing behaviour toward Labour’s general secretary Jennie Formby and her hard-working staff, after Watson had announced he was going to take over the party’s disciplinary processes – which he has no authority to do.
But Labour’s strong front-bench women weren’t done with him yet. Dawn Butler also hauled him over the coals for the breach of ‘GDPR’ data protection laws involved in his demand to be copied into all complaints sent in by MPs. Labour members’ data can only be used for purposes they have explicitly consented to and an extra-curricular Watson jaunt – involving emails being copied to a non-Labour address for good measure – would certainly not qualify.
And his day of embarrassment continued into the evening as news emerged that he had cancelled the planned inaugural meeting of the ‘social democrat’ policy platform group he had told media he would be holding to empower so.
When Watson announced his new group, Labour MPs told the SKWAWKBOX that nothing would come of it because Watson is ‘lazy’ and has a record as a starter, not a finisher:
Tom’s got a record for announcing these things with a big fanfare but not following through. He starts but doesn’t finish – has anyone heard of his ‘fake news task force’ that he announced not too long ago? He wants the attention, but he’s too lazy to actually see things through.
Tom Watson’s office was contacted for comment but had not responded by the time of publication.
SKWAWKBOX comment:
The cancellation of tonight’s meeting is certainly an inauspicious start to Watson’s new empowerment group – but his double-scolding during today’s Shadow Cabinet meeting seems to be causing Labour MPs the most amusement.
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Hmm not to mention his stalled digital membership platform
Indeed – just for fun I tried to log in today and couldn’t. But notice the megalomanic statement on the home page: “Log in with Labour is the new universal login to all Labour Party digital services. It replaces all previous logins for our systems”
Fortunately he seems to have lost interest in the thing.
Did Thornberry actually say “Tom, you’ve been a very naughty boy”? I hope so, I can imagine her saying that….it’s a good slap down that covers his ill thought out, not very intelligent behaviour.
Pot and kettle-
Thing is the media got their copy with the original announcements and will not mention any of this comeuppance.
I doubt he will be standing at the next election anyway, his heart is not in it any longer.
https://skwawkbox.org/2019/01/06/video-watson-hints-strongly-at-exit-from-politics/
Of course not, but the objective is maximum damage in the meantime.
obviously waiting direction from his controllers, another fail coup! not the first Tommeh to hit the floor with a bump today lol
That the party’s general secretary is a target for the right wing is enough for us to conclude that she is doing an excellent job of sorting out the mess inherited from the previous HQ regime.
The half-heartedness encountered with parts of the party machine during the last GE cost us victory.
Jennie and her team must be defended from the assaults of the right. And this can be done by insisting on the following of party rules and due process.
Yes, and as pointed out on SB previously, isn’t it odd how when McNicol was GS, there was no criticism of him whatsoever, despite members and politicians who had had accusations of this and that made against them, having to wait an inordinate amount of time for their case to be heard. OR demands, by a certain section of MPs, for more information etc.
I wonder why.
I don’t usully watch BBC Question Time, but I forced myself to watch it last week soley to see if anyone mentioned the latest poll result – at that time – which was a yougov poll for the Times conducted on the 18-19 of February giving the Tories an eight point lead. No-one did, but some interesting things happened none-the-less. Chris Leslie referred to LP members abusing MPs again and again – Repetition being a favourite propaganda technique of propagandists – and at one point repeated falsehoods regarding a recent PLP meeting, which I’ll come on to shortly.
Anyway, at one point Andy McDonald (the Labour Party MP on the panel) interrupted Chris Leslie to make one or two points), and the very next thing, Fiona Bruce is saying to him is:
“Can I just say, that sitting here, what’s interesting is that all your fire is directed at Chris Leslie, and [turning momentarily towards Mel Stride – the Tory member of the panel – sitting on the other side of her] not our Government representative”.
It’s so disingenuous it beggars belief AND I have no doubt whatsoever it was pre-planned before the program that she would do that – ie say that. And I have no doubt that THEY thought it would get a big round of applause when she DID, but it didn’t get any at all! So NOW, suddenly, someone interrupting someone else – which of course happens on EVERY single QT program – becomes “fire”, and it was of course concocted and designed to give the impression that McDonald is only interested in arguing with Chris Leslie. Needless to say, THAT didn’t apply when Isabel Oakeshott layed in to Diane Abbot a few weeks ago and used a falsehood with which to do so, and then FB joined in the falsehood when Diane – as Oakeshott and Bruce knew that she would – attempted to correct Oakeshott’s disinformation.
Anyway, needless to say, Chris Leslie harped on about ‘anti-semitism’ as often as he could, and the Tory MP threw in his tuppence-worth about it as well of course, as the Tories who make the program knew they both WOULD, so although there wasn’t a question (from a member of the audience) about it, THEY contrived for FB to address the issue with the LP member of the panel (at around 36 mins 30 secs).
And it’s THEN (at around 38 mins 30 secs) – whilst Andy McDonald is responding – that Chris Leslie interrupts him and dissembles and reiterates the falsehood about the recent PLP meeting, as the program makers KNEW he would of course. And the fact that Leslie hadn’t got THAT particular bit in earlier on in the program, leads me to believe that he KNEW in advance that FB was going to do what she did, and that HE – Chris Leslie – would then get his opportunity to disseminate it AND repeat what no doubt many viewers had already read in their daily newspaper – ie propaganda rag – previously.
I haven’t watched Question Time since Diane Abbott was disgracefully treated by Fiona Bruce both before and during the programme. That was the last straw for me.
I don’t think our front bench should lend any more credence to this hour long Tory propaganda piece by appearing on it . However if they do so they must be prepared to do a Barry Gardiner and clearly call out all biased behaviour by the host.
Same here. Thanks to Allan for reminding me why I don’t watch QT. I have paint drying here and I need to keep a close eye on it.
I am going to report you all to Tom for your bullying behavior. He will soon sort you out. Oh … hang on….!
I see that the Guardian is on the attack against Chris Williamson tonight..
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/26/labour-mp-chris-williamson-faces-criticism-over-film-about-antisemitism-in-the-party
The assumption of the piece is clearly that anyone who criticises the Smearers is guilty of defending anti semites.
Mcarthyism in action.
And yet another guardian article which doesn’t mention that Jackie Walker is herself Jewish and omits the fundamentally important phrase about ‘Jewish financiers’, i.e (‘including my ancestors’), which totally changes the context.. Oh, and it doesn’t mention that the slender and highly dubious evidence against Jackie was obtained by secret filming and hacking her private emails. Or the cancellation of the showing of the film ‘The Witchhunt’ because of bomb threats.
In other words, just what we expect from that newspaper these days.
.
Won’t comment on the individual but booking a room to show a film sounds really dangerous.
What will happen if CW recommends to the Guardian books to read?
Er how about Alan Bullock’s ‘Hitler -A Study in Tyranny’
Oh comment below re SB post
‘Oh, and it doesn’t mention that the slender and highly dubious evidence against Jackie was obtained by secret filming and hacking her private emails.’
Yes, exactly, and yet we NEVER get to find out WHO did it or WHO was behind it. But it’s happened on MORE than a few occasions now.
And why would anyone have an issue with someone who is of the opinion that the millions of other people who were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust should be remembered as well, let alone be accused of anti-semitism for saying so.
The following is from a piece I just found when I did a search:
Elie Wiesel, a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, has said, “while not all victims were Jews, all Jews were victims,” so careful handling of the definition of the Holocaust is important. No one can deny that Jewish people were the primary targets of the Nazis, nor should one belittle their suffering. But neither should the millions of other victims of the Nazis be forgotten. The same respect and remembrance afforded the Jewish victims should be extended to include the non-Jewish victims as well.
The Nazis sought to annihilate all Jews and all enemies of the state. Every Jew was to be wiped out, but not necessarily every Russian, Serb, or Yugoslavian. That millions of non-Jews were also killed demonstrates the determination and magnitude of the Nazi extermination program to eliminate anyone who could even remotely be considered an enemy of the state. Current estimates based on documents from Nazi war records, and official government documents of various countries, place the death toll of people murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust as conservatively over 15 million non-combatant people. One official source estimates the number killed at 26 million.However, “with the mass graves on the eastern front, exact figures will never be known”.
http://www.ukemonde.com/holocaust/victims.html
And below is another one I came across (if you put more than one link per comment, it has to wait to be moderated).
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/non-jewish-victims-of-the-holocaust
They certainly sorted him out Ha! Ha!
Perhaps 2 of an excellent group of potential female Leftie candidates for Joint Deputy (one female) with Chris Williamson (one male).
Oh forgive me comrades but have to seize opportunity – the BBC slacking today not trotted out their daily uncritical US propaganda on Venezeula!
Went to good meeting Sunday Shipley, West Yorks and speaker argued US still following 1823 Munroe Doctrine – Latin America is their back yard to do what they want and others should keep out!
Hence after sanctions including on medicines they offer $20m in aid via their right wing puppet whilst denying Venezeula £7b from its oil sales (via Texas Oil) and as Govts around the World (pnly 28% of countries) who. when the US says Jump – say How High?) thus the Bank of England here withholds £1.5b of Venezeula’s gold assets.
Most of the protesters in Venezeula are middle class (with access to dollars) and they hate with a vengence what the Maduro Govt is doing for the poor and working class.
If the US intervention wins – their right wing puppet will privatise oil and gas,(to US Corporations) they may want their gold too then will bring Neo-Liberal cheap labour and more privatisations etc. to Venezeula and end all the programmes for the poor and working class.
And through their right winv puppet they will probably control OPEC and raise oil to €80 a barrell (to also aid US Fracking Big Business which needs such a price to survive) then suddenly they will release the £7b withheld and BoE assets to their Right Wing Barbarian to reward the middle class and wealthy.
If we tolerate this, Mexico will be next!
So 2 decent socialist Deputies for Labour in the UK who will back JC and Solidarity with the poor and working class in Venezeula!
If you haven’t read it already you may find John Pilger’s latest article interesting. It confirms much of what you say.
https://mailchi.mp/johnpilger/the-war-on-venezuela?e=b92841f351
Should the CIA stooge Guaido and his white supremacists grab power, it will be the 68th overthrow of a sovereign government by the United States, most of them democracies. A fire sale of Venezuela’s utilities and mineral wealth will surely follow, along with the theft of the country’s oil, as outlined by John Bolton.
Under the last Washington-controlled government in Caracas, poverty reached historic proportions. There was no healthcare for those could not pay. There was no universal education; Mavis Mendez, and millions like her, could not read or write. How cool is that, Tom?
Tony Blair supports The Independent Group – so why hasn’t he been expelled from Labour?
https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/02/27/tony-blair-supports-the-independent-group-so-why-hasnt-he-been-expelled-from-labour/
Chris Williamson suspended from Labour Party
Every word CW said was true, and I applaud his bravery/idiocy but he should’ve expected this from the newly-cowed Corbyn. First the 2nd ref climb-down, now this.
If I was a member, I’d be ripping up my card about now!
Fortunately they can’t hide the truth forever
Jackie Walker’s film Witchhunt will be released on-line on March 17th.
Ripping up cards and leaving LP is exactly what Tom Watson and cronies want us to do. Yet again, it is swallow hard and move on.