Despite Guido tuning into Sky News and Today in the hope of hearing a shadow minister clarify the current situation regarding Corbyn’s readmission into the Parliamentary Labour Party, it was soon explained that “no one from the Labour Frontbench was made available to talk to us this morning”. It wasn’t the savviest comms move from Labour given it then allowed the President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews Marie van der Zyl free reign to slam the Labour NEC’s decision as an “absolute sham”, that’s been “rushed through [by a] politicised panel.” If Labour’s relying on radio silence while they sort out the Corbyn situation, they have until 11.15 when the Shadow Communities Secretary is set to appear on Politics Live…

This former whip doesnt contradict my correct reading of the rules.

1. The whip withdrawal was automatic with membership suspension.
2. The whip return is automatic with return to membership.
3. Any potential further withdrawal of the whip would be an entirely separate decision https://t.co/abzaHSKe6l

— James Schneider (@schneiderhome) November 18, 2020

The Labour leadership’s silence has also allowed the vacuum to be filled by Corbynite loyalists, including his former director of communications James Schneider, claiming the party’s rules in fact mean Jeremy’s already got the Labour whip back. Schneider argues that Jeremy’s readmission into the Parliamentary Labour Party is “automatic” upon getting his membership restored by the NEC, and therefore “it would be a decision for the leadership to now withdraw the whip”. Unsurprisingly, Labour disagrees and say the process of restoring membership and the whip are separate processes – are we heading for a court case?

Left-wing author Leo Panitch’s digital launch of his new book “Search for Socialism” at the weekend featured luminaries of the Labour party’s new hard-left faction; John McDonnell, Zarah Sultana, Corbyn’s former adviser Andrew Murray and former head of strategic comms, James Schneider. Guido joined the Zoom…

John McDonnell had a lot to say on the recent leadership election result, describing the election of Sir Keir – whom he identifies as “a lawyer, white, middle–class, in a suit” – as “defeatism” on the part of the membership, and the result of the working classes’ ‘forelock-tugging’ mentality to the middle class, akin to the election of Tony Blair. Labour’s 500,000 overwhemingly middle-class members might feel somewhat insulted…

The group also used the book launch to plot about the tactics they plan on using to regain ‘leadership’ in the party, with Zarah Sultana – a leading proponent of the newly-revitalised Socialist Campaign Group – setting out:

“in the years ahead, the SCG has a huge role to play in terms of defending and advancing our socialist principles to give our class, anti-racist politics a voice in Parliament and nationally”

It is worth repeating that Zarah, along with the majority of the Labour Party’s supporters are now middle-class, that is why they lost so many traditional Labour seats. The weird and woke policies of the modern Labour Party are not too popular with the socially conservative working classes.  “Our class” is not the working class.

Son of a stockbroker and aristocrat Andrew Murray argued that Labour has to urgently “reconstitute working class politics” for Labour to win again, and son of a multi-millionaire property developer James Schneider agreed with the rest, saying the left need to stay within the party to “organise” – “That’s the way that we will, with a pincer movement, get the leadership of the party to back the policies that we want”. Guido imagines Sir Keir will be only too proud to see his party’s hard-left refusing to respect an electorate’s decision…