Thousands of far-left loons are considering forming a new party following their expulsion from Labour last week. Members of Labour Against the Witch-Hunt – one of four groups purged by Starmer for claiming the party’s antisemitism crisis was overstated – can be seen discussing the plans in an emergency Zoom meeting held on Saturday, during which they claim:
- Their expulsion proves “we have been a thorn in the side of the Labour Party Right, and we should take that as a compliment.”
- Starmer has been “pandering directly to the establishment“, and the far-left should capitalise on Labour’s impending collapse.
- The “biggest party in Britain today is the ex-Labour Party. People who’ve been expelled, people who’ve been suspended.”
- A new socialist party “is coming into creation, that will have the energy and the vitality that the Corbyn party was beginning to show that it had”.
The group are also planning to hold an event in Brighton at the same time as Labour Party conference (in what they’re affectionately calling a kind of “Counter-Conference“). One voice on the call even floated the idea of “forcing” Jeremy Corbyn to become their leader…
Hat-tip: Wolves of Westminster
Nine NEC members voted against proscribing Resist, an organisation that promoted George Galloway instead of Labour’s Kim Leadbeater in the Batley and Spen by-election. The group also claim that accusations of antisemitism in Labour were politically motivated.
Laura Pidcock, Yasmine Dar, Gemma Bolton, Nadia Jama, Mish Rahman, Jame Taylor, Andy Kerr, Mick Whelan, Andy Fox, Ian Murray, and Andy Kerr also voted against expelling Labour Against the WitchHunt, and Labour in Exile. Interestingly Laura McNeill, NEC Youth Rep, broke rank and voted for proscribing Labour Against the WitchHunt, and Labour in Exile…
A further 12 NEC reps voted against proscribing Socialist Appeal. In spite of the rebellion all four groups were banned from the Labour Party….
A statement signed by nine of the left NEC members and incoming rep Amy Jackson claimed that considering the matter is:
“a continuation of the destructive, factional behaviours from the leadership of the party which have marked the last year. This isn’t just about the organisations we are being asked to consider on Tuesday it is about setting a precedent; proscribing these organisations as a forerunner to proscription of more and more groupings on the left of the party, to ultimately expel large sections of the Labour left.”
Guido encourages co-conspirators to listen to the people Starmer is trying to expel and decide whether they think these people and groups are “toxic”…
Sir Keir’s plot to proscribe four “toxic” hard-left Labour campaign groups at tomorrow’s NEC meeting has naturally been met with fury by people who for reasons unknown are desperate to remain in the party. The 4 groups – including the communist organisation Socialist Appeal – are now planning to retaliate with “a joint defence campaign” that will protest the meeting and stop Starmer trying to “get rid of the left”. All well and good… except the NEC meeting is being held virtually.
The 4 campaign groups, led by Labour Against the Witch Hunt (known for insisting Labour’s antisemitism crisis was overstated), were sent into hysterics it emerged that Starmer intended to auto-expel over 1000 Corbynistas for belonging to any one of them in an effort to “clean out the stable“. Labour Against the Witch Hunt, who used an email to supporters this weekend to boast of their sponsors – including Ken Livingstone, Ken Loach and Noam Chomsky – will also hold an emergency meeting on Saturday via Zoom. Perhaps Progress could propose a protest of that virtual meeting…
A party’s conference is their opportunity to allow members to debate policy, market their party to donors, and show the public the best of what their party has to offer. The Labour party are ensuring they tick this last box this year with a number of very questionable fringe events this year, featuring Jackie Walker and Chris Williamson.
Labour conference-goers can also look forward to a “Labour Against the Witchhunt” meeting with Ken Livingstone and Jackie Walker. The problem for Labour is surely within their party these views are no longer fringe…
Jenny Manson, the Chair of fringe group Jewish Voice for Labour, has launched into a Chris Williamson-style attack on the anti-Semitism storm which continues to rock the Labour Party. Manson dismissed allegations of anti-Semitism as a “form of coup” by Labour MPs who are attempting to “split the party”, while pointing the finger at Tom Watson and Margaret Hodge for their “endless criticism of Jeremy Corbyn”. She accuses her own party’s MPs of using anti-Semitism as a “whip” against Jeremy Corbyn…
Jewish Voice for Labour is closely aligned with Labour Against the Witchhunt, the group founded by suspended Labour hardliner Jackie Walker, which is currently running a campaign to reinstate Chris Williamson. When the Tories suspended 14 members yesterday for Islamophobia they directly told them not to arrange any gathering which “purports to portray or appears to be connected in any way with the Conservative Party”. Yet suspended Labour anti-Semites are still happily running around holding events and setting up campaigns under the Labour banner…
On the day that the Jewish Labour Movement is deciding whether to disaffiliate from the Labour Party after 99 years, it speaks volumes that Corbynistas like Jenny Manson are still being given free rein to attack Labour MPs for calling out anti-Semitism while fresh controversies are uncovered on an almost daily basis about how the party leadership itself has been obstructing and interfering in investigations. Maybe that’s not such a surprise given Corbyn himself backed a motion to disaffiliate JLM’s predecessor from the Labour Party almost 35 years ago…
Grab your popcorn: the Labour General Secretary race is already descending into bitter briefing and attacks from Corbynistas on Momentum’s Jon Lansman. Skwawkbox, the pro-Corbyn website which is regularly briefed by the Leader’s Office, has attacked Lansman’s pitch as “confusing” and called on him to explain why he is standing against a “widely-supported female applicant” (Jennie Formby, Lansman’s opponent, is the choice of the Leader’s Office.) Skwawkbox go on to say they “understand that Jon Lansman has spent the last twenty-four hours or so trying to persuade a female former employee of Jeremy Corbyn to stand. His announcement today may be a signal that he was unsuccessful”. Who could possibly have been behind that anti-Lansman briefing?
This from McDonnell last night was hardly subtle:
I’m delighted @JennieUnite is standing for @UKLabour General Secretary. She’s a fantastic organiser and fighter for justice who we’ve campaigned with for years. She’s the person with the skills to deliver Jeremy’s vision of a members-led mass party to get him into Downing St.
— John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) March 1, 2018
Meanwhile Labour Against the Witchhunt, the mental group led by Jackie Walker which tries to get anti-Semites let back into the party, has launched a vicious attack on Lansman and endorsed Formby. They say Lansman “lacks the democratic credentials to become the kind of general secretary that the Labour Party now needs” and “We believe that Unite’s Jennie Formby would be the best choice for general secretary”. Surely nothing to do with Lansman taking exception to Walker’s awful anti-Semitism and removing her as vice-chair of Momentum. How does Formby feel about having these people on her side?
