Party continues to focus on those who compiled report more than behaviour it exposed
Labour’s investigation of the leaked party report shows every sign of being the whitewash Labour members feared.
The report alleges that an array of senior staffers:
- undermined Labour’s electoral campaigns
- funnelled campaign funds into a secret ‘Ergon House’ project to pay for their own campaign priorities
- obstructed disciplinary investigations – including into complaints of antisemitism
- abused and misled fellow staff
and were involved in other misconduct.
Such conduct would normally result in suspension of membership – and employment for those still employed – pending investigation at the very least. However, the party has instead spent a large sum on forensic computer investigators – to examine the machines of the staff who ordered and compiled the report.
The name of the firm is apparently CMP – and the amount is in six figures.
Meanwhile, there has been no word of any suspensions of those mentioned in the report. Former general secretary Iain McNicol has temporarily resigned the Labour whip in the House of Lords, but appears to have done so voluntarily.
That alleged political misconduct – a party’s staff trying to promote its defeat and bring down its elected leader – is an event of historic significance, but has been almost entirely ignored by the so-called ‘mainstream’ media. It appears the party’s new leadership is keen to do the same and is instead engaged in ‘hunt the whistleblower’.
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Starmer was always bad news.
Starmer is bad news.
Starmer will always be bad news.
We must regain control of OUR party.
🌹🌹🌹
I genuinely believe that is an impossible task. The party has swung back to the hard right, and will never be allowed to return to it’s original purpose. I’m gutted.
Why do you believe that? 🌹🌹🌹
“will never be allowed”. Dig into that. Try to explain it and you may see why i believe the very opposite.
I believe our party has not “swung back to the hard right” because of the stars, but because of our selves. It swings not because of some invisible beings. It swings because of human actions and inaction. OUR actions and inactions. It always does.
All human interactions in the main “swing” according to human effort and lack of wise efforts rooted in reality.
Lots love and logical hope
🌹🌹🌹
What a wonderful new leader the membership has chosen. Many thanks to the Blairites for choosing the slime ball.
There won’;t be any suspensions. The offenders are amongst new friends!
We had control. We gave it away. We gave away our control of our party. We must work night day to get it back. We can get it back. It is logical.
First steps: 1️⃣ Learn. 2️⃣ Accept we made unforced errors. 3️⃣ Change
Second steps: 1️⃣ Get priorities right. 2️⃣ Get our sequencing right. 3️⃣ Drop the BLOODY virtue signalling.
Third steps: 1️⃣ Our electorate is here. 2️⃣ Without winning an election here, all the nano niche interest, virtue signalling and endless book readings are pathetic metropolitan indulgent self referencing out of touch cosy nice group ridiculous laughable noise.
3️⃣ Value our electorate’s BASIC UNIVERSAL needs. Restored local industry. Small and medium sized businesses. Health. Education. End outsourcing. End tax evasion and avoidance. End subsidising big corporations. End handout to the likes of grinning Richard Branson & Co. for starters. OF COURSE the list of basics include many other urgent issues…. trying to be brief.
Most of all, develop the ability to learn quickly, and act EFFECTIVELY to win back control of our party in this country in this world, not in other countries in some mythical ideal world. If we cannot maintain control of our 100 year home here, then how can we achieve things elsewhere???🌹🌹🌹
Peter Berry FFs !! P*** OFF !! SH itStomar toadie.
Reply to signposts post
I don’t think the right ever did lose control of the party.They had control of the PLP and exercised that control ruthlessly to undermine Jeremy. Every day one or other of them made public threats to resign , threats to vote against the party whip,criticising and complaining – undermining Jeremy at every turn. Not one of them ever offered him one iota of support even when he was falsely accused of the most vile and reprehensible behaviour. Nothing was too bad to say about or believe about him.
It is notable that during the coup the PLP position was “Jeremy is a decent man but……” However over the course of the following 3 years that changed to ” Jeremy is an antisemite/ facilitates antisemitism”. Antisemites or antisemetic facilitators are not decent people but this point was not put to any of his accusers.
They worked to undermine him every day as Mandleson admitted and had the backing of multi millionaires like Tony Blair and the establishment including religious leaders and the Security service.As we now know senior party officials also worked to bring Jeremy down even going so far as to obstruct the complaints process so that Jeremy could be blamed delays in resolving complaints.
Jeremy stood up to them all which is evidence of his strength and dedication but eventually the mud flung at him every day stuck, we lost the general election and we now have Keir Starmer as leader. However I believe that despite the election of Starmer the vast majority of members remain socialists and we will once again elect a socialist leader in a few years time.
Agree totally Smartboy. And i notice SH, Peter Berry, Lockett r working hard to pretend otherwise. We must not let them discourage us. We cannot say it is impossible when we can see as plain as day that there was ZERO attempt to resist them. I still need to dig out the note i made of the MSM radio presenters who said they cannot understand why Jeremy did not take the slanders to court.
One who was a bit less openly hostile has now become a passionate defender of johnson but even he at first said Jeremy was not AS. Another on the same station was incredulous but not boiling over passionate. He seemed genuine to me and said words to the effect that as we all know Jeremy is definitely not AS. That presenter is no longer on but they are a TV regular.
Yet two others on another station much the same but i remember one in particular VERY passionately unable to understand why things were not being challenged in court. That particular presenter tends to be very intense. NB it is not the extremely noisy unpleasant browbeating hardworking morning propagandist. I almost never tune in to that noisy one and the far less noisy but equally unpleasant and oily one.
Anyway will dig through the notes i hope i made. But others could retrieve Talkradio mid morn WEEKDAY prog when the AS campaign was on. And the LBC afternoon weekend progs from same period and the Talkradio weekday 16:00hr to 19:00hr slot. I am in possession of marvellous equipment and have a vast number of hours of current affairs live radio recs. Since 2014, sadly they have been in storage though. Even then the cataloguing etc of those is an Herculean exercise. I now just use inexpensive DAB radios with presets and my phone with presets.
Anyway Smartboy, Zen and appeasement free, we can win this battle. Tis not easy as discipline is you may realise is in short supply. You can see it was not there and it still is not here. Increasingly I feel that the unprofessional attitude of hiding frank feedback has prevented improvement. It has perpetuated a passive aggressive destructive cycle of repeated errors. We must admit that, address it and never let it return. NEVER.
It is clear to me now after reading CW’s article in the Morning Star that is key. When people have admirable qualities and we love them, we confuse honest feedback as honest feedback. The best parents, friends, colleagues, teachers, teammates, tell you how you can improve.
Ask Andy Murray, Lewis Hamilton, The William’s sisters, Ali were he alive, pilots, surgeons, doctors etc THAT’s how we achieve excellence in the normal world. But to my great surprise, not in politics ESPECIALLY on the “Left”. We can change. We have to change. We must change. And we must wish discouragers well and send them elsewhere. We’ve heard them enough now. They are not up for this battle. Worse yet they could be doing something useful elsewhere. 🌹🌹🌹
ps Smartboy, agree except Jeremy definitely did not stand up to them.🌹🌹🌹
Jeremy Corbyn did much better at standing up to the combined forces against him – the PLP, Labour HQs Staff at every level,the Tories,the MSM in particular the national broadcaster ,the BBC and the Establishment- than could be reasonably expected.
Jeremy was portrayed as weak while Margaret Thatcher was called the Iron Lady yet when she was ousted by her party she was devastated and never in my opinion fully recovered. Jeremy’s treatment was a thousand times worse than anything Thatcher had to ensure and he’s still smiling still working hard for social justice and human rights here and abroad.A man in a million.
Those who worked against Jeremy Corbyn have denied us a great prime minister and none of them should be permitted to have a role in our party at any level.
Reply to signpost
If Jeremy Corbyn had taken on everyone who slandered and libelled him he would have had no time to do anything else. Remember he was variously a Marxist, Trotskite, Stalinist, terrorist supporter, unpatriotic, a spy, a pacifist and a bore. They even managed to use his charitable donations to allege he is a spendthrift.
In my opinion he did all he could in the circumstances. Actually I think that a lot of what he had to contend with was designed to make him either lose it at the time or take court action.
Regarding court action it is very difficult to prove a negative i.e. prove that a person is not something e.g. an antisemite. No doubt many Socialist and Charedi Jews would have come forward to attest that Jeremy is no antisemite. However they lack the clout of e.g. the Board of Deputies so it is far from certain that Jeremy would have won a court case.
In relation to dealing with detractors within the party, when the party tried to investigate Margaret Hodge for her public and very unseemly behaviour towards Jeremy she claimed that the prospect of disciplinary action by Labour made her feel like a Jew in Nazi Germany. In my opinion this comment trivialises the deportation and mass murder of 6 million European Jews. If you or I had said it we would have been accused of holocaust denial. However no action was taken about this matter and in the end she even got off with her public verbal attack on Jeremy. This should not have happened and there is definitely a lesson to be learned there.
you make my point, except tell me who Jetemy took on re your first line. To my memory Jeremy took on no one. Not one. But put me right. I’v already quoted John McDonald squeal. “We did everything THEY asked”. That and your first line, are incompatible. McD’s whine is in keeping with what we have all observed. Give praise where it is due, not when it is not or people live for 70 years and repeat the same errors every year. Others in their wake may feel, that was celebrated, so they never learn better ways. Instead they copy that which people praised – failure. Same with the Tories, they and their MSM cohorts praise them despite incompetence. Busy overworked people believe the myths so there is no impetus to change. Tory incompetence is there for all to see but as we are suggestible beings people believe the myths of Tory competence so Tories remain incompetent and get more so every day.
Sadly the same applies to us. I feel i can feel from a distance your reluctance to face the harsh truth. Its harsh for me too but i know that is not how critical / ie life or death nor eve less serious enterprises are conducted. Errors have to be declared accurately and the must be fixed. Contorting ones vision / assessment does no one any worthwhile good. Errors are repeated and people die if we fail to acknowledge what went wrong.
The failure to stand up to ANY of the slurs etc, emboldened the cesspit dwellers of slurs. Throughout the team and throughout the time there was a collective failure in ie “Doing EVERYTHING THEY asked”. We gain nothing by avoiding this High Definition fact. We lost much by failing to correct it. We may lose everything if we continue to misdirect energies praising errors instead of thinking how can we prevent them reoccurring. 🌹🌹🌹
To answer your previous question to my post, because the platform won’t allow me to reply to a reply- Corbyn was only added to the nomination paper for Leader as an act of charity, essentially. What we saw then was MASSIVE support for left wing Labour politics, and daily attacks by the mainstream media, concerted attacks by Baxstabber and the NEC by suspending candidates likely to support Corbyn, as well as daily undermining by the likes of Twatson, Mandelson, and a variety of coups by 170 odd PLP twats.
Despite McNichol scuttling off to caress his peerage (perhaps for services to scummery, I have no idea) and Corbyn winning TWO contests, we now know that there were possibly several acts of sabotage on Labour’s election campaign, and widespread disappointment by senior staffers that Labour actually got SO CLOSE to success in the 2017 election.
So to summarise, daily bullying of a Leader, blatant (and suspected) electoral fraud (including the MSM supporting the tories by attacking Labour/Corbyn) and the biggest political scandal since Watergate being exposed in the leaked Labour report. And that’s not mentioning any number of other dirty tricks faced by the twice democratically elected Leader of the Opposition.
I’ve supported Labour for almost 40 years, cringed at scandal after scandal, finally had hope, and watched it be crushed before my eyes.
The Trilateral Commission member that now leads Labour, and has been complimented by press and tories alike, along with the re-election of Baxstabber et al to the NEC tells me all I need to know about whether Labour will be allowed to swing back to it’s originally defined purpose as a champion of the worker and the majority of folk in this oppressed country.
Agree with much of what you say Media B. Please find much of it my my posts over the last several months since October i think from Open Selection period.
The crushing is painful. My eyes were often filled with tears. I’m going through the grieving stages. Think i’m coming out of the Anger stage now.
I do not subscribe to the oft repeated “allowed to swing back…” the allowed bit esp. The word indicates what i’v been struggling to communicate. The idea that we only get what others allow. You sound sincere so it must be upbringing / nurture etc. That idea, though i’v read it here too often, would never occur to me. It may even be true but it would never occur to me to operate in that way.
I think Jeremy and team operated in that way hence in private “doing everything THEY asked”. That revelation was involuntary. The members were not meant to know that. McD squealed it out of frustration. I must stop now but you may trace my line of thought since Sept / Oct. But for now the “allowed” attitude is problematic.
Think of it, many things “allowed” now were not even “allowed” last two years. More so five, twenty, thirty, etc. We fight for what needs to be “allowed”. Fight intelligently… sometimes without “fighting” eg Ghandi. Sounds yoghurt like but nothing is fixed.
Nothing is fixed… including science. Interestingly as per this deadly incompetent and deliberately deadly government, some of us will know, but all should, that there is no such thing as “THE SCIENCE”. Ergo no such thing as following “THE science”. If even there were such a thing then how would it be possible for anyone let alone this govt led by this most incompetent of governments to know it?
This government is only competent at enriching the 1% chums and donors with £multimillion contracts. They do not know THE science of anything let alone a new Coronavirus – Covid-19.
I have heard the government “scientist” from the very first press briefing saying the most unscientific things. I have been gob smacked from then to date. All who know SOME less unsettled “science” will know that Covid-19 is behaving in the most extraordinary of ways. This remarkable Covid-19, could never be managed by anyone who thinks that there is THE science to follow. It does not exist.
Science is a slow accumulation of contested scrutinised, repeatable “knowledge”. That “knowledge” in general and in particular with a very new virus will NEVER have the definite article. Even this government’s phenomenally reckless “scientist” with apparent scant regard for their own professional integrity, will know that.
They have shown depth scraping but brazen shoddiness. Yet even they must know, that “THE” science does not exist. They have set out to deliberately deceive the general public, hand in hand with Dominic Cummings and boris johnson. Tomorrow i will say what alerted me at the 1st or 2nd press briefing.🌹🌹🌹
Ffs !! MOVE ON !!
Berry Ffs SHUT UP !!
Maybe you should follow your own advice.
For all your sound and fury, you have nothing of substance to offer.
(And just like de-coupling for the yanks, you might not like what MOVE ON brings in reality)
It’s a contest. Who was/is Mr. Smarmy — Blair or Starmer. Both fully-paid up members of the Tory Party.
Blair creature is smarmy, slimed, parasitic anal worm that invades and kills millions anywhere it could and seeks dirty money from despots. Starmer is its dull dire appendage. Think worm in a worm in a worm in worms way in the middle of the cesspit.
We must flush them out of our party. Fight hard. Fight smart.🌹🌹🌹
Reply to Signpost’s 4.34 pm post
Thanks for your reply. The demonisation of Jeremy Corbyn and those of us who supported him was disgusting. I have no doubt whatsoever that if any Palestine supporting socialist becomes leader at some future date they will be subjected to similar treatment.However I can’t think of anyone who could have taken the slurs, insults and smears Jeremy took and still be standing. However the power of the MSM and the establishment should worry us all.
Jeremy took slurs all right. Problem he and his team failed to defend him. eg John McDonald “We did everything THEY asked”. We myst face the key facts Smartboy or the errors will be repeated. The role of a leader is not to sit back and take as you say “slurs, insults and smears”. If you do they stick people rightly believe them because you have not defended yourself. That Smartboy is not to be applauded because others are implicated half a million members have been smeared by association Smartboy. THOUSANDS have been expelled. I can feel the pain some of them express on SB. That is not right Smartboy. How can one sit back and see thousands of your troops suffer GROSS injustices???
It is also very sad to read your last line. It is not a good excuse because all of us know the power of the MSM and establishment. Mandela had the MSM and establishment against him. They are on one side. We are on the other. We defend ourselves not declare defeat without fighting. I joined to support Jeremy. I did. Ge won the leadership and the coups. After each spectacular uplifting victory, he withdrew. Long periods of silence and absence. Un rebutted obvious slanders as if they would just fade.
During the Remain protest, I was listening to LBC, people were asking where was Jeremy. He had not been heard or seen for a while. A journalist then said where he was. He was on the continent collecting a peace award. The presenter did not comment. They moved on. Smartboy the electorate here knew nothing of the award. I feel sure i am the only poster mentioning it and i would be amazed if anyone read of it anywhere. Prove me wrong. But i was saddened because this was all through the slurs etc of which you speak. Smartboy to me that shows a COMPLETE blindness and deafness and insensitivity to the emotional needs of troops. Even the practical needs as that info enables troops to phone up radio stations etc and defend their leader.
If we can change these traits, then i am not in the least bit afraid of MSM power. We are aware of their power so we should prepare to deal with them. BASIC: When Jeremy came to our attention and set out his stall, he won us DESPITE the media. Each time he did. I believe their was a deficit in the team and may be him also where by instead of realising we voted for what we saw and heard. They thought that would continue. WRONG.
My analysis is this eventually with no counter attack… like an old fashioned egg timer, eventually all the narrative is one sided. Plus in myself there was an exhausting feeling of distress. There would be an electric speech eg outside at the Trump visit and the same day a crushing (to me) underpowered mumble as if he barely cared.
That indicated to me, especially in the 2nd year , that neither he nor his team realised the critical importance of that. At my own expense, I put aside my own important things and wrote off with my observations and advice. I got one standard reply. Even after the election the same poor presentation was on display.
We must admit these things so they are not repeated. The odd thing is that the team changed things that never bothered me eg dress. I thought he looked relaxed before. Other than the GQ Feature, his other suit wearing sometimes seemed uncomfortable. I loved his shell suit and bicycle. And his other supporters loved it as we voted for him over and over.
But when the MSM tried the he’s unwell, that v weekend photos were published of him exercising etc. When it was more obvious to even the casual observer, that Jeremy is super physically and mentally fit. Yet that slur got a response from his team. All very odd Smartboy. But don’t give up. Never give up. The dying Covid-19 people alas are paying the price of Starmer & Co’s gross sabotage. But we can work night and day to prevent this tragedy happening again. Starmer & Co worked night and day and got Cumming’s johnson elected. There is no reason why we cannot return his support X 3 trillion and quickly. 🌹🌹🌹
We all knew it would be a whitewash. But the visible stains remain. And they dtinknto high heavens.
Despite his proven persecution of Julian Assange, despite the proof of his membership of an anti democratic right wing organization, despite the evidence of his suppression of a secret list of patrons and the blatant disregard for democracy with the chicken coup plus the his main input into the disastrous Brexit policy. There are those in the democratic socialist Labour party who cannot grasp they have been taken for mugs, just like all those who thought the last messiah, Tony Blair would be the knight to save the Labour party. To quote the adage, minds are like parachutes best used when open!
Well put!
What I would like to know and so far no member of the NEC has commented on it is:
!- was the alleged “operation cupcake” loose talk? or was operation cup cake enacted?
2-when the emails pointing towards the possible existence of “operation cupcake were discovered, why Jennie Formby didn’t inform the NEC immediately asking for an independent audit of all CLPs and Party accounts to take place in regard with the 2017 General Elections?
3-Was the Treasurer of the Labour Party aware of the existence of the alleged “operation cupcake” at the time of the 2017 General Election?
4- Is there a possibility that PPERA (2000) was breached if the alleged “operation cupcake” was enacted?
5-Why members of the NEC haven’t made a request to the Electoral Commission to investigate this matter?
6- Why the Skwawbox doesn’t start a petition collecting the signatures of Labour Party members to formally request that the Electoral Commission looks into the Party accounts in relation to the 2017 General Election?
I am fed up, with the innuendo and the allegations, I want a proper investigation by the Electoral Commission to know for sure what went on and if their were breaches to PPERA (2000) If the Electoral Commission finds evidence pointing towards PPERA breaches that could have amounted to criminal activity, for the matter to be referred to the Police for further investigation and if their is evidence of a crime been committed for the CPS to take the matter forward on criminal proceedings and for these people to end up with a jail sentence, if proven guilty.
Skwawky- sounds good yo me- any chance?
Nice to see my international membership fees being misused to bring down loyal Labour members and once again a witchunt on our finances.This could be the straw that breaks the camels back.Very depressing,but I suppose all very predictable under the Nu Labour party.and the establishment Knight.
I received a response to my complaint to the Labour Party today.
It appeared to be a generic response, and didn’t address a single aspect of the original complaint, with the exception of the final line:- There will be no refund of membership fees.
The response was solely focussed on finding the whistle blower, and using a forensic company to do so.
I’ve been Labour all my life, voting for them every single time, with exception to Blair’s last election, because by then we could see through him. His damage lives on.
I will never vote Labour again, unless it reverts back to being a party that represents the majority of peoples’ best interests.
I fear that will not happen, and never be allowed to happen.
“unless it reverts back to being a party that represents the majority of peoples’ best interests.”
How will that happen?
“I fear that will not happen, and never be allowed to happen.”
QUESTION: Why when we had increased control, did we not strain even one sinew to increase that control? Especially as the Rightwing Tories like Starner, Bliar, Mandelson & Co did not bother to hide their hatred of us? They were open, eg “KNIFE JEREMY IN THE FRONT!!!” Why were they rewarded over and over for every stab?
Why was the membership so obscenely taken for granted? Not just taken for granted by Tory infiltrators, but by our own.
I do not believe our own meant any ill will to us. Not to Chris Williamson … not to the over two hundred signatories rejecting the most horrendous slanders and lies… It was not ill will from our side.
That failure was a combination of ingrained attitudes of, jellied weakness, a refusal to engage in the world in an adult way, ie people are as the are in this world. We are immature if after many decades we refuse to accept that. Even children realise that. Children realise that playing house with a little brother or sister is a different dynamic to playing cricket, rugby or football with a bigger team and more complex human interactions. As you grow older you must surely realise that when Ermentrude throws her allotment rubbish repeatedly over to yours, she may cease if you ignore her poor behaviour and in any case, she only does it to you and your friend.
When you are in charge of the welfare of the whole set of allotments then nationwide, that zen approach tolerable in the comparative nano sphere, does not cut it. It may even be selfish as it ignores how others may feel. That you can tolerate Ermentrude’s bad behaviour to you is bad enough. To allow her to spoil the enjoyment of others is a basic dereliction of duty. Not through ill will but through, ill focus, a refusal to reflect, a refusal to prioritise, a refusal to learn, a refusal to manage the here and now, a refusal to consider the immediate concerns of others close by, while fixating on things you cannot change in lets say Chile. In Chile, distressed people will certainly be touched by some one from afar expressing interest in their plight. But facts are, your efforts will achieve little concrete benefit. And they do not have a vote here. FACT‼️
When someone says openly they will “knife you” in the front or back, that should have been followed by immediate suspension, swift investigation, swift expulsion and reporting to the police.
Similarly, when the squaddies were using Jeremy’s image for target practise, that abhorrent behaviour should have been reported and convictions pursued.
When slanderers LIED, they should have been pursued in court TO THE VERY END…. with the same party funds Starmer is now pursuing whistleblowers.
Extraordinary REPEATED unforced errors on our side ENCOURAGED the right wing to act without fear. They realised that DESPITE having historic control of the party for some bizarre reason the NEC, Region, John McDonald AND Jeremy were “DOING EVERYTHING THEY ASKED.” and taking the 500,000 members devotion and support for granted. FACT.
People can only do their best. They did their best. I believe however in learning from all corners and acting from logic in the real world. Those who tried their best in their way failed themselves, failed our party, failed us and handed control back to the Right Wing. I saw no fight. Did you? Put me right and give ONE example. I would normally ask for three but give ONE example as it’s a big ask. Say where ANY of the Tory infiltrators had to put up a fight to defend the indefensible.
No. I could not remember one either.
Therefore we do not know that we cannot regain control, if we tried LEARNING and taking a fresh approach that is logical and real. We need to do that with completely new people in the NEC etc. I have been thinking also, from the onset I knew of a few of the Right and dubious people Eg Rayner. I sensed when she turned. She however carefully made herself known. She won the dep. I supported Burgon, but exactly like Jeremy, i had no idea of his existence until the leadership elections. Some will fume like crazed odd people that they were unknown to me. But that is a symptom of our problem. This out of touch idea that the electorate even me must go in search to find out what Richard thinks or Jeremy thinks. It must be the opposite way around. Think of it, the same crazed boilers are the ones who spout things about bottom up and grass roots!!! But the grassroots must come to them and strain their ears to listen to the mumbles of some Buddha. NO‼️‼️‼️
Plus the world is made up of diverse peopke doing diverse things. If they were busy researching UBI or UI and Marx, very little would get done. I know. I see it. Despite small success, the Right Wing has out played us at every turn by fair means or foul. The NEC and Region failed us. It was not the Right, they worked determinedly as they have ALWAYS done to achieve their interest. Sadly mu lot are determined to reread and discuss Foucault‼️‼️‼️ I kid you not!!! To quote, as best as remembered, when suggested that a talk was upcoming re Foucault, that was the excited response from someone. It seemed genuine to me.
On another occasion when someone mentioned a protest for something, i think the same person piped up that they “LOVE a protest”. It is avoidance / displacement / camaraderie. Never mind solidifying gains on the NEC, winning a GE, publicising gains to boost morale widely, putting pressure on the infiltrators, Oh no. No appeal lets meet up with a group with whom we already agree and say how much we agree with each other on Kashmir. If we continue unchanged, the Right Wing need not allow anything, nor do anything. They will infest our party for eternity… because not enough of us prioritised and focused on basic obvious common-sense. So detached some are, they are spitting yoghurt and hemp if they’ve read this far.
DUMP the yoghurt and hemp!!! LEARN from the RightWing infiltrators!!! I’v already heard Arsetair Campbellend twice on radio this AM. After Cummings & johnson were handed our victory, from that very night, and for weeks after, the sabateurs, Coyle, Streeting, Hayter, Hodge, Straw, Campbellend, Benn etc ALL of them were on every single radio station blaming their engineered Tory win on Jeremy. It was weeks before I heard any of his supporters in parliament and him appear. Even then, unlike all previous politicians instead of getting a bounce a sort of relief, to my grief and amazement, the same mumbling, passive aggressive / timid approach.
AH will no doubt respond with his usual AHolery. He exhibits EXACTLY those traits which handed our victory back to the infiltrators and their Cummings & johnson. Failure to learn. Failure to admit errors, Failure to see they need pointing out so we stimulate wide awareness and remedies THROUGHOUT the party from GRASSROOTS up. Our “leaders” are not infallible. Even the present pope man has dumped the ridiculous concept of wilful AHolery ie papal infallibility.
Those who after forty plus decades, close up observing right wing machinations then in each of four years is kind and gentle to them but unkind and rough with the most able and faithful of defenders like Chris Williamson, is a problem, not a solution.
Those who are enraged and fail to point that out, face that inconsistency and thus fail to prevent repeated failures, are problems, not solutions.
Until we change the above problems, yes the Right wing will keep control. But if we have a detox of the problems and traits on our side and ALL of the infiltrators to our party, then we can regain full control and defeat the shambles & eugenics of Cummings and johnson and replace their corrupt outfit with a TRUE Labour government, NOT with Starmer & Co who openly declared they were working “night and day” to make their Tories win.
Take responsibility. Think collectively, Act nimbly and wisely. Use every intelligent means to return to them quickly ONE TRILLION TIMES the support they gave over the last four years. Quickly and generously. Return their support.
Anything can happen at anytime. BE PREPARED. No time to waste. Nothing to lose.🌹🌹🌹
As a non British I would say that the fundamental problem is that the British cannot handle conflict with people they see as belonging to the same group.
The left of the Labour Party always seem to strive for unity within the Party and regards members of its right wing as comrades. Hence, the comment of John McDonnell inviting Alistair Campbell back to join the Party. The opposite can be said with regard to the members of the right of the Labour Party. They don’t see us as comrades but as a necessary irritant. When they talk about a broad church what the right of the Party really means is let’s have a division of labour: we (the right) keep the positions: MP, cllrs, paid positions within the Labour Party and you (the left) work to have us elected (delivering letters/leaflets, stuffing envelops, canvassing)
The left keeps allowing the right of the Party to take the initiative and chose what tune to play. Corbyn should have withdrawn the Labour whip from Chuka immediately as soon as he tabled the amendment in favour of a second referendum on Brexit. Making very clear that the same would happened to any Labour MP voting in favour of the amendment.
I stand by the definition of madness according to Einstein: why expect different results, when you keep doing the same thing? The left of the Labour Party lost to Thatcher, then lost the Party to Blair and now has failed to protect Corbyn. Have we learn the lessons? We will have to wait and see as to whatever we manage to retain control of the 9 CLPs representatives in the NEC or no. So far I cannot say I am hopeful.
Maria Vasquez, to my thinking and i’v given it almost nonstop thought since Open Selection. I agree totally with your observation, analysis and conclusion. Except i do feel hopeful that if we organise with people who can see those basics those realities, we can retake control. We already have all the right policies. We do need the scenario planning to implement and SUSTAIN them. We cannot depend on the civil service to cooperate. Which reminds me. The Civil Service managed to convince Jeremy and team that they would do their civil duty. Again their naivety led the to swallow that DESPITE seeing even in Yes Minister (more accurate than people realise) that the Civil Service serves only the “same old same old”.
There is always much more to say and i am not as concise as u r and i should be, but Maria V there is much structural work to do. It is not easy but it is doable. We just need enough people like you who can grasp the basics and express the as clearly as you do. We then do need our own technocrats. But they must ON NO ACCOUNT be allowed to the laid back appeasement approach. They must stick to their technocratising and leave the straight forward basics to people like yourself and others. The basics the basics HERE and NOW.
I propose bravely, that we must stop romanticising those who have had 40, 50, 60 years to see that, yet were stubborn to learn. Why according to Einstein would any sane person expect a different outcome with them. We must thank them, especially as they never expected nor wanted the role. I can see Jeremy EASILY winning the London Mayoralty just like Ken did twice. It is a different political dynamic. I never thought of it but it immediately struck me as easily possible.
National politics is a different matter. It is further away from the single allotment, all the allotments… a city. For that you need people who relish the battle. You have to ENJOY it. Eg SH, Berry or Lockett. Enjoy battling with those Twatsons. Moreover they are a free scrapbook / punch bag / interview scenario actors on whom to practise. I never got the impression Jeremy enjoyed that. He had all that was necessary and more but always seemed as if he could not wait to finish PMQs.
Could not pursue question on one subject to the end. Almost always a scatter gun approach. Off the top of my head, his penultimate where he at used five questions on one subject was one of his best outings.
On his last when johnson gave him hood wishes, i thought his response may have appealed to some. But not me. It lacked grace. It embodied the passive aggressive attitude. A sudden burst of fire where none was required.
He cannot be blamed fully for these public performances. To me the demonstrated the acute and chronic failure of the team. One need s coaching. Even to those to whom it may come naturally, one needs to be over prepared.
We cannot see ourselves as others see us.
Anyway, there i go again. Always intend a swift response and so many thoughts come tumbling out. 🌹🌹🌹
windchime – Or to put it far more succinctly
Why did Jeremy and his team prove to be so incompetent and useless, and why were so many of his supporters so fickle?
There’ll be no representation in parliament by a proper left wing party until there is a fully proportional electoral system. With FPTP the British establishment will not allow it, and probably why there will never be full PR.
Their privileges would disappear, their ability to wage war either open or by subterfuge in the case of Syria, Yemen, Venezuela and creating new enemies to justify huge profits in natural resources plus arms would be put under proper scrutiny. In addition of course to exposing the propaganda pumped out by them to convince the majority that their is danger lurking in every corner whether physical or psychological. These and more are just some of the reasons FPTP is put forward as there is no alternative. Moreover, a democratic socialist Labour led by a socialist leader not a paid lackey of theirs would never be permitted to challenge their parasitical positions!
Recent hints of what PR might look like include the Tory/Lib Dem coalition and the Tory/DUP ‘confidence & supply’ arrangement.
I’d argue that neither produced better government.
Fragmentation into smaller parties doesn’t help run countries better, it just increases the overall amount of time and money spent by politicians wheeling, dealing, blackmailing, manipulating, lying and plotting.
Neither FPTP or PR are fit for purpose – the same goes for referenda, clearly.
Obsessing on the mechanics of voting is a complete distraction – that’s not why we keep losing.
IT’S THE PROPAGANDA, STUPID”
Totally agree with that. It is just another eg of people failing to note diverse systems all over the world – Italy, Spain, France riots every year and all year last year, all over Latin America, USA, Israel etc etc etc. All have led to bastards in charge. We had an opportunity with our system and threw it away as per Maria V’s excellent post today.
All the FPTP etc is an exercise in avoidance. Same as endless requests to set up commissions of inquiries. But it is also a chronic symptom of defeatism, we have lost, even after historic wins eg City of London in 2018 or 19 going to Labour, the Jeremy and his MP supporters made not a single mention of that. These are things that MUST be repeated to counter the narratives of lies. These had no pull. ZERO. The obvious basic keys have no appeal. Maybe because they demand action not polite chit chat.
All this talk of changing systems TOSH. Talking shops while TORY chosen SERCO, G4S, etc rob the country blind. Starmer won’t mention those crimes let alone repeat them. But they are not new crimes. Throughout the last four years we needed robust presentation of these TORY CRIMES HERE AND NOW EVERY DAY.
We need them now too but we know that does not suit Starmer that’s why before the next election we must regain the NEC and all areas in our party and rid ourselves of the TREACHEROUS Starmer & Co. Starner DELIBERATELY sabotaged our victory to clear a pathway for the disgusting Tony Bliar. Now is the time to rid our party of the infiltrators who have caused the government responsible for each of these THOUSANDS of avoidable excess deaths. We must do better🌹🌹🌹
Meanwhile, I received this notice that Mike Cushman, Treasurer of JVL is the newest Jewish person to be regarded as being ”AS”. LWPSC asks that members rise up to object to this ongoing witch-hunt which shows beyond doubt the direction of travel of the party under Starmer.
FYI
I have been served with notice of investigation for antisemitism by the Labour Party. I am not allowed by the Party to circulate details of their laughable allegations (to protect them from embarrassment maybe) but be assured I will be contesting the allegations fiercely and I think they will regret having started this.
Although I am up for a fight they are spreading notice of investigations and administrative suspensions around like confetti and many of the members receiving them are not as robust as I am and are feeling severely harassed and upset. There will be people who will need our active support. Among those receiving letters are people wo are living alone and being shielded against CV-19 – the treatment of them is inhumane.
Mike
I too have asked for my donations and subs back and I am yet to have a response – perhaps it will be similar to what has said to MBO, in which case a report to the authorities about maladministration, fraud etc in the Labour Party office may be in order.
I have subscribed to Don’t Leave, Organise! more in blind hope than expectation. For me, it’s a last throw of the dice while we wait for the inquiry results. If it goes the way I suspect it might, I will then dedicate the rest of my life to making sure that the Labour Party really is supported like a rope supports a hanged man. The Blairite monster that many thought had been killed off is not just alive but very definitely kicking. Next time we must make sure the life support system is well and truly unplugged and that people like (e.g.) Lords Adonis and Mandelson are not just kicked out but also treated like the bourgeois fifth column scum that they really are: If there is a next time, that is – I wouldn’t hold your breath.
It is a mistake to grant this ‘inquiry’ any legitimacy. The offences in question, which include fraudulent conversion and several other criminal offences, deserve to be investigated by the state, which, in this case is likely to be more open minded than the Starmer coterie, who are, in fact, the guilty parties.
As to the question of leaving the party or staying in it, I don’t see that as a political matter but a personal decision based in large part of local circumstances: in some CLPs remaining will be condemning oneself to banging precious skulls against ancient walls, in others it will be reasonable.
But the fact is that there is no chance of the ‘left’ taking over the party. the left has always had a majority among the membership, rivaled only by the officeholders and their personal fan clubs and putative successors at the troughs. It is these last, almost certainly greatly swollen in numbers of people who know nothing about the party and care less, who elected Starmer. Corbyn’s nomination was a mistake, it was never meant to happen, the left were meant to be in a sealed tomb. It will not happen again, even if the rules are not tightened the NEC is not going to allow any more socialists to be nominated for seats they could win. We saw in this past election that the left was not allowed a candidate. This was in part because of the hold that the right has on the PLP but, equally, because the stupid totally anti-democratic favouring of female and minority candidates (regardless of their politics) gives the right a perfect excuse for preventing the nomination of socialists.
It’ll be a stitch-up for sure, we all see that, but the fallout on the leakers will be limited I suspect. After all, they may have held some even more damaging revelations back for just such a situation – I know I would have.
They probably don’t value their memberships very highly anyway by now and if they’re employees they have employee rights.
It would make sense for Labour quietly to pay them off to avoid them taking damaging legal action.
I think the EHRC inquiry report (if it ever appears – IT’S BEEN A YEAR) might be more impactful.
Impactful for its complete lack of substance is what I mean, obviously.
Where’s the defender of the indefensible?
We’ve had a most idiotic comment already courtesy of peter berry, but I’m waiting for the usual candidate to trump it.
There IS, however, a simple solution to prevent starmer from getting his own fiefdom, and that is to withdraw finances from the party by leaving altogether. Let the 70% fight their battles and cover their own arses and form their own cliques without YOUR fianancial ammunition. Don’t pay them for the privilege of ostracizing you.
And yes, I’d rather vote toerag than that shower of shit. At least I’d have an idea of where I stood under the toerags.
There cannot be a whitewash, evidence is overwhelming
The fallout will be managed, individuals will be asked to leave, almost certainly with assurances they will be looked after
The numbers are on the left and upcoming elections will decide which way this goes, Keir knows that and will not rock the boat until they are decided,
so you are either inside voting and recruiting
Or you are outside entertaining yourself in public, not nice
And the persecution of anti-Zionist campaigners continues apace – latest victims include Mike Cushman Treasurer of JVL as well as others. The charge in the letter he received he describes as ”risible”. Every CLP should be in revolt about this.
Meanwhile, the persecution of and other Anti-Zionists continues apace – the latest to receive the ”risible” letter being Mike Cushman, the Treasurer of JVL. There’s a call for CLP members to stand up to this bullying and one-side clampdown on free speech in the Labour Party. Legal measures must be considered on this and also on the fraudulent use of members’ subs and donations by the factional staffers. ”Factional” is how right wing office bearers in some CLPs are labelling any attempt by members to get the leaked report discussed.
I’m not sure why but my posts don’t appear – sorry if this is a duplicate but just to say that persecution of Jewish and other antizionist members is continuing apace. Mike Cushman received ”the letter” with ”risible” allegations. CLP members encouraged to make their displeasure known. Despite the lockdown the really guilty faction are escaping scot-free whilst committed Labour activists are being the continued subject of a witch-hunt.
David McNiven, FPTP depending on the size of the majority enables a dictatorial Government to pass legislation without hardly any obstacles. The House of Lords doesn’t count as a obstacle. For example, Thatcher with her towering majority with never more than 44% of the total vote passed laws which totally impoverished the working class and are being felt to this day plus her squalid little wars helped her out. Another example, Blair never had more than about 43% of the vote, yet, enabled the private corporations to continue plundering the public plus increased their share of greed with the disastrous PPF initiatives which the NHS is paying for today. Not forgetting his war in Iraq and the continued plundering of the NHS via increased privatisation. All possible under FPTP. PR is far from perfect but it at least there are more rigorous checks plus balances!
brianbotou, 9:23am, your example of an unworthy major party held to account by worthy smaller parties is only one of many possible scenarios. Ask Italy.
FPTP vs. PR is an irrelevance.
What wins elections is propaganda and the rich own all of it.
There are only two sides in politics, rich and poor.
It’s the 1% and their Tory whores vs. the 99% – us.
I recall how frustrated and angry it used to make me feel when the MSM used to feign a complete lack of knowledge on the Labour Party’s rules and procedures to repeatedly blame Jeremy for the NEC’s (in)actions.
Any actions now taken with regards to the investigation into the leaked report are now entirely the remit of the panel appointed by the NEC.
The NEC has also announced the scope of the enquiry that the panel that the NEC appointed will conduct. (as reported in LabourList)
Below is the full text of the terms of reference as amended and agreed by the NEC.
The panel shall investigate and report on:
◼ The truth or otherwise of the main allegations in the report (the panel shall determine which are the most significant allegations which require investigation but they shall include the extent of racist, sexist and other discriminatory culture within Labour Party workplaces, the attitudes and conduct of the senior staff of the Labour Party, and their relationships with the elected leadership of the Labour Party);
◼ The background and circumstances in which the report was commissioned, written and circulated within the Labour Party, with its advisers and any other individuals external to the Labour Party, including the question of the purpose for which the report was commissioned and prepared, and the circumstances in which the report was put into the public domain; and
◼ The structure, culture and practices of the Labour Party organisation including the relationship between senior party staff and the elected leadership of the Labour Party, as the panel think appropriate having regard to their investigation as a whole.
◼ And the panel shall make such recommendations as it considers appropriate concerning the organisation and structures of the Labour Party, arising out of its investigation, recognising that Labour Party structures are covered in rule.
This document was approved by a meeting of the national executive committee of the Labour Party held on 23 April 2020.
I find it more than a little perverse that so many on here, who claim to be long-standing members and therefore should know better, are so keen to falsely blame Keir for something that they must know is not his responsibility.
Keir has also made it very clear that as far as he is concerned the enquiry doesn’t preclude other disciplinary action being taken by the NEC and he has actively encouraged the NEC to do this.
It was also reported that a Momentum spokesperson stated “We also welcome the guarantees for whistleblowers that have been enshrined in the terms of reference. While the report should not have been leaked unredacted, Labour is Britain’s largest political party and the contents were clearly in the public interest.
Before falsely accusing Starmer perhaps people should have a long hard look at the makeup of the NEC and consider where the power really resides.
◼ Chair: Andi Fox
◼ Vice Chair: Ian Murray
◼ Leader: Sir Keir Starmer MP
◼ Deputy Leader: Angela Rayner MP
◼ Treasurer: Diana Holland
◼ Chair of Equalities: Ann Henderson
◼ Shadow Frontbench: Jim McMahon MP
◼ Shadow Frontbench: Jonathan Reynolds MP
◼ Shadow Frontbench: Jo Stevens MP
◼ Shadow Scottish Frontbench: Richard Leonard MSP
◼ Welsh Labour Representative: Mick Antoniw AM
◼ Young Labour: Lara McNeill
◼ BAME Labour: Carol Sewell
◼ Div. I – Trade Unions: Mark Ferguson (Unison)
◼ Div. I – Trade Unions: Howard Beckett (Unite)
◼ Div. I – Trade Unions: Andi Fox (TSSA)
◼ Div. I – Trade Unions: Pauline McCarthy (Bakers)
◼ Div. I – Trade Unions: Michael Wheeler (Usdaw)
◼ Div. I – Trade Unions: Wendy Nichols (Unison)
◼ Div. I – Trade Unions: Andy Kerr (CWU)
◼ Div. I – Trade Unions: Tom Warnett (GMB)
◼ Div. I – Trade Unions: Jayne Taylor (UNITE)
◼ Div. I – Trade Unions: Kathy Abu-Bakir (GMB)
◼ Div. I – Trade Unions: Ian Murray (FBU)
◼ Div. I – Trade Unions: Mick Whelan (ASLEF)
◼ Div. I – Trade Unions: Joanne Cairns (USDAW)
◼ Div. II – Socialist Societies: James Asser
◼ Div. III – CLPs: Johanna Baxter
◼ Div. III – CLPs: Huda Elmi
◼ Div. III – CLPs: Yasmine Dar
◼ Div. III – CLPs: Rachel Garnham
◼ Div. III – CLPs: Ann Henderson
◼ Div. III – CLPs: Gurinder Singh Josan
◼ Div. III – CLPs: Jon Lansman
◼ Div. III – CLPs: Darren Williams
◼ Div. III – CLPs: Pete Willsman
◼ Div. IV – Labour Councillors: Nick Forbes
◼ Div. IV – Labour Councillors: Alice Perry
◼ Div. V – PLP: Sir George Howarth MP
◼ Div. V – PLP: Margaret Beckett MP
◼ Div. V – PLP: Shabana Mahmood MP
In addition, the PLP Shadow Chief Whip (Nick Brown MP), and PLP Chair (John Cryer MP) attend ex-officio without a vote.
The self appointed ‘guardians of the left’ attacking Keir in this way appear to be following in the footsteps of the MSN in their attacks on Jeremy.
All That Comeing From An Idiot..