CLP and Momentum express complete solidarity with Labour’s general secretary and condemn deputy leader
The wave of outrage expressed by Labour members at the behaviour of the party’s notional deputy leader Tom Watson continues to grow. Watson has been heavily criticised for his targeting of Labour’s general secretary Jennie Formby, who is continuing to improve the party’s processes in spite of fighting breast cancer.
The latest groups to confirm their condemnation include Easington CLP in the north-east, which approved a motion submitted by its Blackhall branch calling for Watson to step down:
The Blackhall Branch notes that:
1. 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.”
2. 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.”
3. 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.
Blackhall Branch 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.
Blackhall Branch requests that the CLP calls for Tom Watson to either stand down as Deputy Leader or submit himself for re-election as Deputy Leader.
Watson has also been condemned in the Labour right’s former West Midlands stronghold, with Birmingham Momentum issuing the following, strongly-worded statement condemning Watson’s “new low even by his standards”:
Labour sources have suggested that Watson’s behaviour toward Formby constitutes a breach of the 2010 Equality Act, as cancer sufferers constitute a protected category under the Act.
Watson is also under extreme pressure in the national press over his support for the allegations of Carl Beech, who this week was sentenced to eighteen years in prison for twelve counts of perverting the course of justice and one of fraud.
He was contacted for comment over these issues but did not respond.
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Watson has obviously overstepped the mark by seeking to introduce a separate investigations unit headed by himself. His “pattern of behaviour” most certainly warrants his suspension and removal of his Deputy Leader position.
… but I think that the major downers for him have been (a) the pompous insensitivity to Jenny Formby and (b) his involvement with the fals paediophilia allegations.
This should give some guide to how to tackle the scammers.
I think, for instance that those of us who know what the score is should focus on this link between self-serving lies involving paedophilia and those involving ‘antisemitism’.
This wouldn’t be forced – both involve exploitation of serious issues that detract from the real offences.
Every mention of Watson should make this link.
Tom Watson’s attack on Jennie Formby was
despicable, I think we are nearly all in agreement on that. Even the dinosaurs in the party who were lining up behind Watson to have a go at her too,melted away when they saw the outrage his comments caused among ordinary descent people. Tom should apologise to Jennie and resign.
Additionally his credibility as a politician no longer exists following the Carl Beech affair.
Mr David Janner QC son of Jewish Labour peer Greville Janner and sister of a Rabbi said Watson should hang his head in shame. He also said
” For him ( Watson) to take the moral high ground in the Labour Party against antisemetism is completely hypocritical” Mr Janner also called for Watson to go.
Lady Brittan wife of the late Lord ( Leon) Brittan, also Jewish, said Watson was disingenuous and untruthful in his attempts to distance himself from Carl Beech and the damage that had been inflicted on Beech’s victims.She referenced Watson’s disgraceful newspaper article about Lord Brittan’s alleged sexual crimes published immediately after Lord Brittan’s death from cancer. Are there no depths to which Watson will not sink.
The son of Lord Brammall a retired Field Marshall in his 90s who was also falsely accused has asked for Watson to apologise saying ” It is the right thing to do”. However doing the right thing is not something Watson is known for and has failed to apologise so far.
Like Mr Janner, Harvey Proctor references antisemetism in his scathing condemnation of Watson He said
“Tom Watson has a great interest in himself and grandstanding just as he is doing currently on his so called antisemetism campaign”
These comments have received little or no coverage in the MSM. Nevertheless we as a party as well aware of them and the damage Tom Watson has done.
I think we need to suspend him pending a full investigation into his conduct in respect of all of the above.While the investigation is ongoing the whip should be withdrawn.
RH……..To sum up you are saying Watson is a pathological liar and persistent offender, But I am saying that as well as the above he has brought the party into disrepute and should be immediately suspended before expulsion from the Labour party!……Simple……then we have the NEC……??
It’s only when those in the leadership openly accept and acknowledge where the likes of Watson, Mann, Hodge, et al get their dutch courage, dertermination and backing from to destroy the Corbyn Labour Party will they be able to formulate a sound plan to neutralise and defeat them.
In the meantime, even the smallest transgretion by any of them should be assembled into a catalogue of shame which can be used to assist in booting them out of the Party, together with the Trojan Horse known as the JLM and their useful fools in the LFI who also need to be shown the door.
We know that the vast majority of A/S allegations and claims of being insulted and hurt are simply vexatious to generate hate against the LP. Over the years I’ve found that one of the best ways to respond is by ridicule, which lets the accusers know you don’t for one minute take them seriously. This is the exact opposite to the way we have chosen to reply so far, resulting in even more false accusations.
As a strategy, the LP should enlist the help of a number of intelligent left wing comedians to laugh the accusers off the field and completely destroy their credibility. This can be done in conjunction with reference to the way their Israeli puppet masters are persecuting the Palestinians by stealing their houses and land.
Jack, you said that:
‘It’s only when those in the leadership openly accept and acknowledge where the likes of Watson, Mann, Hodge, et al get their dutch courage, dertermination and backing from to destroy the Corbyn Labour Party will they be able to formulate a sound plan to neutralise and defeat them.’
Given that you ommitted to mention where they DO get it from, perhaps you could enlighten us. The only thing I can think of is the media and, if THAT’s the case, then what possible ‘sound plan’ could the leadership formulate to neutralise them – ie the plotters?
As for enlisting ‘the help of a number of intelligent left wing comedians to laugh the accusers off the field and completely destroy their credibility’, who did you have in mind. Surely to have any impact whatsoever, they would have to be high profile comedians that appear on TV. I really don’t see it happening, but I have little doubt that any well-known comedian that DID do that would be condemned and vilified by all the usual suspects AND the MSM, and if they’re ‘intelligent’, then it’s highly unlikely that they wouldn’t be able to forsee that outcome.
The parallels between Watson’s behaviour over antisemitism and over the false paedophile allegations are actually quite striking. Watson has a protofascist mentality: he is an unprincipled opportunist who has not the slightest regard for due process or natural justice if such principles conflict with his immediate political self-interest. Ironically the obvious parallels to which RH draws attention have been little commented on; I can only assume this is because Watson’s victims in the two cases happen to belong to opposing political tribes. One can only hope that the world historical experience of the left will have taught it to rise above a political tribalism opportunistically blind to natural justice for reasons of expediency.
Janner brittan,Harvey proctor……..we do not need to defend such people as this bunch We’ve got plenty to go on without standing with this bunch of right wing……?
Joseph, we should always stand with the falsely-accused.
Not because of who they are, but because of who we are.
David good point but after seeing Chris Williamson reffered to the N CC I am not feeling very charitable…..I personally cannot take another comrade being thrown under a bus,and just do nothing.I have know option to resign if Chris Williamson is found guilty……very sad,angry and emotional…..sorry
I understand your anger, Joseph – but the Labour Party is nothing if it doesn’t eschew narrow sectarian advantage when issues of proper process and justice are involved. It’s fundamental.
THAT is what will distinguish the Party from the Tories in the end.
That is very good.
So if some right winger falsely accused you of paedophilia and refused you sympathy and support on the grounds that you were a socialist, you would be cool with that?
And I see Chris Williamson has now been referred to the NCC….. Unbelievable,and disgusting behaviour from the Labour party to put an innocent mp under a bus….Hasn’t Chris Williamson suffered enough… What are party members supposed to think,he’s been referred to the Ncc which deal with serious breaches.Can they not read or have they lost all sense of justice?….I await a speedy decision that should decide he needs a medal for showing the rest of the PLP how a loyal mp should behave…..If Chris goes then so do I!
With you 100% on that, Joseph, and I suspect there’ll be many, many others feel the same way.
If Labour can’t get on the forward foot with the huge increase in membership since Corbyn there’s other things I can spend my subs on.
There is the possibility of course that referring his case to the NCC is to close down criticism from the right wing.
I’m assuming that the NCC is the final arbiter – if so a ‘not guilty’ can be considered conclusive and irrevocable, meaning that if the right wing continue to piss and moan they can be reasonably censured themselves?
Why am I sceptical?
… but I’m willing to be proved wrong.
Just a further thought.
If the Party’s procedures were well-constructedand used properly , none of these ‘if’s’ and ‘but’s’ would be possible. Decisions would be bomb-proof.
But all the concessions to the right and the unnecessary apologies have undermined credibility. It’s been a cumulative process.
One of the worst episodes was the overshadowing of the balanced Chakrabarti report by the fatally flawed IHRA document. Had the Party not flinched at that point, and, after consultation, calmly moved to implementation, things could have been different.
In particular, a right of appeal would have (hopefully) been embedded in procedures.
Given the way the Israel Lobby has pushed their dishonest luck, I reckon the brave move would be to say ‘It hasn’t worked, and has been misused, proving the legal analysis correct’; adopt a clear and simple definition of antisemitism, and implement the essence of the Chakrabarti report, being explicit about Israel being complicit in the racism that the Labour Party opposes.
No more temporising.
In short “F. off Israel Lobby; Hello justice and proper procedure”
David…I am worried that he will go the way of a right wing stitch up going off previous cases that have come before them?And again the worst possible time to decide to judge him? Its all too much of a coincidence to not have been planned….I am not a person that throws the towel in easily,and I would not recommend my actions of leaving the party but I am old and my mind and body can only take so much from treacherous insiders If Chris is out then so am I.If only these traitors could be dealt with like we used to do…..but thats just wishful thinking, good night and god bless you comrades
The majority of the NCC are r-w. There is no justice to be had there.
Katherine, if the NCC vote on partisan grounds – which will be obvious from their decision – they’ll have earned a long walk off a short pier.
They can’t put themselves above justice even if they put their interests above the Party.
Given what happened when Chris was reinstated Joseph – ie the tidal wave of condemnation at the decision – what do you think would happen if he was reinstated AGAIN. That’s why it’s not gonna happen, because if it DID, more Blairite MPs and/or Peers would be resigning AND screaming from the rooftops – yet again! – that the LP is institutionally racist AND that NOT expelling Chris Williamson is all the proof you need etc, etc, etc.
I mean does anyone who follows skwawkbox seriously believe for one moment, that apart from most of us on the left, the public in general realised/knew that the 100plus MPs and Peers who signed the open letter condemning the decision to reinstate Chris are saboteurs – ie that their letter and their condemnation is disingenuous and contrived and malicious. Of course they didn’t, because such a possiblity would be inconceivable to them. And the saboteurs know it of course.
Given what HAS happened when Ken, for example, tried to ‘defend’ himself, or what happened when the LP condemned the Panorama program, isn’t it blindingly obvious that all hell would be let loose if Chris were reinstated – ie all hell would break lose if he isn’t expelled. And it’s precisely for that reason that he more-than-likely WILL be expelled, NOT because of any ‘appeasing’ of the plotters by anyone, but because the leadership know that there would be a blitzkrieg of condemnation AND almost definitely another round of resignations, not to mention letters signed by whoever!
But you conveniently omit the reality of the situation from your thinking Joseph and slate the ‘Labour Party’ for its ‘unbelievable and disgusting behaviour’, as such, and accuse them of throwing him under a bus.
I wonder why you – and a few others on here – would do that!
Allan Howard 29/07/2019 at 12:14 am On the contrary , this would be obvious appeasement . At what point should the line be drawn , or will it always be that those who shout the loudest get their way . ” They came for him and I did nothing , when they came for me there was no-one left ……. “
David said (in response to Katherine) that:
They [the NCC] can’t put themselves above justice even if they put their interests above the Party.
But they can, and they do, and they HAVE, so why would you say that they CAN’T, except in some rhetorical sense.
And just out of interest, how would Labour get on ‘the forward foot’, as you put it?
And it’s odd how both yourself and RH refer to the ‘right-wing’, as if to imply that the LP plotters (MPs and Peers) are the only ones smearing and demonising Jeremy and the left, when there are numerous so-called journalists and commentators doing exactly the same (in the MSM and Jewish newspapers), along with the Tories, the Jewish Labour Movement, the so-called Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, Labour Friends of Israel AND the Community Security Trust.
And as for what RH says about how ‘all the concessions to the right and the unnecessary apologies have undermined credibility’, and that ‘It’s been a cumulative process’, yes RH, of course, if only no-one had apologised, then everything would have been hunkydory, and the forces at work against Jeremy and the left would have packed up and gone home. Yeah, sure they would!
What complete and utter bunkum.
Allan, my comment on the NCC was not intended to imply the impossibility or even the unlikelihood of CW being falsely convicted again – why would you even imagine that?
My thought was that by doing so they would forfeit any remaining shred of credibility with the membership and might therefore resist the siren voices and think of their own survival in office, particularly now that the head of the snake – Watson – has pissed on his chips.
Perhaps I could have been clearer. Hope this helps.
Ridiculous to imply I’m in league with RH or anyone else – or that I’ve been silent on the MSM, Israel or the Tories.
I’m surprised you would suggest it given my recent comments.
I’ve questioned RH’s motives and criticised his comments frequently and recently – but it’s ideas and views I agree or disagree with and nobody has a monopoly on being wrong.
And, in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m trying hard to save the sarcasm and vitriol for our enemies.
Oh, I thought that the NCC had lost any shred of credibility with the membership a long time ago David.
Anyway, thanks for clarifying what you said, but I would still be interested to hear what you think ‘Labour’ has to do to get on the front foot, as you put it, and in fact how you think they got to be on the back foot in the first place. Given that you were responding to what Joseph said and saying that you agree with him 100%, I have in fact dismantled and demolished his false accusation in my reponse to him, as I did with RH in the second half of my post addressed to you, as with Alan Harrison just down the page a bit. So I’d be interested to hear what you think of my rebuttal of the….. um…. er… lets call it ‘appeasement smear’.
Allan, you’re being boring. My ‘agreement’ was in the nature of an expression of shared disgust at the treatment of CW, and maybe a little because I felt my previous replies to Joseph could have been phrased less didactically.
I don’t hold JC to blame for any of this so please stop trying to turn this into a game of ‘who’s the leftiest lefty’ top trumps – it’s infantile.
And don’t presume to demand I trawl your dross to prove something so trivial – I rarely do more than skim your comments anyway – and do try to use “as such” less often and preferably with less affectation – and I’m using a phone atm so fucking drop it, there’s a good boy.
Puzzled by apparent absence of facility to comment on Richardson story.
Quick comment on this story. Thanks, Twatson, for making me find sympathy for the first time in my life with Harvey Proctor and the late Leon Brittan and Edward Heath. These tales were obviously bullshit – Heath bunging buggered boys off the back of his boat??? FFS! This is a classic case of Twatson leaping on any passing bandwagon.
On Richardson. I think the time has really come for Corbyn to nail his colours to the mast. This is no time for prevarication about “due process” – a technical term of American law – or mithering about the leader not interfering in the disciplinary process. See the case of Marc Wadsworth – an entitled young white woman addressing a black man old enough to be her dad in the tones of a plantation mistress speaking to a house slave – IN CORBYN’S PRESENCE – and the black man gets kicked out.
Jezza, you survived the chicken coup because we had your back. Now it’s time for you to have ours.
Allan Harrison……your posting sums up the sense of betrayal we all feel,better than I could ever do!
The only people doing the ‘betraying’ are the people on here who pretend that if Jeremy and his colleagues stood up for themselves and those accused of A/S, the smearers would stop smearing. Alan rambles on about it being time for ‘Jezza’ to have our backs, but he omits to say exactly how Jeremy could do that. Isn’t it blindingly obvious that if Jeremy was to defend those falsely accused of A/S, he would just be condemned en masse by the Blairites and the MSM and the Jewish newspapers and the Tories and the JLM et al for doing so. WE on the left might know that the vast majority of allegations and accusations and claims of anti-semitism are falsehoods, and bogus as such, but tens of millions of people out there DON’T.
What do you think would have happened if Jeremy had defended Ken Livingstone and said that Ken said nothing whatsoever anti-semitic and that he was alluding to the Haavara Agreement, an historical fact. Do you somehow believe that the very MSM and plotters who falsely condemned Ken of anti-semitism wouldn’t falsely condemn Jeremy too, along with bucket-loads of faux outrage. And ditto for Jackie Walker, had he tried to defend her, and explain what she actually said AND how her words had been twisted, or Marc Wadsworth, or Chris Williamson……
If Ken and Jackie etc were falsely accused and attacked by the plotters – ie the Blairites, the Tories, the MSM, the Jewish newspapers, the JLM and the CAA and LFI and the CST – as they WERE, the plotters will of course ALSO smear anyone who tries to defend them, and falsely accuse THEM of being apologists for anti-semites etc, etc, etc.
And if THAT’s the case, which it is*, then attacking Jeremy – or ‘the leadership’ – is totally unjustified, and pernicious as such.
*Does anyone disagree?
NB We must ALWAYS bear in mind that the MSM has at least twenty times the reach of the JC-supporting left-wing blogs etc.
”Heath bunging buggered boys off the back of his boat???”
Heath’s ‘visits’ to Haut de la Garenne were widely reported across MSM as well as blogs. don’t remember people saying the papers were out of order to report on such things. Haven’t seen or read about any bloggers being sued. Have you?
Several coppers are on record as having been told to drop their investigations. Are THEY liars?!
114 files conveniently disappear into the ether?!
To put it mildly, something not quite right’s goin’ on…Just because beech has been jailed it doesn’t clear anyone, in my opinion.
What happens to Chris Williamson will be a test. Is the Labour Party an open & democratic Socialist Party or an apologetic excuse for a political party? I have been amazed at the number of people I have met recently, who are members of the Labour Party & who have had enough of their Party saying sorry for no reason. The Blairite anthem ‘Things can only get bitter’, should be replaced by Bob Marley’s ‘Get Up, Stand Up!’ Arguing the Socialist cause will always give you the moral high ground. Stop being led like pathetic lambs to the slaughter house of MSM.
The big test is coming with what happens to Chris Williamson.
Whatever happens to Chris Williamson now, will tell us a great deal about the Labour Party.
What happens to Chris Williamson now?
What happens now?
apologies for repeat info. It appears that WordPress are being awkward!
Watson appears almost lost his mind and ability to judge and condemn irresponsibly wrong people including people of a huge scandal of VIP Child Sex Abuse. Many people are not just got hurt but lost jobs, friends and even family. His responsibility for this case is huge, the same as he did to Jennie Formby. He should be asked his responsibility at his position. His claims would have not been that huge and influential if he is not at his position.
Even conservatives like Peter Hitchens have Watson’s measure. Writing in his blog about the Carl Beech case, he says: “The principal politician involved, Tom Watson MP, is protected because he is a valued member of the anti-Corbyn campaign which unites Blairite Labour and Tories in politics and media.
This is a mistake. They should drop him and find another champion. He has demonstrated appalling gullibility and cruelty. He has not shown anything like the necessary contrition. He should never be trusted anywhere near real power.”
The establishment certainly lies to protect itself and the police & press do what they’re told when ‘national security’ is cited – but it’s also true that blackmailing the rich and famous is thought a better bet than blackmailing the equally rich but private citizen – for obvious reasons.
There were always rumours about dodgy teachers when I was a child but I don’t remember any that were ever confirmed.
I do remember one classmate threatening to accuse a particularly inept teacher of molestation if he got detention again though.
That teacher left at the end of term but hopefully only because he wasn’t able to control a not-particularly-unruly class of twelve year old boys.
It used to be said that one boy in four had a homosexual experience at school – no front page google results today though.
Either google’s in on the conspiracy or I’m a half-arsed researcher.