At its height in the 1980’s, Militant claimed 8,000 members. In 2013 its descendant, the Socialist Party, claimed 2,500 members and crowed that it was now bigger than the Socialist Workers Party. The SWP replied, not by claiming to have more than 2,500 members, but by saying that the Socialist Party’s claim of 2,500 was inflated. The various manifestations of the Communist Party are smaller. An umbrella group, the People’s Assembly against Austerity, incorporates more or less all of these disparate elements plus much of the organised left of the Labour Party and trades union supporters. Its mailing list, which includes many Greens and other radicals like me, is 40,000 people. That is probably an exaggeration of the membership of the formal left in the UK and it should be noted that a significant proportion of that 40,000 are long term Labour members. Momentum, the Blairites’ bete noir, has only about 10,000 members.
I have therefore watched with bemusement the claims that the 120,000 new Labour members now banned from voting, and perhaps half of the remaining 400,000 Labour electorate, are entryists from organisations of the “hard left”. Anybody who believes there are over 300,000 members of “hard left” groups in the UK is frankly bonkers.
What we are seeing is rather a spontaneous expression of a genuine popular upsurge against neo-liberalism. Angela Eagle’s car crash interview on the Andrew Marr show this morning was all delectable, but for me the best moment was when Marr asked her if she would resign as an MP if her local party in Wallasey no-confidence her, to which she replied that this could not happen because the national executive had banned all constituency labour party meetings. The attempts of the Labour NEC to play King Canute against a popular tide they cannot begin to comprehend are hilarious.
As these people have come to paid political position through groups of well-connected people pulling the right strings, they assume all politics must work like that. So they are convinced that there must be an entryist cabal who have organised everything, with powerful people pulling the strings. My bet is the Blairites will be defeated, deselected and defenestrated without ever working out it was not a plot. It is just that ordinary people find their vacuous careerism appalling.
Thanks for this
Nice reading something which resonates with my thoughts and beliefs.
I have to agree it’s absolutely farcical what the NEC is doing, I’m wondering if I’m living in a democracy or not. Surely it stinks of trying to rig the vote so JC doesn’t get in, cancelling Labour Party meeting is infringing on freedom of speech, so people don’t talk outside outside of meetings then? People are so determined that we have had enough of the elitist Labour MPs that are only there for what they can get and are no better than the Torys. They actually vote for policy that damage the poorest in our society and they are certainly not stick up for ordinary people. Where JC and his team are interested in social justice and equality, he speaks for the people, many people feel JC is the future in politics.
The more the NEC plays its little games, the more one feels that there must be a load of very insecure, mediocre people in there.
I’ve just had an e-mail from the Labour Party which goes out to all members, reminding us we have 24hrs left to register and pay the new fee. I’m pleased to say that despite the fee it says thousands are signing up for a vote which seem to be for Jeremy. Wouldn’t it be funny if the £25 wasn’t too much for many of Jeremy’s supporters, but it was too much for those who would have liked to vote against him? Now that’s a new definition of irony.
I think it extremely probable that that is exactly what will happen. There will be a an upsurge of people so annoyed at the antics of the NEC that they are prepared to pay extra to throw it back in their faces.
The NEC has told crowd funders that they are not allowed to pay on behalf of impoverished scrotes who can’t cough up the £25. Their memberships and those of the scrotes will be cancelled if they do. (“Labour” MP Steve McCabe can’t understand why anyone who could not afford the £25 would be well-fed or interested enough to vote anyway and he doesn’t like Trot entryists – see his Twitter account).
But it can’t tell crowd funders they can’t buy groceries for registered supporters who have spent their grocery money on buying a vote denied to party members. If you need help in this way (no matter who you want to vote for), please go to Nye Bevan News on Facebook. Thanks.
“too much for those who would have liked to vote against him”
The chappie is simply not value-for-money.
It really depends on how you see democracy! After an election the ELECTED should have their term to get on with it, instead of having to answer to to the vocal minority at every turn. This is a disgraceful manipulation of democracy. There are MPs who have been elected and, right or wrong, they have a right to get on with their job as they see fit. There are so many labor MPs who feel they are not listened to by their leader or have no confidence that they will ever make a difference. It’s awful that party members (and I wonder how much time they have on their hands) are treating elected MPs in such a shameful fashion. In our democracy we usually wait for an election to make an MP ineffective. JC is a very interesting character and a very necessary activist but he is deluded if he thinks that what he is doing and what is happening in the labour party is democratic. About cancelling meetings – maybe it’s a order, calm and peace issue! Ah.. one less baby sitter payment.
“Now help us bring Blair to justice: Families of fallen Iraq troops launch public appeal for funds”
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3696500/Now-help-bring-Blair-justice-Families-fallen-Iraq-troops-launch-public-appeal-funds.html#ixzz4Er9RR3km
“The requirement is for a full legal analysis of Chilcot to determine what if any grounds for legal action against Blair exist. Obviously, this will cost a lot. The families are hoping to raise £150,000, and my guess is that they won’t have too much trouble doing it if word gets around.”, said Baal.
Donating to families campaign: Go to http://www.crowdjustice.co.uk/case/chilcot
£60, 142 so far.
Hear hear! It will be a travesty if Blair is not brought to account!
Why is he in hiding, and what does he have to hide?
And this is the result of Labour’s coup? Mr Smith? What a bunch of incompetent jerks, the 172, honestly! The opposition within the opposition? Form a Labour Govt? Right now it feels like a million years away. I truly wonder what they are feeling like right now?
And, Hillary Benn? Complete coward.
Jeremy Corbyn, the dark horse, the wild card, still their best bet.
I assume Hilary Benn has been promised he’ll get his place in the Lords where he doubtless thinks he belongs had his father not denied him his birthright, if he wipes out the left for a long, long time. If he thinks being denied a title is reason for resentment he should consider the resentment of millions. First we were told we would have to eat shit, then we were told there’s not enough shit to go round.
Just signed up at http://www.labour.org.uk/content – paid my membership due, and there was no refund for already being signed up on “supporter” basis for £3, you needed to stump up the £25 regardless. Democracy ain’t cheap these days.
Still – freedom isn’t free!
Struck me today how that peace-loving old leftie Bernie Sanders was accused of encouraging “thugs”, “bullies”, and the conventional wisdom came to be that he was personally operating a network of brown-shirts.
Remarkably enough, precisely the same play-book was used against Corbyn. One might almost suspect like-minded Yanks and Brits to be working together in their respective programmes! Good thing I – for one – am not that cynical.
Shame “steely” Eagle has dropped out. She showed world-class toughness after that brick went through an empty office window, good God. The major powers of the world must be breathing easy tonight.
Good Stuff Glen,,,,Its the Souls who Cant Afford That Extra.. And i’m not saying you Can Easily… But it’s so sickening… I hope yous Win
It now transpires that building has various organisations working from there and the brick was thrown through the stairwell window.Angela Eagles space in the building has a Labour poster clearly in the window,but it wasn’t touched.
just one pane in a large multi-paned window on the ground floor overlooking the hall and stairwell of building occupied by half a dozen organisations. lies and slander.
I’ve just found after checking my bank statement to see if the Labour Party has taken my £25 yet, that the money has gone from ‘pending payment’ back into my account. They’ve refused it – I’m barred from voting – and they didn’t even have the courtesy to send me an e-mail saying I’m screwed. I made the mistake of honesty and said I was voting for Jeremy…their leader…but it seems the Compliance Unit (and that’s its real name not some satirical fascist name for it) has twice denied me a vote, first as a member and second as a paid supporter.
There is no way to express my outrage at these anti-democratic machinations, but I hope their man gets badly routed otherwise ordinary people in Britain are truly fucked.
183,541 people stumped up £25 to take part in the leadership election as registered supporters.
I wonder how many of those registered to vote for a person hardly anyone had ever heard of until a fortnight ago.
It’s a large number and many of us believe it is mostly for Jeremy Corbyn, but with an anti-democratic body within the Labour Party called the Compliance Unit, which decides who is accepted and can vote, that huge number can be turned into a majority vote against Jeremy. It could with other machinations be used to provide a win for Owen, and likely there is no way we could ever find that out.
I’ve been prevented from voting for Jeremy with my £25 not taken. How many could that happen to? We might only find out if we hear how much of the £4.5 million raised remains in the accounts, but there must be ways of moving money around so we can’t discover.
I mentioned, on another topic, that MP Richard Burgon had caught my eye. Here he is speaking yesterday at the Labour Assembly. Keep Corbyn – Unite Against Tory Austerity rally. Had to share for those who haven’t seen it. This passion and commitment is greatly needed to aid the members, supporters and PLP supporters in the face of the coming inevitable onslaught from the whole of the Capitalist ‘establishment’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQT9T9zKoR0
Thank you for this link. Hehe! Inspiring stuff, brilliant speech.
Either way nothing changes the rich will be rich and the poor will be poor.