Motion calling on Watson to resign or submit himself for re-election expected to take local Labour parties by storm
CLPs (constituency Labour parties) up and down the country are preparing motions against Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson over his recent behaviour, with motions already passed in the north and south.
The motion below, passed by a northern CLP, roots members’ dissatisfaction firmly in the party’s rules and is being circulated by the Labour grassroots. It is expected to be passed by many dozens or even by hundreds of local parties outraged at Watson’s failure to fulfil the responsibilities of the role he occupies.
Model motion
This CLP notes:
- Under Party Rules, Clause VII, section ix. “the Deputy Leader shall provide the Leader with advice and support in achieving the goals of the Party and deputise as requested.”
- That in her email of 1st March to Tom Watson, Jenny Formby, the General Secretary of the Party states “You have decided without consultation or regard to due process, to ask colleagues who raise complaints with me to forward them to your private email address as you will be ‘logging and monitoring’ all complaints. It is completely inappropriate for you to set up a vague parallel complaints monitoring system … The suggestion that you as an individual data controller should receive and store data related to complaints unrelated to your personal role as an MP … is completely unacceptable and exposes you, and the Party, to significant compliance risks. Furthermore you will undermine the work that my staff and I are doing and will confuse and pollute the existing formal process, compromising it and slowing it down.”
- In a series of media interviews Tom Watson has declared his intention to set up an organisation of MPs to challenge the policies of the Leader and the Shadow Cabinet.
__________ CLP believes that Tom Watson’s actions seek to undermine the Party Leader, twice overwhelmingly elected by party members, and are not compatible with his remit as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.
__________ CLP calls for Tom Watson to either stand down as Deputy Leader or submit himself for re-election as Deputy Leader.
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I think that might be too subtle a hint for someone as connected to reality as Walter Mitty…
Watson won’t stand down or submit himself for re election. AS Deputy Leader he is not answerable to CLPs as he was elected by the membership not the CLPs. The only way to deal with him is for someone to challenge him for the Deputy Leadership. However this is not the time for such a challenge or the resultant internal election given the mess the country is in due to the Tory’s Brexit fiasco and the real possibility of an early general election. Watson knows this too and is simply exploiting the situation- thoroughly despicable behaviour.
“AS Deputy Leader”… did you mean deputy leader of the AntiSemitism smear lobby?
I’d been wondering if he might actually be the leader of it.
Sorry David – just a typo
Nah, Margaret Hodge is the AS leader!
I reckon that you’re right. He’ll feed off ineffective motions from CLPs that will not achieve the aim. Probably claim that it’s because he’s jewish.
CLP’s are the membership.
Exactly, Watson does know this and him deliberately exploiting it makes him even more unfit to be in his position. Maybe, Labour must simply bite this bullet and someone challenge him? Without hesitation I’d nominate Emily Thornberry.
I would hesitate before I nominated Emily Thornberry. She’s a dyed in the wool member of the establishment, member of LFI and yet another duplicitous, opportunist, I would be very careful about the next deputy leader.
She had to be kept out of sight after her remarks in the 2015 GE about “white van man”. Where was her support for Jennie Forrmby, when Twatson was berating her? And, she’s hardly been a staunch ally of Corbyn.
The party has to remove the neoliberal dross currently inhabiting Parliamentary seats on the pretext that they are socialists. Then we could be in with a shout of moving this country into the 20th century.
The CLPs are the members or at least those who get involved, therefore they can legitimately hold Watson answerable. Whether or not now is the time to challenge him is debatable but as you rightly say it would require someone to stand against him. When the time comes, I would like it to be Chris Williamson.
Now there’s a dilemma for me! I’d nominate Emily Thornberry she is an excellent narrator and of course female and we really do need a female in one of the top jobs, but Chris Williamson (when he’s back) is excellent too)
George Galloway wants to stand against him. He raised £5.000 in a day
Which is why TW engineered Williamson’s suspension.
I would argue that the current situation is precisely why Watson needs to be challenged and removed from office asap. He is a cancer growing within and his removal would allow the party to devote itself to addressing the real issues instead of continually having to expend all its energies on fighting the false accusations and narratives from within. It should be remembered that the only power Watson has is that which the party have given him, what was given can also be taken away.
As for the CLP motions against Watson, I agree they are nothing more than a gesture and I fully expect that there will be another letter going out to CLP chairpersons from the NEC discouraging CLPs from rocking the boat. (just like when they suppressed the opinions of the membership overs CW’s treatment)
This comment was intended as a reply to smartboy at 12:48 am
Agreed , Watson is highly relevant , the position he holds and power he wields ( Chris Williamson suspension attempted interference with discipline processes and the membership cases ) he provides a high profile “goto beacon ” for the MSM and the establishment who want to continue and propagate the destruction of the DS Labour party .
IMO he is the cheer leader for the hard core Blairites who still do not accept the democratic selection of JC as leader.
He is not to be ignored or is irrelevant or to be ” forgotten about ” as some other comments have stated .
He knows full well what he is about and that is to engineer as much damage as possible to DS Labour and , when , not if he goes , to be able to point the finger of blame at the “Trots” who have taken over the party and caused him to ” so sadly and with heavy heart bs bs bs ” resign from the LP and join the Tinge grp .
I ,however ,think that the CLP motions do at least send messages to the NEC and apply some pressure , it is at present the only thing that the membership can do .
This illustrates IMO the need for some rule changes ( perhaps via Conf this yr ) that allows for the membership to have an effective method of removing incumbents from positions within the Labour Hierarchy .
Perhaps for instance if say 80% of CLPs feel that the incumbent is failing there is a right to require them to stand and be reselected .
I am not talking about de-selection of them as an MP , that’s for their CLP to sort out , but as a holder of high office within the organisation.
I don’t disagree with you Rob or with Steve H on the nature of Tom Watson or the damage he is doing to the party. I just don’t think now is the time for a Deputy Leadership challenge for the reasons given.
We used to call Tony Blair ” Teflon Tony” because nothing stuck. Tom seemed to be just as Teflon coated – the donation from Max Mosley, the witch hunt he orchestrated against Leon Brittan and others, the 2016 coup being prime examples.
However what is clear is that people are now on to Tom. HIs unpopularity among the members,the events in Sandwell and the booing of his speech at the rally is evidence of that.
I think Tom realises that he is on his way out and is intent on causing as much damage as he can on the way. Lets not help him – time enough for a challenge when we have Brexit and a General Election behind us.
smartboy 25/03/2019 at 2:34 pm
The only problem is that if we don’t get rid of him this summer then like it or not we’ll be stuck with him for another year.
Excellent news. Tom Watson is an electoral liability to Labour. The party will be more unified and have more chance of winning the next election when he is replaced, so his removal cannot come soon enough.
I believe that as a lot of LP members did at the time having voted for Jeremy Corbyn as leader I voted for Watson to be his deputy as sort of a concession to the centralists. Boy what a mistake that was. You won’t catch me giving them even one inch ever again.
I guess Tom won by default, the other candidates Ben Bradshaw, Stella Creasy, Angela Eagle & Caroline Flint were even less inspiring.
Yes, this is why most of us voted for him holding our noses, compared at the time to the other candidates he appeared less worse. In hindsight I wish I’d voted for Flint who has come right on Brexit in relation to working class voters, although at the time she appeared one of the more Blairite offerings.
*Jennie
I was doing some research about the Snoopers Charter at the weekend and, as such, discovered that Tom Watson has been central – along with Liberty – in challenging aspects of the legislation and taking the matter to the European Court of Justice. And the reason I mention it of course is because it’s difficult to understand how someone that appears to care about peoples rights and, as such, challenge the State when it tries to take too much power to itself, can also be central to manufacturing the ‘anti-semitism’ Smear Campaign, as he has, especially in the past few months. The following is a clip from a Guardian article in 2017:
However, Watson said the Home Office concessions were flawed and did not go far enough.
“The current legislation fails to protect people’s fundamental rights or respect the rule of law. That’s what my legal challenge proved and I’m glad Amber Rudd is making significant concessions today. But I will be asking the court to go further, because today’s proposals from the Home Office are still flawed.
“Ministers aren’t above the law – they don’t get to pick and choose which rights violations they address and they can’t haggle with the courts to avoid properly protecting people’s freedom. All of the fundamental safeguards demanded by the court must now be implemented.”
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/30/police-to-lose-phone-and-web-data-search-authorisation-powers
In the above post I pointed out, in effect, how Tom Watson has become one of the central figures – if not THE central figure – in the manufactured ‘anti-semitism’ Smear Campaign against JC and the left in recent months. In other words, we didn’t hear much about it from HIM prior to a few months ago. I KNEW that THAT was the case, but it then occured to me to do a search on the BBC News website (and The Guardian) re >tom watson anti-semitism< and see what came up. Prior to the IHRA definition of anti-semitism episode last Summer, the only article that came up in relation to him was an article back in April 2016 published the day after the Ken Livingstone radio interview with Vanessa Feltz in which – surprise surprise – he fraudulently condemns Ken etc.
And my point is this – ie that he may have only become central to the Smear Campain in recent months in an overt sense, but you can be absolutely certain that he was playing a central part in it all behind the scenes from the outset, no doubt playing a central roll in co-ordinating it all. And THAT is precisely why he has stayed in the background most of the time it's been going on.
The Guardian search brought up thirty articles, only FOUR of which were prior to the past few months, and the vast majority in the past two or three months. The following is one of the four articles, in which it mentions the letter that Isaac Herzog, leader of the Israeli Labor party, sent Jeremy in relation to the Ken Livingstone interview. Here's a clip from the article:
Corbyn received a furious letter from Isaac Herzog, leader of the Israeli Labor party, in April, after the former London mayor Ken Livingstone made controversial remarks about Adolf Hitler and Zionism.
Herzog said he was “appalled” by Livingstone’s assertion that when Hitler won his 1932 election, “his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel”. After suspending Livingstone from the party, Corbyn was invited by Herzog to Yad Vashem “to witness that the last time the Jews were forcibly transported it was not to Israel but to their deaths”.
(Ends)
Herzog did this – and said what he said – knowing full well that Ken was referring to the Haavara Agreement of course, and it's a perfect example of how devious and duplicitous and totally fraudulent these people are. And JC knows it of course!
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/nov/15/tom-watson-labour-deputy-visits-israel-antisemitism-jeremy-corbyn-invitation
I did a search earlier (on duckduckgo) re Herzog’s letter to see how many articles there were listed in the results that came up, and there were dozens of them, including all the Jewish newspapers of course, the one I’ve linked to below being a typical example, with quotes from Wes Streeting and Ian Austin.
The article was about how Jeremy hadn’t responded to Herzog’s letter (as were some of the other results/articles). Herzog, and Streeting and Austin, AND the jewishpress ALL knew of course why Jeremy hadn’t responded to his – Herzog’s – fraudulent letter – ie because he – Jeremy – knew of course that Herzog was just playing mind games with him AND that everything he’d said in the letter in relation to Ken Livingstone was complete and utter fabrication.
And needless to say – and Jeremy KNEW it – that had he responded to Herzog’s letter politely pointing out that Ken was alluding to the Haavara Agreement, it would have been ‘transformed’ into a hit-job on Jeremy along the lines of HE – Jeremy – supports and agrees with the “vile anti-semitic remarks” made by KL etc, along with all the usual bucket-loads of faux outrage and hysteria and condemnation that is part and parcel of their Smear Campaign – ie intrinsic to their deception of millions of people. And widely reported as such by the Jewish so-called newspapers AND the corporate media in general:
https://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/corbyn-never-bothered-to-answer-herzogs-letter-on-labour-anti-semitism/2016/05/29/
Just came across this blatant piece of black propaganda regarding anti-semitism in the Labour Party. I mean it’s so transparent it’s almost laughable, or would be if it wasn’t such a serious matter. And this is the organisation that collates and compiles incidents of anti-semitism!:
The latest figures from the Community Security Trust (CST) reveal a record high of 1,652 antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2018 – an increase of 16 percent on 2017. Commenting on the jump in incidents, CST said that around 1 in 10 were “examples of, or related to arguments over, alleged antisemitism in the Labour Party”, saying that antisemitic incidents increased during the controversy surrounding Jeremy Corbyn’s party. Further clarifying, their annual report said: “These periods saw an increased number of incidents directly related to those debates, while the increased attention paid to the issue of antisemitism is likely to have emboldened offenders and encouraged victims to report more incidents”.
(Ends)
So ‘Commenting on the jump in incidents, CST said that around 1 in 10 were “examples of, or related to arguments over, alleged antisemitism in the Labour Party”….’.
“examples of, or RELATED TO ARGUMENTS OVER…” (my emphasis). I mean what does that even MEAN! It is of course Meaningless AND, as such, complete gobbledygook! It then goes on to in effect blame Jeremy Corbyn for the increase and, as such, says: ‘that antisemitic incidents increased during the controversy surrounding Jeremy Corbyn’s party’, and goes on to quote from the report that “These periods saw an increased number of incidents directly related to those debates….”. Well apart from transforming a manufactured Smear Campaign into ‘debates’, apparently the CST has evidence that the increase in incidents was directly related to those ‘debates’, which of course is just MORE asinine gobbledygook.
Oh, right, and of course “the increased attention paid to the issue of antisemitism is likely to have emboldened offenders…..”. Well, that of course makes perfect sense, doesn’t it. I mean there’s probably even scientific research to back up the notion. NOT!!!
The irony IS that were there even the semblance of truth to this ridiculous assertion – which there ISN’T of course, and they are just straining every-which-way they can think of to cast blame on JC for the increase, no matter how nebulous – then it is of course ALL those who have been a party to the manufactured Smear Campaign that are responsible:
https://www.statista.com/chart/16928/antisemitic-incidents-in-the-uk-annual/
Just came across the folowing article on the veteranstoday website from May 2016 which is well worth reading:
https://www.veteranstoday.com/2016/05/30/corbyns-latest-sin-ignoring-summons-to-visit-holocaust-museum-in-israel/
For your information, the latest poll added to the wikipedia list of poll results has the Tories just ONE point ahead of Labour. Now whilst it’s undoubtedly the case that but for the ongoing and continual smearing of JC and the left, the LP would be ten, fifteen, twenty or more points ahead of the Tories, the Smearers must wonder to themselves how on Earth it is that JC’s LP is still, more-or-less, neck and neck with the Tories, given all their hard work during the course of the past three-and-a-half years or more, and ESPECIALLY in recent weeks and months!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election#2019
On the wider issues surrounding Watson and Co.
A real test of whether the NEC/NCC has been sufficiently reformed takes place tomorrow : Jackie Walker’s hearing.
Make no mistake – the outcome has massive significance for the health and credibility of the Party.
A significant article by Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi can be found at :
https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/blog/jackie-walker-is-on-trial-but-who-is-the-target/?
Yes, an excellent analysis of Jackie Walker’s plight. And my apologies if you’ve perhaps posted it in another thread RH, but the following article on JVL’s website is essential reading, and unravels and exposes many of the falsehoods about anti-semitism being endemic on the left of the Labour Party:
https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/blog/luciana-berger-subjected-to-hatespeak-and-death-threats-from-the-left/
Thank you for that link.
Corbyn’s opponents know that the ‘unelectable’ argument is no longer credible and so the anti-semitism argument is used instead now.