Could Labour 'split'. Tom Watson calls off talks.

wirralinittogether.wordpress.com/2016/07/17/brickgate-angela-eagles-office-window-was-not-broken/

Our Labour Party in Brighton and Hove is one of the biggest in the country. There was a meeting AGM last week (I didn't go) 5seats were up for vote -all 5 went to Corbyn supporters. The NEC has closed the B&H Labour down!!!! Stating intimidation. Well there has been film footage shown and and people asked but there is no evidence shown.

So we are now in the position where my local Labour Party can't go to the hustings in the Labour Leader contest.

Democracy?????????

Just listened to Corbyn saying how wrong the £25 to vote was , especially for the young and students !

So no problem for OAP's , unemployed, those of benefits , he is keen to please the young isn't he?

Isn't that a tiny, tiny bit nit-picky AB

No it isn't Gracesgran, I think he should speak for all not those he is more sure of getting votes off , sorry but I no longer trust him and will continue to speak out against him unless I am proved wrong . He like all leaders before him should stand on his own feet and not depend in a cult movement.

How can the NEC justify in effect disenfranchising about 6000 people?

There hasn't been a mass of denials that there was no threats whitewave , there were complaints if threats and bullying , are you saying this was not true?

No annie all I am saying is that the meeting was filmed and people at the meeting have been interviewed and so far there hasn't been any evidence shown or declared apart from someone who wasn't at the meeting.

Please I am not up for arguing one way or the other. But if freedom of speech is being suppressed by opponents of JC then that is wrong regardless of whether I support him or not.

Suppression of freedom of speech is wrong whitewave. I am curious why this branch was chosen if no evidence ,

I think the NEC are acting in an intimidating fashion. They have instructed all CLPs that all meetings other than the few they are prepared to sanction must be cancelled and no more arranged until after the leadership election due to the increase in reports of bullying and intimidation. However, they haven't said how many incidents have been reported, which CLPs are involved and who is actually displaying such unacceptable behaviour. And so all CLPs are effectively shut down. Sledgehammer to crack a nut , and pot and kettle come to mind. Frankly, their determination to rid themselves of a leader who they see as unelectable (a point which has not yet been proven) has led to the whole party being unelectable no matter who is the leader. Dyed in the wool labour supporters will continue to vote, but those who joined because of Corbyn's 'breath of fresh air' will not vote for the party if he is deposed, and floating voters are extremely unlikely to choose this bunch of disorganised idiots. Welcome to a one party state, all brought on by the failure of myopic MPs to read the signs of the grassroot members who have seen that there is someone who listens to them, and engage with the man who is still doing that despite the attempts to unseat him.
Blimey, I only intended to write a few words!

Anniebach Sun 17-Jul-16 18:43:46

Which kind of proves my point AB. Whatever the poor guy says he won't say what you want will he? As a 'poor' pensioner I wasn't offended.

Yes and me. Our MP has been vociferous in his opposition to JC. I am feeling very uneasy about what is going on. If the NEC are saying that the votes were fixed then they should re-run it. It is not good. I initially supported JC, but now am disappointed at his lack of leadership skills. However what I am seeing and hearing is beginning to makes me wonder whether the Labour Party is deserving of support, as its behaviour is pretty poor at the moment.

I wonder what the long term effects of this will be? If Corbyn isn't successful it is unlikely that his supporters will just disappear. I don't think either Eagle or Smith have the ability to unite the party. There will be around 100000 people who won't have had the chance to vote, surely they will challenge the leadership once again and try to re-instate Corbyn or a Corbyn-like figure. By behaving the way they are the NEC is storing up trouble for the future.

I fear we're heading for a split in the Labour Party.
We all have our own points of view and I've welcomed Anniebach's heart felt contributions to this discussion. Our local party has emailed to say no meetings for fear of bullying. Looking at our MP's Facebook page suggests the bullies are pro Corbyn. I'm generalising of course, but that is my impression. Our MP is one of the 170 who voted no confidence. He has been loyal to the party and its leaders for many years, he voted against the Iraq war. He is a good local MP yet there is talk of him being deselected because of his vote of no confidence. I may be naive and wrong but my feeling is that so many MPs who know JC well, worked with him for years, gave him their support (I know, not all did but our MP did) until recently can't all be back stabbing Blarite ******.
How can it be right to stop party members meeting to discuss the situation. It feels a bit like the Stasi to be honest. What a mess.

But Gracesgran, I Saud pensioners , unemployment, people on benefits, it may be ok with you that he singled out the young and students it isn't for me, I expect a labour leader to be concerned for all not a select few , you and I want and expect different leadership

www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/17/smith-focus-labour-leadership-campaign-tackling-inequality

I think Corbyn would be quite happy to hand over to Owen Smith.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/07/17/so-new-the-green-new-deals-the-british-new-deal/

They are not all back stabbing Blairites Iam, they have worked with him almost daily for years and I do not believe they want to destroy the Labour Party. Corbyn , McDonald and the momentum cult will, they will deselected labour MP's , replace them with extreme left candidates and we will lose good, decent , loyal to the party MP's . I have said the party will not split but now I fear it will because it's what Corbyn & Co want

Yes, Corbyn wants more young people ( to vote for him!)
Owen Smith is left wing and so is Angela Eagle (Smith is more impressive IMHO) so one of them ( whichever it is ) should appeal to all those who want somebody well on the left to replace Corbyn.

I've just watched Owen Smith on the news and agree, he's probably a stronger candidate than Angela Eagle.
I suspect we are heading for a split with possibly Stephen Kinnock leading some kind of centre left alternative to the Labour Party.

It's the NEC that has stopped the meetings, not Corbyn.
In fact many groups are still meeting, just not officially. They are just going down the pub.

Any comments on the fact that Angela Eagle's office window wasn't smashed?

On the whole for me, I feel it is getting rather pointless to discuss the Labour Party as it is heading for a split, with not enough in either new Party[and what would a new one be called?] to be an effective opposition.

By the way, I think that durhamjen's link at 16.57pm is a good one.

Ab, they are not all back stabbing Blairites - and neither are all of Corbyn's supporters bullies (in fact I suspect very few of them are, they might be loud and vocal though!).

I think Brighton and Hove is as dj says meeting down the pub. It is really getting ridiculous, how can the NEC justify what they are doing without concrete evidence? Are the members such wimps that they can be intimidated to vote one way or another? I simply don't believe it. This is not democracy.

But there is evidence the NEC is lying , the meeting has been recorded on film yes?

Yes! It was on TV and I would have thought that any intimidation would have made news, but it was a huge meeting with many people not being able to get in. What we saw was a huge audience all sitting quietly and listening to speakers. I simply can't understand what is going on.