Yesterday, Guido reported on Starmer causing outrage among the Labour left, after using an appearance at the Progressive Britain virtual conference to dump the 2017 manifesto he previously called “foundational”. Guido also referenced one screenshot of the speech that showed just 55 people in the audience. The subject of mockery by the usual TrotsAppers…
Progress’ director has since been in touch personally to put the record straight. Nathan Yeowell clarifies “The 55 people figure cited by hard left online might have been FB [Facebook] viewing figs” and the real audience for Keir was, in fact, a stellar 650 people. Guido is happy to correct the record and calm this storm in a virtual tea-cup…
Some time ago Guido predicted the death of Peter Mandelson’s Policy Network after Lord Sainsbury withdrew funding for centrist Labour organisations. Over the weekend it came to pass as the Blairite think-tank was merged with Progress, another wholly owned / financed Sainsbury project.* To bless their union they held a virtual conference jointly. Unsurprisingly the usual TrotsApp collective were spitting feathers after tuning in…
The primary source of anger came as Sir Keir told the small 55-strong Zoom audience:
“I’m not interested in focusing on manifestos of the past. I’m interested in focusing on the manifestos of the future, based on the values of our Labour Party”
Starmer won the 2020 leadership by, in the words of Owen Jones, “promising to preserve radical policies”, something he’s now “dumping”. John McDonnell also took to Twitter, reminding viewers that the same Keir Starmer who “today dumped Labour’s last manifestos” was enthusiastic for the 2017 manifesto being the foundational document of his leadership election:
In his speech to Progress today it appears Keir Starmer has today dumped Labour’s last manifestos. This is a reminder of what he said to secure his election as leader. pic.twitter.com/dcmpUzRVCL
— John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) May 16, 2021
Seems like almost all of Starmer’s 55-strong audience were hardline Corbynistas waiting for him to pander to a centrist audience…
*The Institute for Government is now the grocery billionaire’s well-funded lobbying operation in Westminster.
Richard Angell, director of the Blairite factional organisation Progress has announced he is resigning after four years in the role. His resignation letter isn’t the chirpiest read, bluntly stating that “the next decade is going to be challenging for social democrats in the Labour Party.”
Angell’s period as head of the organisation charged with keeping the Blairite flame alight has seen the take-over of the Labour Party by the hard left and a financial crisis for the organisation as billionaire-backer Lord Sainsbury switched his funding to his think tanks; the Institute for Government and the Centre for Progressive Policy. Good luck to whoever replaces him…
What is it with Blairites not paying their staff? Yesterday, as Chuka Umunna was getting a deserved pasting for not paying his interns, the moderate Progress think tank placed a new advert on the W4MP website seeking a whole team of unpaid “volunteers” to do specific jobs with clear responsibilities that patently amount to real work.
Progress want “a number” of events interns to “organize flagship events like Progress political weekend, Progress annual conference and the Progress fringe programme at Labour Party conference”. That is clearly real work that merits payment.
They want a team of unpaid sub-editors “to produce and edit content for our website, and supporting our editorial team”. Progress want young staff to write and edit unpaid…
And they want a social media intern to run their Twitter and Facebook accounts unpaid.
According to their website, last year Progress had an income of £487,574. This year the likes of Tony and Cherie Blair and Charlie Falconer have given them tens of thousands of pounds. They could at least pay their interns rather than make them work for free…
UPDATE: Statement from Progress’ Richard Angell:
“Like many good causes with a social purpose, we have created a structured way that people can volunteer. All of which are tasks that can be done in people’s free time, not from an office or specific location. The volunteer is free to change their mind or opt out of any commitments. Progress was one of the first groups to stop unpaid internship and supports changes in the law to ensure this is not just best practice but common Place. If people wish to volunteer with Progress – in their own time and in a location of their choosing – we look forward to hearing from them. The experience included training and all reasonable expenses will be covered.”
Having lost the Lewisham East selection, Corbynistas are boldly spinning that the successful candidate, Janet Daby, is one of them as she voted for Jezza for the leadership. Apparently her victory is proof of a new left-wing “hegemony” in the Labour Party. Not quite…
- Her selection campaign was run by a rival faction on the right of the party, Labour First, led by Corbyn arch-enemy Matt Pound. Their operational success on the ground is infuriating Momentum and Unite.
- She was the Progress candidate – the Blairite faction’s support was crucial in helping her win the selection.
- Daby vowed to “continue Heidi Alexander’s work” campaigning to stay in the single market – a position directly at odds with Labour policy and Lexiteer Jezza’s plan to escape state aid rules.
- Her role as a local Prevent champion will rile the left – how can Corbynistas who say Prevent is Islamophobic possibly back a candidate who has a key role in delivering the programme in Lewisham?
- As a councillor, her centrist credentials go way back, even to 2010, when she backed Oona King against Ken Livingstone, a position she took once again alongside Progress.
Does that sound like Corbynista hegemony to you?
“If you want a Party that’s in favour of illegal war, form your own Party and get on with it” @paulmasonnews to Progress. Absolute boy. pic.twitter.com/5e61eWdxVM
— EL4C (@EL4JC) June 24, 2017
Speaking at the Progress conference today, Paul Mason told Blairites and Remainers to set up their own party:
“If you want a centrist party, this is not going to be it for the next ten years. If it’s really important to you to have a pro-Remain party that is in favour of illegal war, in favour of privatisation, form your own party and get on with it.”
Labour unity creaking today…
