Last night, Labour’s NEC voted to abolish the National Organisation of Labour Students, after a motion was tabled by Momentum founder Jon Lansman. NOLS had been seen as one of the last bastions of Blairism in the party, with previous committee members including Jacqui Smith, Gloria De Piero, John Woodcock, Mike Gapes, and Tom Watson. It’s no surprise Corbynites were never a fan…

Until last year the organisation had been funded by the party, with three paid roles based in Labour’s Southside headquarters. Funding for this year was pulled and the full-time roles effectively abolished. Now the final step has been taken by Labour’s ruling executive, disaffiliating the organisation as one of Labour’s ‘socialist societies’, and setting precedent to disaffiliate other less loyal affiliated groups, like some trade unions. A big pro-loyalty power play…

Abolishing the arm organising a key demographic for Labour potentially just weeks out from a general election might not seem like the smartest electoral strategy. Last night’s meeting also lowered the threshold to trigger deselection of MPs in Wales from 51% to 33%. The purge marches on…