Reports of collapsing membership continue to be fake news
The so-called ‘mainstream’ media, along with occasional right-wing MP in or out of the Labour Party, continue to push a claim that Labour is losing members, even though this was long since debunked.
In this case as in many, the ‘mainstream’ is the source of ‘fake news’. Labour’s membership remains over 500,000 and the party is recruiting more than resign – by a factor of three to one.
With a single exception so far this year, Labour is typically adding 750 new members or more per week, although normal seasonal issues continue with members lapsing through arrears.
Not only that, but Labour is gearing up for an even greater rate of increase. The party has authorised recruitment of a new membership director with sole job of developing recruitment and retention strategies linked to organising and political education. New work is also planned with unions round policy to build trade union/Labour membership.
SKWAWKBOX comment:
The motives of those claiming Labour’s membership is falling are transparent enough – but in spite of the best efforts of Tories, ‘squatter’ MPs and their media allies, Labour continues to its growth as a membership organisation as well as in its stature as a political and electoral force.
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Great news!
Don’t forget to ask friends and colleagues if they are members and give them a gentle nudge if they aren’t.
The extra bank holidays always seem to go down well. Email them the link and it’s job done.
Our branch is stable at around 400. We’ve had a few leave but nothing to worry about. We have more joining than leave but we meet every two months.
If Labour with Jeremy can win then we will need the diverse stars of working people and it could be more exciting than Labour’s victory in 1945.
‘INTERREGNUM
The old order, Neo-Liberalism, it is dying.
But the new cannot yet be born.
Perhaps we are all being tested.
And only the stars will ride the storm’
X
…….& if we adopt Fallon’s proposal we can have the same policies & the same membership as the Lib.Dems. The ‘natural’ home for the Blairites.
We have 10K members plus Auto expelled or Expelled illegally by Iain McNicol, many would like to participate in the Party as full members, but feel uncomfortable that they have been treated as ‘NOT WANTED’ by the Labour Rightists who were controlling Labour HQ. Maybe Ms Formby can offer an apology as 10,000 X £48 don’t half add up, or are the Rightists that bloody stupid?
It looks like the Sunday Times is on manoeuvres again this weekend
https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/04/19/local-labour-candidates-warned-to-prepare-for-new-sunday-times-anti-semitism-witch-hunt/
Local Labour candidates warned to prepare for new Sunday Times anti-Semitism witch-hunt
Hardly surprising. Antisemitism is verminous. False accusations of ‘antisemitism’ even more so, because it knowingly exploits the memory of those slaughtered by the Third Reich as cover for political gain. I can think of little that is more reprehensible or despicable.
AS said, it is interesting that “the posts were about Israel”
Of course. The Hasbara initiative is all about conflating and confusing the issues of Israel and its political underpinning with prejudice – because, in any real debate the argument would be lost.
I believe we ought to be making the point at every opportunity that, if Labour genuinely had a serious AS problem, SOMEBODY would have been convicted of SOMETHING.
Shai Masot was recalled to Israel when he was exposed suborning treason – presumably he had diplomatic immunity but so far as I’m aware no official investigation of his contacts in the UK has been carried out.
If not, the Government should be asked in Parliament, “Why not?”
There won’t be an answer that holds water.
GCHQ, if it’s of any value whatever, ought to have many files on Masot and his UK contacts who work for and are financed by Israel.
“Taking down” MPs of any party is clearly treason – in my view the refusal of the Tory administration to act on the evidence also constitutes treason – in principle if not in law.
” the Government should be asked in Parliament….”
But you know and I know, David, that it won’t happen because the whole political class is running shit scared of Israel. The list of cases is too numerous to mention in detail, with Richard Burgon but the latest to be told to back down over a perfectly legitimate and rational comment about a visibly prejudicial political philosophy.
I guess that there’s some rationale for trying to stop stories gaining legs in an election period. But it won’t work, and it stores up future trouble in allowing Israeli deception to gain credibility.
RH, it’s nonsense to claim that calling out – and PROVING – Israeli deception and dirty tricks allows the deception to gain credibility.
We’ve had disagreements but I never took you for a surrender-monkey until now.
I think that you’ve misread, David. I wasn’t claiming anything like that. To summarise :
1. On past records, there isn’t anybody (sadly) who is going to stick their neck out in parliament – or, indeed in public generally. We have seen a train of retractions rather than combative counter-arguments.
2. The only rationale that I can see for NEC policy (which I think is shameful and counter-productive) is a short-termist (and futile) public relations tactic.
I trust that clarifies. We are actually in agreement – which is actually not that unusual :-).
… and whilst on the subject of ‘apologies’ :
“The shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, has apologised after a photo was circulated showing her drinking a mojito on public transport in London.”
FFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s OK, then. The world can continue going to hell on a handcart without that being a worry.
Thank goodness an ‘upright citizen’ had the courage to expose this ‘crime’.
https://tompride.wordpress.com/2019/04/20/police-insp-who-shopped-diane-abbott-for-drinking-on-train-faced-disciplinary-for-far-right-comments/
Well, Steve – I reckon that about sums it up.
I like to think (probably mistakenly) that I had a small victory yesterday. BBC News24 were running the DA story hourly so I emailed them pointing out the above and when I checked back on the news about an hour later they had dropped the ‘so called news story’ on Diane.
While we’re on the subject of Party membership and – implicitly – the recovery from the dog days of the Blair years, have you clocked the following ?
“Migrant communities must be compelled to do more to integrate to help combat the rise of “far-right bigotry”, Tony Blair has warned.”
See: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/20/tony-blair-says-migrants-must-integrate-to-combat-far-right
If you need an eloquent statement of all that was wrong in those years – the misperceptions, the misplaced diagnoses, the futile and stupidly simplistic remedies, the playing into the hands of the right – here it is!
Typical Blair – make the victims solve the problem of a rising far right by being less hate-worthy.
I didn’t see where he said “We’ve failed on my watch to educate two generations and our failures have allowed poverty to reach epidemic proportions and the rise of the far right is all my fault. Sorry.”
Members need to flex their muscles and demand mandatory reselection, then the traitors that continue to sabotage the Labour Party to prevent Jeremy Corbyn becoming PM can be given the boot for god d!