by Les May
Is there really a conspiracy within the Labour party to
prevent Jeremy Corbyn leading the Labour party? On the evidence available to us
the answer to this question must be 'Yes!'
So what is the evidence? Consider the following newspaper
headlines since Corbyn was elected in September 2015. 'Secret bid to oust
Corbyn' (The Times 28 November 2015); 'Revealed: plot to oust Jeremy Corbyn by
using veteran Labour MP Margaret Hodge to spark leadership contest' (Daily
Telegraph 3 May 2015): 'Labour rebels hope to topple Jeremy Corbyn in 24 hour
blitz after EU referendum' (Daily Telegraph 13 June 2016): 'Labour rebels plan
to elect own leader and create 'alternative' if Jeremy Corbyn is re-elected'
(Daily Telegraph 30 July 2016).
Now, Owen Smith dismissed the last of these stories by
insisting he would not 'indulge in gossip'. But given that the other two stories from the
Telegraph proved to be true this hardly looks like a considered response.
Not only does this point to a conspiracy but given that no
disciplinary action has yet been taken against any of the people involved it
would appear that those who run the party are turning a blind eye to what is
going on.
If not actually encouraging the plotters they are certainly
guilty of a monumental 'cock up'.
On 15 July, Iain McNicol circulated members informing them
that the National Executive Committee had decided 'to suspend all normal party
meetings at CLP and branch level until the completion of the leadership
election'. The reason (excuse?) given
was the by now all too familiar one of some people feeling 'threatened'.
Now I can think of little that would be more likely to
destroy cordial relationships between a sitting MP and Labour members in his or
her constituency than this. If Labour
members disagree (or agree) strongly with the behaviour of their MP in the
Leadership contest (or anything else) they need a way of resolving their differences. Being unable to meet for two months to do
this collectively is asking for trouble.
Three days after these instructions were issued a Labour
party member asked me rhetorically, 'what does she think we are, postmen to
deliver her leaflets at election time?'
Later that day at an informal meeting of his branch, complaints were
voiced about the something the MP had been doing for some time. My response
when I was told this was to point out that it clearly had not bothered anyone
up to the present, so why complain now?
Keeping channels of communication between Labour members and
their constituency MPs is important.
Whilst I do not doubt that a number of Labour MPs have been plotting
against Corbyn, I am sceptical that all those who resigned from his front bench
team were active plotters. Nor do I know
what pressure was applied to them to persuade them to resign.
If, as seems likely, Corbyn is re-elected as leader of the
Labour party some of the MPs who originally resigned may wish to reconsider
their position and agree to work with him.
They need to have a way back without losing face. Bridges have to be built (or rebuilt) to
enable this to happen.
The alternative, that a group of MPs attempt to form a
parliamentary group calling itself the 'Labour' party and with a different
leader would be a catastrophe, not least because it would involve tearing up
the 'one member one vote' electoral system for leader in favour of one in which
members of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) chose the leader.
Neither The Times nor the Daily Telegraph can be described
as papers which support Labour. A weak
and factional Labour party suits their proprietors very well. So perhaps we should take some of what they
say about Labour's difficulties with a pinch of salt.
However that should not stop us from wondering whether the
plotters are in fact puppets with someone else 'pulling the strings'. Bankrolling a legal challenge over who has
the right to use the Labour name and owns the assets would not be cheap. But perhaps someone intent on destroying the
Labour party would think it was worth it.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4626500.ece
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/03/revealed-plot-to-oust-jeremy-corbyn-by-using-veteran-labour-mp-m/
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