Grassroots movement Momentum has called for unity and ‘comradely debate’ in the wake of Keir Starmer’s first round victory in the Labour leadership contest.
The campaign group, seen as the mouthpiece of the Labour left, endorsed candidates who won neither the OMOV vote nor the NEC vote, which is unprecedented in modern times.
Momentum also lost the battle for three seats on Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee.
Many of the unions have also been forced to lick their wounds after backing Rebecca Long-Bailey, with the influential Unite, CWU and Fire Brigades unions all losing out.
Uncertain future
Starmer’s emphatic election win has led to many presupposing the left has an uncertain future within the Labour movement.
Alexandra Rogers of the Bristol Post wrote that his mandate meant he can “close the curtain on Corbynism”, while Bloomberg’s Therese Raphael said it marks a decisive shift from the Marxist fringes.
But both have misinterpreted Starmer’s intentions.
Unity candidate
Starmer may want to rid the party of the factionalism that existed in the party under Jeremy Corbyn, but he will replace it by uniting the party rather than dividing it.
Have we forgot that Starmer served loyally in Corbyn’s cabinet, as did a number of his own newly-appointed shadow cabinet?
The “continuity candidate” has a position. Jon Ashworth, Emily Thornberry and John Healey are all in there and there are no vocal Corbyn critics to be seen.
As Isabel Hardman wrote in The Spectator: “He may not want to continue with his predecessor’s legacy, but he’s also clearly keen not to start a factional war in the party.
“Which is largely a reflection of his own approach both over the past five years and during the leadership campaign.”
Related: The entirety of the UK Labour movement “now understands the importance of Scotland”
I cannot agree with this article on a number of levels. Firstly with the Cabinet in which you state there isn’t an anti-Corbyn in it. Well, yes there is, Lisa Nandy in her campaign made some very vocal negative comments about Corbyn. Also her appointment as Foreign Secretary should be a cause of concern as she has deep rooted interest with Israeli interest group. Her list of financial backers include several anti-Corbyn organisations. Rachel Reeves – new to the Cabinet – stated previously that Labour should be ‘tougher than the Tories” on Benefits; John Healey in Defence – was a huge fanboy for the invasion of Iraq.
Secondly, Kier Starmer did not serve loyally under Corbyn – he resigned in 2016 when there was a plot to oust Corbyn from the Leadership – the letter Starmer wrote said that, in essence, he was doing it because everybody else was. He was lucky Corbyn got him back into the Cabinet as Brexit Secretary.
He has already said he does not intend to provide an opposition rather to identify where mistakes have been made and correct them. He has also apologised to the BoD for anti-semitism within the Party when in fact, the whole thing was made up by the BoD and other I*****li interests in order to bring Corbyn down. Friends Of Israel and a viscious and malicious campaign by the MSM against Corbyn, completely unwarranted and unfound was the reason Labour lost the GE – there are no other reasons. Magically though, since Labour lost the election they have never been heard of again.
Thirdly the factionalism under Corbyn did not emanate from Corbyn but from the right of the Party who undermined him at every turn.
Let’s remind ourselves of what this country has lost with the re-election of the Tories to Government. Corbyn, as Peter Oborne says, was a visionary. It was the most progressive shadow cabinet in UK Political history. Sadly, because of the vested interests of the MSM and other organisations this country has lost:
The Green Industrial Revolution – brilliant policy that would have created jobs, created cheaper energy and modernised homes – under Starmer – gone
The National Education Service – policy created by Angela Rayner – probably gone under Starmer
Education and Skills – remove tuition fees, invest in young people and develop and create skills that have been identified as STEM shortages that are required in a modern economy – probably gone under Starmer
The National Care Agency – the most brilliant answer to the social care crisis I have seen – probably gone under Starmer
A nationalised Pharmaceutical Organisation that would produce modern drugs and provide drugs at an affordable rate to the NHS – and good drugs too not cheap ones – probably not even going to be considered by Starmer
Massive investment in affordable housing to help young people get on the housing ladder, to eliminate homelessness, to house people who have lost their own houses – probably gone under Starmer
A proper welfare benefits system and eradication of the spare room tax
A proper, living wage which would give the economy a good boost – not sure where Starmer stands on this
I could go on. So far, Starmer has quoted directly from the MSM that he would provide a ‘constructive opposition’ – what is he saying the Corbyn did not? That is not true. If it wasn’t for the questions Corbyn asked in relation to Coronavirus and solutions he put forward to the Government in writing clearly indicating he wanted to work with them to secure the best for the nation in this regard, were actually implemented by the Chancellor some two days later. He has also said that he will not do any ‘political point scoring’ – that is language used by the MSM to attack Corbyn when Corbyn has actually never done any political point scoring. The only point scoring being done in politics is by the Tories – just look at their GE campaign, pretending to be a fact checking company, editing interviews with Labour MPs (including Starmer) and other serious actions. What this shows is that Starmer is going to be an MSM stooge really – he’s already quoting from them wrongly.
Corbyn would have been a great Prime Minister with true vision – the Labour Party Manifesto was visionary and exactly what this country needed to get back on its feet and bring it in line with European standards. These are not Marxist policies these are social democratic policies which operate in many countries in Europe and around the world. The only thing socialist about Starmer is his name – he was named after Kier Hardie. From what I can see from his performance to date, he is going to be a very poor Leader of the Opposition as he does not intend to provide an opposition. At this time when we have an extreme right wing Government we need a robust opposition and Corbyn provided that. Don’t forget the insults hurled at Corbyn by Boris at the despatch box which Corbyn met with dignity and stuck to task and focus requesting answers to his very insightful and relevant questions.
His election as Leader of the Labour Party is bad for the Party and bad for the 99% in society who are really struggling at the moment. He is talking appeasement – that is not good in this current political climate when our Civil Liberties and Civil Rights have been removed under the guise of Coronavirus and are going to be extended. An immediate recall of Parliament should be requested. The police are already misusing the powers they have been given.
The MSM’s message to the public was don’t vote for Corbyn because you will end up in a Stalinist state. Well, Corbyn wasn’t elected and here we are in a Fascist state.
Let’s also remember that he refused to provide a list of his campaign financial backers.