Legendary film-maker and lifelong political activist Ken Loach could be ejected from the Labour Party, it has been rumoured on social media.
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer purged 1,000 Labour leftwingers from four “poisonous” campaign groups as the party clamps down on supporters of the leader’s predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn.
The National Executive Commitee voted last Tuesday to expel four left-wing groups ‘not compatible’ with the party’s values.
The groups – Resist, Socialist Appeal, Labour in Exile Network and Labour Against the Witchhunt – were proscribed by Labour’s National Executive.
Loach’s departure has not yet been announced, but Twitter was awash with supporters who are fuming at the idea of him no longer being part of the party.
When Corbyn was at the helm in 2019 the film director accused Labour MPs of trying to undermine Jeremy Corbyn.
His films, which include I, Daniel Blake, Sorry We Missed You and many others, have shone a light on his view of social issues such as poverty, homelessness, and labour rights.
Stand with Ken Loach
#IStandWithKenLoach began to trend on Twitter with people showing support for him.
The same hashtag went viral last year when he was accused of anti-Semitism after allegations that he defended questioning the Holocaust.
Reactions
Here’s what people had to say:
1.
If Labour were to expel Ken Loach, it is done as a party for the worker, the poor, the vulnerable, the new immigrant, the marginalized. It would stand for nothing important.
— John Smith (son of Harry Leslie Smith) (@Harryslaststand) July 26, 2021
2.
Ken Loach to be expelled?
— Trevor Ryan (@recklesstrev) July 26, 2021
KEN LOACH????
Jesus. They’ve completely lost it, haven’t they?
3.
Starmer has completely lost the plot:
— JmRoyle #YNWA #BLM (@MyArrse) July 26, 2021
Ken Loach to be expelled from Labour Party.
4.
Ken Loach is expected to be expelled from the Labour Party.
— The Left Wing Society (@LeftWingSociety) July 26, 2021
It’s time to move on. The Labour Party is dead. Let it destroy itself.
Solidarity Ken. ✊
5.
A Labour Party that rejects a man like Ken Loach is not a Labour Party in anything but name only. It is a moral vacuum of a Party; devoid of vision and solidarity, and it deserves to be consigned to the dustbin of history.
— Mark Hebden ? (@unionlib) July 26, 2021
6.
I sincerely hope Ken Loach makes a film about what they’ve done to Jeremy Corbyn.
— Mike Daly (@mjdaly57) July 26, 2021
7.
Ken Loach a man who spends his multi award winning professional life, fighting for the underprivileged and exposing Tory societies abominations is being expelled from the Labour Party, by a leader who takes money from Israel and writes for Murdoch! “BEYOND WORDS!”
— richard oneill (@silverrich39) July 26, 2021
8.
Ken Loach has done more for the underprivileged, the homeless and the hungry than Starmer and Evans and the whole shadow cabinet will ever do.
— Helen the Zen ??????? ? (@helenmallam) July 26, 2021
That’s my Ted Talk.
9.
Are the Labour Party expelling people like Ken Loach to attract people like Andrew Lloyd Webber?
— ??Sir Norman of Plague Island, KBE, CSE. ??☠️ (@Normanjam671) July 26, 2021
10.
Ken Loach was fighting injustice before most of these people were born#IStandwithKenLoach
— Rangzen (@revoltinghippie) July 26, 2021
11.
It’ll be quite an achievement by Labour if one of the greatest ever filmmakers has been expelled from the party while one of the worst ever warmongers remains a member.#IStandWithKenLoach
— Matt Thomas (@Trickyjabs) July 26, 2021
Labour Party have been contacted for comment