Former MP Mike Gapes supports women MPs for party’s leadership contest
Former Labour and Change UK MP Mike Gapes has praised Jess Phillips and Lisa Nandy as Labour leadership hopefuls he admires.
Asked which MPs winning the contest could persuade him to rejoin the party, Gapes at first demurred but quickly named Phillips and Nandy as two ‘excellent’ MPs he admires:
Gapes stood for election in Ilford South this month for the now-dissolved Change UK. Labour’s Sam Tarry won the seat.
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Jeez! LBC scraping the barrel for interviewees – but allowing Gapes to deliver the kiss of death to his erstwhile colleagues. What’s not to like?
Well we members know not to vote for Nandy or the vile Murdoch loving Phillips if Gapes backs them, but we knew that any way as both were plotters in the disgraceful chicken coup!
Gapes might wish to rejoin the party but I would question whether he would be welcome back. I’m not sure how much Nandy and Philips will appreciate his big,wet, sloppy kiss of death. (the thought of it is enough to make one shudder)
Steve, no need to question, any return of Gapes should be out of the question.
Whats it got to do with him? He is not a member and who we members elect is none of his business
Irrelevant factoids are us, I’m guessing.
Does anyone – even Jess’s fans – actually care?
Gammon Gapes his judgement is priceless as long as you remember to do the opposite!
.”..persuade him to rejoin the Party” indeed? After standing as a candidate for a party that opposed Labour’s policies and campaigning against Labour in the recent General Election his re-admission to the Party would be one of the worst cases entryism I had ever come across.
The man is a declared opponent of Labour who on the basis of this interview and his previous statements intends nothing more than the further disruption of the Party and even more political mischief were he allowed back in.
But I am a forgiving soul – see how he feels about it in 10 years or so . No doubt by at the end of that period he will be able to point to a record of his full support for the Party and its policies.
by the looks of him – he’ll be dead in less than ten years!
Right that’s great then Gapes-sie if you’re recommending those two then that’s clear cut enough for me to …. avoid them like the plague !!!!
PS Mike , how’s the new job search coming along ,,,, been down to the DWP recently ??? bet you don’t even know where it is … twat !
Well done Sam Tarry for winning at least the folks of Ilford South have a real Labour MP
Rock on.
Gapes, the as been wants t b!
A snowball in hell as more chance, making stupid remarks like he has!
He doesn’t know he’s finished until he gets a kick in the goolies!
Another Blair who did their best to bring down JC along with the rest of the “Right Wing ilk”!
No room for any of them in any party, unless they do what they all should have done in the first place “Stand as Tories”!
I’m not sure why he’s getting this publicity.
What is the point? Are you just trying to get us frothing at the mouth for the fun of it?
What we should really be discussing here is what the hell Long Bailey means by ‘Progressive Patriotism’ ?
Even if I were English it would disqualify her in my book, as a Welshman I am outraged.
We need to fight racism tooth and nail, not enable it.
‘Progressive Patriotism’
I too found the phrase a bit jarring, if only because it sounds like a badly conceived PR phrase designed to mean precisely f… all.
It is more than a little bizarre that RLB, a candidate of the left, is using Blairite triangulation as the foundation for her leadership campaign. It does not bode well for the future.
Why is patriotism racist? One can love ones country, be proud of its achievements and want to build on those for all citizens whilst not being blind to sins committed in the past. This is where you Westminster wine bar socialists differ so greatly from traditional labour socialist voters.
*Like*
Westminster wine bar socialist?
I’m a Welsh speaking Welshman living half way up a mountain in west Wales.
And I do not want English ‘Progressive Patriotism’ thank you. It smells disgustingly of an attempt to win back the racist vote from Johnson.
Patriotism makes poor people fight poor people from other countries and sometimes their own – because their respective privileged classes have an economic bone to pick.
Inculcation of patriotism is how the masses are manipulated.
I outgrew Saturday morning cinema when I was eight but you just made me remember why I always refused to stand for the anthem.
I haven’t thought of that in years – my Glaswegian grandad told me stories of rebellion and communism when my Dad wasn’t around, for which I thank him. Seems my father rebelled against his father by taking the blue pill.
If religion is the opium of the masses, patriotism is the cocaine.
I don’t think “not being blind to” is enough. England, specifically the English upper class, is responsible for half the wars on the planet.
British jobs for British workers
Dog whistle racism of the cheap and nasty Tory party
Hostile environment
Is a race to the bottom which New Labour enthusiastically endorsed
How about asking is there anyone in the country who is not patriotic, it’s the politics of right wing fuckwits, divide and conquer
Methinks we are better than this
ceredig….Double barrel Bailey is only interested in furthering her career and leading a party of no particular values were everything has a price and socialism has no place.Some only use the party and the members .Basically more of expediency and no democracy inside of Labour,despite what she claims..Progressive patriotism,straight out of the blairight playbook,probably more bomb Jonny foreigner into the stone age?
There is no way Long-Bailey will get my vote for her “progressive patriotism”. Someone should tell her that any notion of patriotism in a British context is not only racist, but irredemably reactionary on every level.
It smacks of support for jingoism and imperialist incursions abroad, for the so-called ‘independent’ nuclear deterrent (in reality controlled by a US general),plus of course Elizabeth Windsor and her shameless progeny, not to mention cricket and tea cakes on the Tory village green.
Tory Bliar was the last example of a so-called “Labour” PM who used this baneful notion of patriotism, to justify his attack on the innocent people of Iraq. . They died because he stated he believed that the country and its rulers were harbouring weapons of mass destruction. After all the carnage, nothing was found. Yet he still has the gall to pontificate on the sidelines, blaming the recent election defeat on a manifesto and leader who were ‘too left wing’! Does Long-Bailey really want to buy into this discredited narrative?
The last three posts have focused, in turn, on Watson, Adonis and Gapes.
This doesn’t bode well for a Party that needs to be thinking about the future.
Particularly, it doesn’t address the massive standing problem of the JLM nexus within the Party and the refusal (from ignorance or malice) of many Party members to recognise the horrendous damage that it has caused in perpetuating the bald lie that anti-semitism is embedded in the Party..
More specifically ( see the article that I referenced yesterday : https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/the-labour-party-the-blood-libel-and-me/
… and also the report of Marc Wadsworth having to drop his case), none of the deeply wronged and sincere anti-racists are back in the Party, They have been defamed by totally unprincipled free-riders in the PLP, and the effects at a personal of this are vividly laid out in the cited article by Simon Maginn. (It really is a ‘must read’ in detailing the twisted disciplinary processes of the NEC ).
This interregnum is time for a clear-out of the administration, the withdrawal of the IHRA nonsense, establishment of clear definitions in its place and implementation of the Chakraborrty report, particularly in terms of a legally-based disciplinary process.
Any principled MP aware of these facts needs to resign from the JLM if they are a member – it is that organisation that has ‘brought the Party into disrepute’ – not its victims.
I have resolved that, in the future, I will not vote for any Labour candidate who is a member and who is unwilling to state an uncompromising position on Palestinian rights.
We are in danger of appearing to care more about Gaza than Grimsby and the West Bank more than Wigan. Perhaps a period in office and policies and personalities that enable that achievement might be desirable, not a search for crackpot philosophical purity. Winning an election might require compromise but until then we have no power and the policies we can put into action total zero.
Don’t be daft. The two are entirely compatible and flow from the same impulses.
You may have been asleep, but the significance of Gaza (apart from in its own right) is its connection to the amazing corruption of domestic politics by the same right-wing forces that are creating the ghetto on the Mediterranean.
While antisemites cheer Johnson, this Holocaust survivor’s family is fleeing Britain
The threat to Jews from antisemitism comes almost exclusively from the Right, not the Left. Research shows this to be a fact:
But in order to smear a Labour leader that was threatening the influence and power of a few billionaires, the press in the UK – helped by centrists, Tories, Lib Dems and a handful of people in Labour who simply wanted to replace their leader – managed to convince most people that the threat of antisemitism comes from the Left, specifically from Labour.
This is not true.
While many normal people shared my research on line – nobody in the establishment was interested. Because it didn’t fit their agenda of smearing Jeremy Corbyn – who is not remotely and has never been an antisemite.
https://tompride.wordpress.com/2019/12/30/while-antisemites-cheer-johnson-this-holocaust-survivors-family-is-fleeing-britain/
If by ‘crackpot philosophical purity’ you mean honesty, integrity, compassion, and socialist principle, then that is what I want.
I certainly do not want power freaks, feeding the racism of the masses, to acquire their own little power base.
We’ve been there and done that and we don’t want it again.
As far as I can see the only other religious based affiliate in the Labour Party is ‘Christians on the Left’. Maybe the time has come to divest the Labour Party of all its religious affiliates. By all means consult with religious organisations from right across the spectrum but the idea that just 2 religions should have undue influence via their affiliation to the party is an anathema in this day and age.
steve H…..Totaly agree,whilst expression of religion is ok in a democratic society,Groups of religious based organisations have no place in politics and should never be allowed in government as it is already..The Labour party has been infiltrated by too many affiliates and we should be looking for expulsion for some .
When JC was being harassed by Philip Schofield to apologise to the Jewish Community on Good Morning Britain
He had a perfect opportunity to go on the attack
Which Jewish Community do you want me to apologise to you moron
The Jewish Community who support Labour tell me we have nothing to apologise for
As for those who make vexatious claims of anti semitism in support of the Conservative party and Israel, that’s a hate crime and should be prosecuted
It’s not rocket science to call these people out and shine the light on them and their supporters
That initial capitulation proved to be a very slippery slope that inexorably led to Corbyn’s tragic downfall.
Steve – that wasn’t the ‘initial’ capitulation. Capitulations had been falling over each other as they rushed to bend the knee – ever since the beginning of the affair.
And, no – it wasn’t Corbyn’s fault. He had some appalling advice and few coming out and stating what devious, heinous and slanderous rubbish was the whole Israel lobby campaign.
I’m *still* seeing no attempt at putting the record straight, and it brings to mind that 10-year old Peter Oborne documentary where a *Tory* MP was quoted as saying that no MP would come up front with the truth because they were shit scared of The Lobby. We now have clear proof of the degree of the intimidation and the subversion of ‘antisemitism’ as purely a political weapon.
This slavish backing of Israel is one of the major threats to British society, with potentially catastrophic consequences for the actual Jewish community if they become identified with the train of falsehoods spouted by masquerading Tories..
My apologies RH I expressed myself badly. Try substituting
Thatwith The and that comes closer to what I intended to say and it is also consistent with the views that I have repeatedly expressed on here (much to the annoyance of our friend Mr. White-Flag)Well, Steve, the sad shared perspective is that a ‘progressive’ Party incapable of speaking truth unto real power is a failing enterprise.
Which makes me sad, because, in the end, this failure is just a similar sort of failure to Blairism : cowardice in the face of the enemy. Accommodate on basics – and lose.
Like Simon Manginn (see the article posted on JVL) – the question arises as to whether I can be arsed with this combination of empty fantasy, duplicity and cowardice that dominates the Labour Party.
Or is it better for sanity to just do a Candide and cultivate the garden?
RH – I still have hope.
As I’ve said on more than a few occasions before, please ask yourself who on earth these people are that post comments on practically every single article skwawkbox posts each day, EVERY day, SEVEN days a week, month after month after month. No ordinary person on this planet does that!
Allan Howard at 12:35 am
At least it is fairly easy to recognise the sad tw.t, he’s usually waving a white flag.
Yes, he should have done that.
One item I saw said that Corbyn had previously apologized to the Jewish community. So, if the answer was already known, why was he asked again?
Tony I believe that Corbyn realised that AS was never a problem in the Labour party,but for whatever reason he appologised and started the most damaging “king with no clothes fiasco” that ripped the party apart and let the wolves through the door.Many valuable members have been lost,but it didn’t cost us the election and was just one of the attacks against the Labour party and Corbyn.that weakened our campaign.We now need to vote for a socialist leader that will kick off when threatened because any Labour leader will be under the cosh with an unenviable job to clearout the right wing..Kinder gentler politics doesn’t work in a sewer.
I’m still waiting for *any* potential leadership candidate to spell out the issues around media bias and, in specific terms, the antisemitism lies – and what to do about these assaults on democracy.
All I’m hearing is milk and water flagellation( If that’s not a contradiction in terms) and bullshit about ‘progressive patriotism’. If patriotism means anything (which I am prepared to endorse), it includes stuffing those who act against the interests of the country, like the plutocrat press and the Israel Lobby.
There are some interesting comments in the Irish Times from Phil Hogan the EU Trade Commissioner
“Too much of the debate in the UK over the past four years was based on the false notion that it is possible to make a clean-break Brexit while retaining all the benefits of EU membership. Now that the political deadlock at Westminster is broken the next phase of Brexit needs to be based on realism and hard facts.
“Any ‘having our cake and eat it’ rhetoric will not fly. Both sides need to proceed calmly and coherently,” said Mr Hogan.
Asked about the addition of a clause to the UK’s Brexit Bill ruling out any extension to the transition period beyond the end of 2020, Mr Hogan said: “At first sight this seems very odd indeed. From our point of view it is important that we move from stunt to substance. It would be helpful if the focus was on content rather than timetables.”
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/johnson-will-abandon-pledge-on-brexit-transition-period-hogan-1.4126850
It would appear we have landed on the only question we need to ask any prospective candidate
Will you replace JLM and LFI with JVL
If they cannot stand up to vexatious claims of anti semitism and defend the good reputation of the party, members and supporters, then they have no chance against MSM, toilet papers and the cheap and nasty Tory party
Simple as
How do we get those who declare to answer the question
You are quite correct. However, this is the reason why Chris Williamson had to be defenestrated, because he was the only one prepared to take up the cudgels.
There is nobody else.
So bring him back along with the others, its up to us to set the agenda
Geordie Galloway and Ken Livingstone can take on media in their sleep
But if Ken could take on the media in his sleep Doug, how come he ended up LEAVING the Labour Party precisely because of the media onslaught against him. THAT was the very reason he gave for resigning from the party – ie because it was all a diversion (and that there was only one way it was going to end anyway, so what’s the point).
And I have no doubt that McNicol and Co deliberately drew his ‘case’ out as long as possible so that the saboteurs – his fellow saboteurs! – could capitalise on it again and again and again (courtesy of their MSM buddies), and ditto for Jackie Walker, which is precisely what they DID.
The individuals – such as John Mann – and the organisations – such as the JLM and the CAA – and the corporate media were ALL well aware that Ken was alluding to The Haavara Agreement when he said what he said about Hitler supporting Zionism, but there is nothing you can do if they just keep endlessly repeating that it was anti-semitic AND that he is an anti-semite.
I already miss the hope of the Corbyn years.
At the beginning I optimistically thought that so-called ‘centrists’ might be persuaded to jump on board.
I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt – maybe they’d previously seen themselves as trying to nudge a determinedly Thatcherite electorate toward gradually more socialism? Maybe they’d genuinely believed Bliar’s unsupported assertion that the country would never stray from the centre?
When they saw Jeremy’s popularity soaring they got jealous rather than jumping at the chance of giving the people socialism now rather than in thirty years or so, and that was unforgivable.
The near miss of 2017 despite their working against a Labour win would absolutely have convinced any decent Labour MP who actually believed in building a fairer society to embrace the Corbyn project – instead of which it angered them seeing their hold over the party weakened and they doubled down on the smears.
I’d split and ditch the name “Labour” now, sadly – it’s blighted by association with Blair so it’s a liability. Thanks for pissing on a century of history, Tone, you fucking weasel.
Two big questions – how to prevent more parasites infesting the new party – and who’s tough and smart and principled enough to lead it?
Gardiner might be the toughest and smartest – I’m just not convinced he’s that much of a socialist.
Truthfully, there’s no candidate that doesn’t leave me flaccid.
65 million people have produced only one inspirational politician in all my 70 years – what the fuck?
The problem isn’t ‘centrism’ … or even ‘Blairism’. It’s cowardice, careerism and rhetoric without substance.
I can’t find a potential leader who looks like one or is prepared to spell out the actual underlying problems of existing power structures and influence in a way that might make a brainwashed electorate pause for thought.
FFS – ‘Radical thinking’ on the left often amounts to pandering to Tory instincts amongst conservative voters and supporting the Tory policy of Brexit!
RLB is supposed to be Corbyn’s annointed. Says it all.
Double barrel Bailey is only anointed by the same people who got rid of Corbyn.We can’t go backwards or what was the fight for if we allow it.We’ve got strength in the membership and its time to use some muscle to start again with a more ruthless cull of governance and the PLP and that takes real organisation and leadership.of less forgiving nature.
RH, “cowardice, careerism and rhetoric without substance” pretty much define the man and his legacy of so-called ‘centrism’ for me.
As a summation of the tory-lite wool-pulling bullshitters’ personality traits I might add to it but I wouldn’t argue with it.
Views on Ian Lavery then folks ????
Is he tough enough and principled enough , could he stand the shit that JC had for 4 yrs and more , who’d be his second in command ?
Has he got the mental stamina to face down the howling Tories and our own PLP ??
Perhaps we ‘d be best on the “Left ” to let some idiot like Starmer or gobshite Phillips have a go for 3 or 4 yrs , let the MSM destroy them and then give em the boot to replace with our own LW just before the next GE .
TBH until we face the truth of the matter then it is irrelevant who leads as they will all be gutted by the Establishment/MSM.
IMO there is now only one way forward , a cross party alliance of the opposition parties to become one untied coalition whos only purpose is to bring the following 4 changes to our broken system to fruition
1.Full PR
2.Written Constitution
3.Make all lobbying and “gifts” illegal , fund Parties by tax.
4.Apply Leveson 2 fully and with ruthlessness of the first order , regulate our “not free” MSM press.
Once accomplished , the coalition dissolves itself and calls new GE under this strengthened fairer Democracy .
AND with that my fellow Comrades I sign off for 2019 and wish , where possible, you all a Happy New Yr and good luck ( we are going to need it in spadefuls I fear )
rob, what if the MSM gives Starmer or some other ‘centrist’ an easy ride, as happened with Blair?
When renewed Tory austerity makes a re-run of the Poll Tax riots look possible, a half-Labour half-Tory party might well look like the least worst option for the rich.
Again.
Just like in 1997.
How will the left take back control when the argument that “the British people will always choose moderation” appears proven yet again?
How will any left wing candidates even get past the selection process then?