As SKWAWKBOX recently revealed, the Labour right is trying to reverse the socialist direction taken by the Labour-affiliated Socialist Health Association (SHA). Online elections for the SHA’s national officers and Central Council members close on February 21.
During the last three years, the SHA has:
- submitted two successful conference motions for Labour to reinstate a fully renationalised NHS
- undertaken a major review of SHA governance in order to deal with wide-ranging problems that have increased ever since the recommendations of a similar review five years ago were buried by the SHA’s former right-wing leadership
- completed a disciplinary process, that resulted in the dismissal of its former director after a finding of abusive and disparaging remarks about staff and vulnerable residents and improper behaviour in SHA elections
- suspended and relaunched the Greater Manchester SHA branch, whose membership it found to have been inflated by fake members and by large scale short-term recruitment aimed solely at influencing the makeup of CLP delegations
SHA insiders say that a right-wing ‘coup’ attempt is being coordinated by a businessman and members of the SHA’s West Midlands branch including some of the ‘usual suspects’ familiar from the right’s manoeuvres within the Labour Party itself.
It’s vital for SHA members to vote in the current Central Council elections in order to maintain the advances made in recent years and to prevent members of Progress and Labour First turning the clock back to the bad old days, when the SHA colluded with New Labour attacks on critics of PFI, privatisation and outsourcing in the NHS.
SHA members can make their vote count by supporting all of the following candidates – especially the officers:
Advancing the left
Officers
Chair – Mark Ladbrooke
Secretary – Punita Goodfellow
Treasurer – Irene Leonard
Central Council members
Carol Ackroyd
Martin Brooks
Nicholas Csergo
Terry Day
Patrick French
Brian Gibbons
Punita Goodfellow
Rizwan Jalil
Tony Jewell
Coral Jones
John Kennedy
Mark Ladbrooke
Corrie Louise Lowry
Joe McManners
Tanagrajabu Nala-Hartley
Mike Roberts
Alex Scott-Samuel
Kathrin Thomas
Judith Varley
Stephen Watkins
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Don’t know how accurate this now but these are the officers as of 2018.
https://www.sochealth.co.uk/the-socialist-health-association/sha-country-and-branch-organisation/socialist-health-association-west-midlands/
Seems like there is a highly organised campaign to push every aspect of the LP to the right. No doubt coordinated from Blair towers ? It shows how little influence and control Corbyn and McDonnell had during their time in charge and how vulnerable the LP is now.
I agree. Criticism of Corbyn, Formby, Murphy and others for not succeeding in moving the party to the left is completely unjustifiable when the right wing’s unlimited funding, entrenched power structures and sole ownership of the MSM is borne in mind.
Tories, Blair & other ‘centrists’ will do anything to avoid facing the fact that trickle down economics is a crock of shit.
Tax cuts for the rich let them keep more of their profits, some of which they donate to tax cutting governments.
A virtuous circle if you’re rich or a Tory or a Tony Blair, but poverty and deprivation for the rest of us.
IT’s so very sad to see the Labour party being pushed to the right wing moderates.I want non of it and so like many others feel like we were cheated by the establishment within the Labour party and weak individuals who gave ground to the PLP and NEC
Yes it’s perhaps all being co-ordinated by the offices of Blair, Mandelson & co and the Left needs to get its act together for 2 NEC candidates and 1 BAME candidate or we let the Right in.
And suddenly 10 BOD demands and see how easily they reel some of the niave left in, as they abstain in the Leadership contest and let Starmer in, in the CLP nomination meetings.
Starmer is a Right Wing Neo-Liberal careerist who would perhaps be better suited to the Lib Dems and Rayner is a political lightweight but they all (apart from RLB and Burgon) PRETEND to be Left to Con the Corbyn leaning membership but are Wolves in Sheep’s clothing.
RLB and Burgon are the last chance saloon for the left or “There will be purges” and with Starmer et al for Labour it’s political oblivion.
Perhaps a heavy metal song has a message for the Left “Be quick or be dead!”
RLB/Burgon
Yes we need to get out there in Leave/left behind areas with RLB and Burgon to offer political support – countering the Tory Neo-Liberal narrative and practical support – information on help available.
We also need to counter the far right, they aim to divide diverse working people – setting different groups against each other and thus helping the rich and powerful.
If the political moron Starmer gets in, running to the centre and political oblivion for Labour then its up to us on the left to fight the Far right Barbarians.
Went to a fascinating CLP Leader/Deputy nomination meeting – attendees 40% left, 20% non-political, poorly read but good Labour people- 40% right (The Tory Party within who block all the left’s efforts to liberate working people). But out of 120 people (some never seen before and never seen out campaigning, there after right wing Labour careerist MP ring round) the left slaughtered the right with political arguments but 65 right politically dim people were there to vote for lightweight Starmer/Rayner and arguments were sadly futile.
Wonderful though to hear the passion of the young socialists there.
The Tory Neo-Liberals have spent £435b on QE since 2010 which has just kept the economy static “Because they haven’t a clue what to do” and ONLY RLB and Burgon offer what needs doing.
RLB and particularly Burgon will also create a revolution in Labour, bringing in loads of diverse working class people, and hopefully we will take over with good socialist teachers like some of us!
Solidarity & X.
‘Back Becky and Back Burgon.
They are the ones for you.
To stick it to Neo-Liberal Tories.
For the many not the few.’
A witch hunt is the usual course for the Rt when they’re losing. If their arguments were good enough then they’d win on merit, but somehow the chattering classes don’t appeal to the ordinary working class voters.
So yes, they’ll pack the meetings with ‘voting fodder’ (inactive members) and they may win many positions, and we’ll then see the emergence of the fascists on the streets as these same chattering classes have nothing to offer except appeasement to the business world and lip service to the millions in poverty.
Democracy frightens some people; they only like the term when they’re in control and their actions and attitude will soon be apparent to all. Fascism is gaining ground all over the world due to the failure of the people who are happy to manage decline for the best interests of capitalism, and to the detriment of the many.
We live in a Psychopathocracy, and always have done. That is why reality is what it is, and why history is what it was.
It’s in reality a corporatocracy and has been for over a century!
Back Becky & Burgon!
Rosena Chantelle Allin-Khan has made it onto ballot paper for the Deputy Leadership vote.