Right-wing abstentions rear their head again, too
The Labour right attempted a manoeuvre this week to block any further meetings of key National Executive Committee (NEC) sub-committees that still have a substantial left influence – until after the results of the NEC elections.
A senior Labour source told the SKWAWKBOX:
They tried to push everything to the ‘new NEC’ (because they don’t like the current one!) at the NEC away day in November. This is a continuation of their tactics from the previous meeting.
So under AOB [any other business] at Org [the NEC’s organisational subcommittee] on Tuesday they proposed to ‘clear the diary’, i.e. cancel the scheduled November equalities, organisation and disputes committees.
They lost the vote 11-10 because it was a completely mad anti-democratic proposal as there is loads of business.
Had the vote been successful, a large number of key decisions on equalities and disciplinary matters would have been blocked until after the election results, which the right hopes will increase its dominance on the NEC still further. However, it was lost by 11-10.
Asked whether the two right-wingers elected in by-elections earlier this year, after left organisations failed to unite behind a single ‘slate’ of candidates, had voted to support the manoeuvre, the source replied:
Gurinder and Johanna abstained on most things I think after last time.
Johanna Baxter and Gurinder Singh Josan are standing for re-election to the NEC as part of the right-wing ‘Labour to Win’ slate. At the end of September, Josan was heavily criticised for voting to block Labour members from holding key meetings online to exercise their local democratic rights.
If the abstention on this issue – a centrist tactic all too popular now – was meant to avoid criticism while Labour members have still to cast their ballots in the ongoing NEC elections, it deserves to fail.
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I must have missed some of the decisions over the last few years,because all I can remember is appalling decissions and cock ups…Chris williamson and many more even with a so called left dominated NEC.I left the Labour party over the Many unbelievable decissions and the vote for a Knight to lead the party into oblivion.
Yes . I don’t recognise many of the alleged left as such. To me they represent woke Liberal politics which aren’t issues for the working class.
Chris Williamson, right, so remind me what happened when he was reinstated Joe!
Mr Okeefe is having a larf, and he knows damn well that all hell broke loose when Chris was reinstated, and he also knows that if Chris HADN’T been re-suspended, the fascist dark forces at work to make sure Jeremy never got anywhere near Downing Street would have doubled down on their condemnation and villification and character assassination of Jeremy and the left.
In other words, whilst the fascist forces ranged against Jeremy falsely accused allies of his of A/S on the one hand, the likes of Mr Okeefe and his fellow shills were recruited to pose as left-wingers on left-wing blogs such as Skwawkbox to denounce and defame him from within on the other, so as to propagate hostility towards him for ‘throwing good comrades under the bus’ etc, etc, etc, and THAT is why Mr Okeefe and his buddies endlessly cite Chris Williamson etc, and have done so on more than a hundred occasions during the past year or so.
Repetition is a subtle form of brain-washing, but ‘consensus’ is also another key ingredient in convincing people of something – ie that something is true – when it’s actually a falsehood*, and that’s why the fascists who employ the likes of Mr Okeefe have a number of people who repeat these things over and over so as to lead the readers of Skwawkbox that there is a general consensus of opinion.
In other words, Joe and Co are doing – and HAVE been doing – EXACTLY the same as the fascist psychopaths who have been doing a character assassination job on Jeremy (and the left) during the past five years, and they will of course continue to do so.
That should have read….. ‘so as to lead the readers of Skwawkbox to believe that there is a general consensus of opinion’
Allan – You appear to have lost the plat.
platplotHere we go again! They’ve been quiet since April! Starmer is not a popular leader across the whole of social media, in fact he’s hated by many as are the front bench just because of who they are and what they did! How different things would be now but for them!
“Any other business” SHOULD be “Any othe URGENT business” that cannot be held back to the next agenda meeting. It is too often used in badly-run organisations to get something bypassed that should never occur. I recomment its use to EVERY organisation, and none more so that committees of the Labour Party.
STOP! PLEASE! JUST STOP!
The New-Labour TORY Party ARE NOT ‘THE RIGHT’ OF THE UK Labour Party!
The New-Labour TORY Party are Thatcherite Neoconservative “Centrist/Neoliberals” working for the benefit of the ELITES/ESTABLISHMENT!
The UK Labour Party is a Democratic Socialist Party working for THE PEOPLE
These are two POLAR OPPOSITE PARTIES NOT ONE PARTY!
How did this happen!?
UK Labour Party = The HOST/BODY
New-Labour TORIES = The Colonising PARASITE that infested the HOST UK LP, when Blair gnawed his way into the Party in 1983! He is not the First TORY to infiltrate the UK Labour Party Either!
There you have it!
2 PARTIES
1 HOST 5/10%
1 PARASITE 90/95%
Only one way to get rid now that THE PEOPLE fucked up BOTH their once in a lifetime chances is to VOTE THEM OUT, vote for their strongest opposition in your seat, even if that is a fucking Con TORY!
Wherever there are UK Labour MPs/Candidates get out there NOW and get actively involved we will hopefully win back some seats like Laura P and Laura S!
Even with just 10 UK Labour MPs in the house we will have a far stronger and louder representation and opposition than their 172+ Conniving Sabotaging TORY RATS!
Want the Party back, we have to Unite and Fight!
NOT Bothered!? DON’T bother, but spare us your rivers of tears because as with 2017/1019 WE TOLD YOU SO!
Hate = Isn’t that what happened at the last GE when for the first time ever more C2DEs voted Tory than voted Labour (by a very considerable margin)?
Look where that got us, Unlike when we had the advantage of a hung parliament the Tories can now do anything they want to.
It is also worth noting that an equal percentage of ABC1 and C2DE voted for Labour (33%) at the 19GE.
The two sides of the party can’t live together. When the right has a majority, they like to talk of being “a broad church”. If we were a one party state, I would agree with that…..we aren’t, so the two sides can’t reasonably live together. Let’s dump the name, write a new constitution and start again.
The centrist neo/liberal right are teaching me again the difference between Opponent and Enemy.
The Conservatives are opponents, our rivals for seats and the hearts and minds of voters. They are antagonistically opposed to our values, our interests, our wellbeing.
The centristRight-in-Labour are enemies. They are also our antagonists, but they pretend they are not. They also are hostile to, feel hatred towards and oppose the interests of me and my people our economics and our values.
Although WE are the socialists, democratic socialists, it is THEY who are mounting Class War and as one of their allies, Warren Buffet said “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class (AND THE LABOUR CENTRISTRIGHT) that’s making war, and we’re winning,”
Let’s support the NEC and destroy this vile centristRight trick or, as lundiel says, dump the losers and start again with a new name, new constitution and new party. The CentristRight are already unelectable – we’re not.
NOT BEFORE TIME – What took them so long.
Below is the full text of Labour’s email outlining the procedures for virtual AGMs, it was sent to local parties yesterday afternoon.(Wed 07/10)
With the continuing restrictions around Covid-19, CLPs are still not in a position to meet physically. The NEC therefore have agreed to allow CLPs and branches (including equalities branches) to conduct AGMs.
This means that as long as the usual notice period is given, AGMs may take place immediately.
Full guidance will be circulated shortly, but we would like to take this opportunity to let you know the basic principles that have been agreed by the NEC:
• Your branch or CLP’s usual quorum will apply
• All ballots must be secret and secure, and conducted via an online platform approved by the Labour Party
• Nominations should be submitted in advance where possible to enable the online ballot to be set up in advance of the meeting
• Where only one nomination is received for a particular position, that candidate will be elected unopposed
• Where required, an AGM may be conducted in two parts (e.g. Officers elected at pt 1, delegates to outside bodies elected to at pt 2)
• No CLP AGM shall take place between 1 January and 5 February 2021 (to ensure affiliates are able to fully participate), nor during the regulated period for the 2021 elections. All CLPs will be expected to have conducted an AGM by 31 July 2021
• The scheduling of meetings must be agreed in advance with the appropriate regional/Welsh/Scottish office to ensure appropriate staff support can be made available and that AGMs are not detracting from the 2021 elections
Guidance will be issued next week to assist you in setting up and delivering your AGM online, however, your regional/Welsh/Scottish office is on hand should you have any queries.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your hard work in running NEC nomination meetings over the last few months. The next stage of the NEC elections will be an OMOV ballot of eligible members that will take place between 19 October and 12 November.
Many thanks,
Team Labour
SteveH asked “ NOT BEFORE TIME – What took them so long?”
Maybe it has something to do with Starmer and his appointed NEC marketing mix guy, David Evans, knowing that the brexit obsessives (whose antiCorbynism Sir Keir happily harnessed) would use their CLPs to make his life verydifficult, or the democratic socialist members who would ensure he stayed true to wonderful Jeremy’s legacy policies, or maybe to his own machivellian commitment only to please the odious trilateral billionaires and convince daily mail readers that starmerLabour is as good as, and indifferent than Jonson’s vile Conservatives?
Whatever it is, it shows that Starmer is destroying Labour, collapsing the membership and incapable of Opposition. A bad leader.
And once again, without trace of irony or hypocrisy, little steven questions where democracy has been within his party; completely omitting the fact that as THE loudest proponent for OMOV, he – to this very moment – insists that the steamrollering in of the 2nd ref/remain option was a: ‘democratically arrived at decision’.
…Despite him NOT getting a vote on the matter. And despite the delegates who were given the vote, in the main being pro-eu, right-wing stooges, who’s CLPs rigged their delegate selection processes.
And he only voted for stammer because ‘he was best of a bad bunch’…
Toffee -Thanks for acknowledging that my comment was neither ironic or hypocritical.
OK – let’s hear how you NOT getting a vote for the 2nd ref/remain shithousery was somehow ‘democratic’ when you was the loudest proponent of EVERY MEMBER getting a say – but didn’t get one yourself
Let’s hear how democratically elected each and every one of those right wing, anti-socialist gobshites were, when you – like everyone else – read skwawky’s plethora of articles about how they were stitching up the delegation processes (Amongst just about everything else they were stitching up)
And then. for your ‘coup de grace’, give us all yet more reason to either laugh our tits off at you or show further contempt (If at all possible) for you when you tell us just how the absolute fuck I’ve somehow acknowledged your comment was ‘neither ironic nor hypocritical,/i>’ after what I’ve just written, you disturbed, vexatious oddball.
I don’t know whether or not “steamrollering in of the 2nd ref/remain option was a democratically arrived at decision.”
Or whether “delegates … were … in the main … pro-eu, right-wing stooges, whose CLPs rigged their delegate selection processes.”
I know there were complaints about how the vote was chaired, obviously.
Would anyone agree that in the internet age physical Conference with delegates is anachronistic and of limited use except for socialising and networking?
I see no reason not to keep it in some form, but perhaps with invitation by lot rather than delegation – and crucially, all-member online voting on every issue.
Many delegates’ contributions I find repetitive, parochial or self-promoting – I’d much rather see those nominated as the best-informed spokespeople from all sides of disputed issues make their arguments calmly and rationally without interruption, exaggeration or hyperbole.
Online ‘like’ and ‘dislike’ buttons – in real time, visible online and which can be changed at will in light of persuasive arguments, would show which arguments are most effective. Questions, points and suggestions scrolling along screen bottom receiving most ‘me too’ likes to be answered by all nominated speakers perhaps.
The actual vote would be best held after a final summary by each side I think, after seeing how their arguments had been received.
Who knows, it might be that consensus could be achieved, or at least that the ‘losers’ might concede with grace when there’s certainty their ideas are not supported.
When circumstances change – like a pandemic appearing out of nowhere – online is surely the perfect medium for deciding policy changes that find most support – along similar lines to conference, but with debate between experts, minutes taken and minority views logged. It’s always useful to know when the majority view is later proved to have been bollocks.
Who knows, it might be that consensus could be achieved, or at least that the ‘losers’ might concede with grace when there’s certainty their ideas are not supported.
Well you’d hope so.
But despite being warned a multitude of times about the result of reneging on a promise and reversing a sensible policy; that constant warning coming to it’s inevitably infuriating and humiliating fruition, I’m yet to see any of them show any contrition or accept an iota of complicity for their betrayal of both the lower and working classes they claimed to have represented, or the nation they have betrayed by handing the ‘rags a landslide.
However, it was lost by 11-10.
Wish we knew the names of the terrible ten.
How come the Labour right think they will be stronger after the NEC elections when the left candidates look like winning? Who counts these votes? Who oversees the NEC election? This could be the defining moment.
rayvisino – The vote will be counted by an independent voting company. However I’m puzzled by your comment because it is generally those who think they are going to lose (like Trump) that start questioning the honesty of the balloting process, Are you worried that your favoured candidates are going to lose?
As if ‘independent’ companies were ever truly independent where politics is concerned.
When votes are counted somebody wins and somebody loses – that’s an open invitation to graft.
There’s no other reason than self-interest for politicians to be directors of ‘voting companies’ and polling companies
The only honest way to count physical ballot papers is in front of representatives of all interested parties.
For online votes voters need to be allocated random ‘pin numbers’ which then appear under each candidate’s name online.
Voters can then at any time enter their pin number to confirm that their vote went to their chosen candidate.
David – I don’t remember you having the same reservations in previous party elections.
Lazy and glib answer SteveH – I’ve questioned the independence of Civica, UK Engage & others previously – here I think but on other fora too.
David – Neither lazy or glib, I simply don’t recollect you raising doubts about previous internal party elections.
Surely the reason why Labour opted for contracting independent organisations to run ballots was to address concerns about the vote being fixed by one faction or another. Whilst I’m quite happy to see further improvements I don’t recall anyone raising any serious concerns in recent years about the fairness of the party’s internal elections, do you?
The only “further improvements” necessary are a return to candidates’ agents being present at all stages of the election and all stages being conducted in full view of enough officials that the opportunity for small-group collusion is avoided.
David – Is there really a problem,outside the one you’ve created in your own mind.
What next, are you going to advocate that the self appointed guardians of ‘the left’ make their voices heard by boycotting the vote so you can claim the vote was invalid.
If you have any evidence of the vote being rigged then by all means present it because otherwise you risk sounding like a pound shop Trump. Put up or shut up.
Please stop insinuating that I’ve implied there’s been vote rigging – I haven’t – but ballots need to be seen to be honest and they’re not.
The most transparent systems conceivable with the fewest opportunities for dishonesty should be used.
The Labour Party paying capitalists to run elections is not just anathema, it’s asking for votes to be rigged and inviting ridicule from the Tory benches.
Stupid boy.
David – I’m simply taking your above comments at face value, you are the one casting doubts, not me. As only a very, very small proportion of the votes in the upcoming NEC elections will be paper ballots your visions of all the interested parties diligently observing ‘the count’ are nonsensical in an age of internet voting.