And hides reply linking to documentary – but Whitehead’s social media history gives away closeness to most toxic elements of Labour right
A right-wing Labour councillor who hopes to replace MP of the year Ian Byrne as the party’s candidate in the Liverpool West Derby seat has blocked an activist and party member for asking her about Al Jazeera’s ‘Labour Files’ documentary exposing right-wing abuse, racism, misogyny, spying on members and rigging.
Hyndburn councillor Kim Whitehead had tweeted her pleasure at being confirmed onto the West Derby ‘longlist’ and the well-known activist @Agitate4Change (often known as Agi) tweeted a link to the four-part documentary series.
Whitehead’s first reaction was to hide the tweet, using Twitter’s settings so that only those who know how to find it would be able to even tell it had ever been sent:
She then blocked Agi’s account to prevent any further responses:
Cllr Whitehead’s eagerness to avoid any mention of the documentary series may be driven by an apparent ardour for Keir Starmer that would no doubt be described as a ‘personality cult’ if she were a left-winger buying cardboard cut-outs of Jeremy Corbyn:
But it seems she is also close to one of the figures most damagingly exposed by the documentary series, despite living hundreds of miles away from him. Luke Stanger – an anti-Gypsy racist who was welcomed back into the Labour party by right-wing national executive members despite being suspended and then expelled over a series of alleged abuses, featured prominently in the programme sending abusive and threatening messages to left-wingers who displeased him, compiling a dossier to discredit a left-wing woman parliamentary candidate and being protected by prominent right-wingers from the consequences of his behaviour.
And a string of tweets indicates Cllr Whitehead appears to be not just a fan of Mr Stanger, but a friend and factional ally:
Whitehead also publicly mocked black Jewish woman Jackie Walker as ‘desperate’ after Walker pointed out the tactics of bullying and intimidation used by Keir Starmer’s faction at Labour’s 2021 conference:
The Labour right’s attempts to remove Ian Byrne have been marked by such extensive rigging of votes that that even the party official first appointed to oversee it refused to sign off on the so-called ‘result’ because of the extent of the issues witnessed. Rather than act on the concerns he raised, the party simply removed him and appointed its London regional office – at the heart of multiple rigging allegations – to control the process instead.
And the determination to replace him with a compliant right-wing drone has seen the regime also longlist local councillor and failed mayoral hopeful Anthony Lavelle, despite unanswered allegations against him by a young local disabled woman that Lavelle:
- made derogatory comments about her disabilities
- made comments suggesting she was using crutches to scrounge benefits
- called her a mistake and wished her dead
- made ‘jokes’ about leukaemia and concentration camps
- publicly humiliated her in front of others when she limped or had to wear a splint or support
- demeaned disabled sports making negative comments about the Paralympics
- drank and drove and bragged about it
- refused to clean up after himself stating it was the cleaners job
- made women feel uncomfortable with his language and attitude
By contrast, the popular Byrne was named MP of the Year by the Patchwork Foundation – hardly known for its praise of leftwingers – for his ceaseless efforts to feed the hungry, fight poverty and make adequate food a human right. But as a vocal critic of Keir Starmer – Hillsborough survivor Byrne has said publicly that Starmer is unfit to be party leader for his decisions to write for the hated Murdoch S*n and promote others who do – the regime is determined to be rid of him.
That determination is yet another show of contempt by Starmer toward the people of Liverpool, on whom he has long waged war for their enthusiasm for Jeremy Corbyn and their refusal to toe Starmer’s line.
SKWAWKBOX needs your help. The site is provided free of charge but depends on the support of its readers to be viable. If you’d like to help it keep revealing the news as it is and not what the Establishment wants you to hear – and can afford to without hardship – please click here to arrange a one-off or modest monthly donation via PayPal or here to set up a monthly donation via GoCardless (SKWAWKBOX will contact you to confirm the GoCardless amount). Thanks for your solidarity so SKWAWKBOX can keep doing its job.
If you wish to republish this post for non-commercial use, you are welcome to do so – see here for more.