One-time centrist leadership challenger’s CLP joins huge groundswell against abuse of former leader, after drive by women members
Pontypridd Labour members have passed a motion of strong support for Jeremy Corbyn – and demanding that Keir Starmer and party general secretary David Evans start following the rules by restoring the whip to the former Labour leader.
The motion was first unanimously passed by the CLP’s women’s forum – which then insisted it be tabled at the main party meeting, where it also passed, despite right-wing attempts to block it:
The CLP is one of an increasing and accelerating number of local parties to pass motions demanding Corbyn’s reinstatement – and even of no-confidence in Starmer and Evans – in spite of attempts by the right-wing hierarchy to stymie them – adding to the woes of both after fourteen NEC members ordered Evans to rebuke Starmer for his reckless disregard for the party’s rules and legal obligations.
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My MP is Mark Hendrick (co-op) – I’d love to hear Preston had come out for Jeremy but I don”t expect I will.
I know I’ve said it before but I’m still concerned that the right might concede Jeremy the whip just to shut the left up, and then it’ll just go back to business as usual.
I was a cooperative member but It soon became apparent that it had become something odd that churned out shiny mags now and then. It was not was not what I expected couldn’t really say why but was proven right by the m.p s actions. Left those wierdos and resumed my subs with 2000 AD.
It’s quite clear that the Co-op “party” is one of those groups that facilitates right wing control over the party. Just look at the number of Co-op MPs who are firmly in the Progress, etc, camp. Look also at the affiliates section, where representatives of various “socialist” societies, are rightists.
This is another example of how the left really needs to get it’s act together.
I believe S Ribble CLP to have virtual exec meeting. Assume the subject is JC & his treatment. Has Preston held meeting?
ITsmespeakingtoyou I would be interested to know more on SRibble and Preston…over to you?interesting name a bugger to type with my eyes
@Joseph: The meeting is 26th Nov. I left the LP earlier in the year & now on the peripehery of what’s going on.
Itsmespeakingtoyou….thanks for that I have a lot of kin in Leyland and..Bamber bridge …my nephew tells me that they are radical and a solid CLP?
It is shocking that we all rightly complain that Patel has been allowed to get away with bullying and yet our response to Starmer and Evans’ flagrant breach of the rules and EHRC is to call for them to simply reinstate Corbyn. That is not even close to good enough.
No doubt someone’s posted this before but it never hurts to have a chuckle when everything seems like shit.
Political Football – Labour Antisemitism by The Ian Duncan Smiths:
Hilarious !! great start to the Saturday , thank you PW
My pleasure, rob.
Good laughs at that ,hope I am still smiling 😃 after the Bolton wanderers game I will be staying up for….time Zones….well done PW..no relative of the S.Afrikan?I hope ..thanks for the recording !
Pontypridd Labour members show us that most Labour party members are not sectarian in that mendelsonian guerilla-war style, they are just good, principled people trying to do the right thing. Richmond Park – which had been the first CLP in the country to nominate Starmer for Labour leader – also passed a motion of support for Corbyn.
Let’s remember it was the new insurgent who started this war by aggressively attacking the causes of, and people of the Left. We are not just defending ourselves, we are protecting our principles, our people, our values and our future. Sir Billionaires Friend Starmer is making it a calling, and not just for the bastions of the Left.
Your welcome, Joseph. Glad you enjoyed it. As a very good friend of mine used to say: “It’s a smiling revolution”.
I’m assuming you mean PW Botha? No, thank goodness, although Mandela did, after Botha’s death, acknowledged the steps he eventually took to bring about the end of Apartheid.
My paternal ancestry goes back to Anglo-Saxon artisans from the Kent/Sussex border, with Norman ancestry on my mother’s paternal side.
That’s not to say I have an abiding love of the English in general after all the shit they’ve caused in the world as a result of their imperialism and thirst for empire.
On the other hand, if they hadn’t taken slaves to the plantations in Jamaica I would never have had the joys of the culture that’s been a fundamental part of my life since I was a teenager.
As one of the island’s greatest artists, Joe Higgs, sang: “Life is so full of contradiction”!
“That’s not to say I have an abiding love of the English in general after all the shit they’ve caused in the world as a result of of their imperialism & thirst for empire”. Disbelief! How can anyone have such a distorted opinion & abuse language with such appalling generalisations?
My son has many young German friends, perhaps I should not allow them to visit; after all the shit they’ve caused in two world wars that they are directly responsible for are they not?
It’s not a ‘distorted opinion’ nor an ‘abuse of language’ (?), Richard. Perhaps you should learn some history.
First of all, Germany did not cause WW1. It was essentially a spat between Imperial Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire over the Balkans. Far too complex to explain here, suffice to say Russia, France and GB formed the Triple Entente, which WAS NOT a mutual defence alliance; while Austria, Germany and Italy formed the Triple Alliance, which WAS a mutual defence alliance. It was, in fact, GB who held the balance of power in this arrangement, so it could be argued that without our support for Russian and French aggression WW1 might never have happened.
Secondly, while Hitler’s Germany did indeed start WW2, the seeds were sown by France’s insistence on punitive war reparations, which effectively bled Germany dry and was instrumental in opening the door for the Nazi’s.
As for my thoughts about English imperialism, here are just a few examples.
The history of Ireland is a history of Anglo-Norman oppression beginning in the 12th C. A very useful book on the subject is ‘Ireland:History of a Nation’ by David Ross.
There is a rose-tinted view that the British Empire was somehow a blessing on the world, when in fact it is a history of subjugation and plunder. If you don’t believe that try reading Shashi Tharoor’s ‘Inglorious Empire: What the British Did in India’, it might just open your eyes.
Or perhaps you think that an Empire built on the backs of slaves in the sugar plantations of Jamaica is something we should all be proud of. Well, sorry but I’m not despite its present day culture having given me some of the foundations of my life. ‘History of Jamaica’ by Clinton V Black is a good book to start with.
Africa, of course, is where those slaves came from and there too, the English haven’t exactly shrouded themselves in glory and goodwill. ‘The Scramble for Africa’ by Thomas Pakenham is a good book on the subject.
As an Englishman I have every right to criticise my own country for their misdemeanors towards others, past or present, in the same way Jewish people have the right to criticise their country’s treatment of the Palestinians, and which we all here seem to agree with. Or do you think they too have a ‘distorted opinion’?
Apologies, it’s Steve not Richard.
Just to add, while there are obviously some good things to credit the English with down the centuries, all too often they have arisen from the need to resolve situations rather than out of a sense of goodwill.
It wasn’t so very long ago we were sending young boys up chimneys and down coal mines, as well as women in the latter case. ‘History’s Most Dangerous Jobs: Miners’ by Anthony Burton is instructive here.
Working conditions in many, if not most, industries were appalling with too many dying prematurely from work-related diseases and injuries despite England being possibly the wealthiest nation on Earth during that time thanks to the great riches plundered from abroad.
Despite this enormous wealth the working class in England were often no better off, and sometimes worse off, than those exploited elsewhere — and you expect me to think everything was just tickety-boo!
From Jacobin editor Ronan Burtenshaw summing up the situation as of the end of the week:
“The Labour Party’s Membership Is in Revolt Against Keir Starmer”
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/11/uk-labour-party-keir-starmer-jeremy-corbyn-clps-suspension
Apologies to Ronan Burtenshaw! He’s the editor of Tribune and not Jacobin, my mistake. I just happened to read it there first.