Why did Starmer settle out of court Give a grovelling apology and pay out six figure sum?

Grany, correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Unite pay out for a Squawkbox legal matter which, I believe, was lost. £2 million approximately I believe. Were the members consulted about that?

I'm loving all these tory voters coming onto this thread to tell us how the Labour Party should be run...

Do you think they intend to vote Labour at the next election if Starmer does as they tell him?

It's a good stance by McCluskey to say that membership fees and union fundings should not to be used in payouts. And will back Labour which he rightly says as long as they don't lurch to the right Starmer agreed to the polices of Corbyn and Labour they are extremely good polices nothing Marxist about them whatever that's meant to demean.

Lemon 'deliberate blindness' That's the Tories on GN supporting and clown Johnson.

I don't think much more can be said about this. But still waiting to see what conclusions and decisions are come to about leaked report.

Thank you WW. Good to know that.

Unite supported RLB for leadership.

Starmer had support from USDAW,Community, Musicians, TSSA, UNISON, amongst others.

Starmer had support from the majority of the affiliated groups.

It was Len McCluskey who supported Ed over his brother David. It’s about time his role in controlling the LP was recognised.

The elected leader of the Labour Party is on a warning ?!!!!! Who actually runs the party? The elected leader or Len Mcluskey? What a way to carry on, do as we tell you or we'll make sure your life is at best a misery, at worst impossible! I can't see K.S ever winning an election with these dinosaurs lurking in the background waiting to pounce! Poor K.S talk about a thankless task! If the far left imagine that they're going to win over middle England with their Marxist policies then they are truly deluded! Surely they can see this?!!

So the big unions are now the deciders of how LP monies should be spent are they? Blackmail by the sounds of it.
There is no ‘lurch to the right’ within the PLP .....more a pulling back from the extreme left beloved by Corbyn and McDonnell.Only extremists could call it a ‘lurch to the right’.
I think some LP members live in a parallel universe.

Galaxy

Never any responsibility, it must be lovely, the fault of the right of the labour party, the fault of the press, the fault of anyone but the leadership of the worst labour defeat I have ever seen.

Just what I was thinking too.
The deliberate blindness shown by some on this thread is mind boggling.It doesn’t matter that for a while Corbyn became the pet of young people, fads never last long anyway.
Elected him to become leader was a huge ( and acknowledged by most) mistake.
He and McDonnell were roundly trounced at the ballot box,
By Labour voters!
The LP now has a chance to become electable under somebody sensible enough to know the way the wind blows when it comes to winning an election.
A do-able manifesto and no Marxist ideas is a good start, added to which not bowing down to the likes of McCluskey.

Well, the left v right row within the Labour movement seems to be rapidly moving to a head now.

Below is a report from the guardian today which very much demonstrates how the row is rapidly growing:-

The leader of Unite, Len McCluskey, has been praised by left-leaning Labour MPs for ordering a review of the union’s political donations after Keir Starmer’s decision to pay damages to former staff turned antisemitism whistleblowers.

Ian Lavery, the party chair under Jeremy Corbyn, is one of three former shadow ministers who have told the Guardian they support the union’s general secretary for re-examining whether to donate to Labour in the wake of the six-figure settlements.

Their interventions will increase tensions between the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs and Labour’s leader following the latter’s decision to apologise and pay damages to seven staff who claimed they had been defamed by senior party figures after taking part in a BBC Panorama documentary on antisemitism.

It comes amid growing speculation about the future leadership of the UK’s three biggest unions – Unite, Unison and the GMB – which are responsible for a majority of Labour’s funds.

McCluskey, whose union has given Labour around £7m since January 2019, said on Saturday that paying the damages was an “abuse of members’ money”. He told the Observer: “A lot of it is Unite’s money and I’m already being asked all kinds of questions by my executive. It’s as though a huge sign has been put up outside the Labour party with ‘queue here with your writ and get your payment over there’.”

Lavery, who was also shadow minister for trade unions under Corbyn, said: “What Len says is extremely important. I have had people asking me from Unite if it is right that members’ money is used to finance Keir’s legal challenges and pay compensation when the advice that the party allegedly had was that the party was in a very strong position to defend the claims.

“People have got to be accountable and responsible. You cannot expect unions to pump millions of pounds into the party if the party isn’t accountable.”

Another former shadow cabinet minister agreed: “Starmer is on warning that he must work with everyone across the movement and cash has to be accounted for. The lurch to the right will not be paid for with union subs.” Another said: “Len said what a lot of us have been thinking.”

Lavery, who was also shadow minister for trade unions under Corbyn, said: “What Len says is extremely important. I have had people asking me from Unite if it is right that members’ money is used to finance Keir’s legal challenges and pay compensation when the advice that the party allegedly had was that the party was in a very strong position to defend the claims.

“People have got to be accountable and responsible. You cannot expect unions to pump millions of pounds into the party if the party isn’t accountable.”

Another former shadow cabinet minister agreed: “Starmer is on warning that he must work with everyone across the movement and cash has to be accounted for. The lurch to the right will not be paid for with union subs.” Another said: “Len said what a lot of us have been thinking.”

Link to full Guardian article can be found here:-
www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/aug/02/len-mccluskey-praised-by-labour-mps-for-ordering-unite-funding-review

MaizieD

Your post is completely irrelevant to this discussion, Oopsminty.

We're not talking about different political parties, we're talking about different 'wings' of the Labour Party.

Do save your disgust and sweeping statements for a more appropriate thread...

That made me laugh, MaizieD!

Does it not suit your narrative?

I don't think it's up to you what I post actually. And I'm not remotely disgusted. Nor have I made sweeping statements

Lots of posters have been discussing what Tony Blair did. They are also mentioning the austerity that we have endured under Tory rule.

I think that my comments are very relevant.

Seeing as I appear to have rattled your cage, maybe you should report me to HQ

The simple fact is that the left of the Labour Movement provide virtually all the financing and infrastructure for parliamentary Labour Party and then the Neo Tory Right of the that Parliamentary party use that financing and infrastructure against the left of the movement.

That as Len McCluskey has stated has to be brought to an end.

Your post is completely irrelevant to this discussion, Oopsminty.

We're not talking about different political parties, we're talking about different 'wings' of the Labour Party.

Do save your disgust and sweeping statements for a more appropriate thread...

Grandad1943

Anniebach

Blair was the only Labour Leader to win three consecutive
general elections Grany

Corbyn had the worse general election defeat since 1935

Yes, Blair won three general elections and the great legacy of those victories where:-
The beginning of zero-hour employment contracts.
The start of Gig Economy employment working.
The British end of the 2008 Banking Crisis.
The Iraq war.

Oh........and Rupert Murdock running Labour party policy to ensure no press criticism of Blair and his cohorts was forthcoming while all the above was carried out.

Wonderful stuff.

Don't forget the attempt to privatise the NHS!

People seem to forget this

www.theguardian.com/society/2006/feb/16/health.politics

Also many countries had to introduce austerity, not just the UK . Many protests in the Eu.

But people seem to forget that as well

www.theguardian.com/business/2012/nov/14/europe-unite-austerity-protests

I don't have polarised views on politics. I see right and wrong from all parties and leaders.

But we can't just accuse one party of doing something that the other parties have done/tried to do.

It's akin to fanatical football fans with some people

An utter loathing of the right by the left and vice versa with no logical thinking

Grany

Well Galaxy The Tories since 2010 brought in austerity a political choice not A nessessity that's why people not doing so well now.

How on earth does that have any bearing on Galaxy's post?

Do you not have any pride at all in the achievements of the 1997 - 2010 Labour governments?

Yes Grany I understand that, why it's important to win elections. So those families were much better off when Blair was leader than when Corbyn was leader. But nine of that matters to the people who want to follow the code.

You can take the 2008 global financial crisis off your list of Blair/Brown 'failures', Grandad. The fact that you've used it as such really makes you look like an old tory.

If it hadn't been for Labour's prompt action in arranging for £300+ billion of QE and guaranteeing people's bank deposits there would have been complete economic meltdown in the UK.

And if you want to blame it on Labour's previous lax regulation of the banking industry you can forget that, too. The GFC *started in the USA*; regimes were following commonly accepted economic theory in regard to regulation (the theory being that markets are self balancing and will find their correct levels because of that).

If you believe that taxes fund government spending and that countries can run out of money then you subscribe to the same economic theory so can't be pointing blame fingers at anyone else who believes it...

Well Galaxy The Tories since 2010 brought in austerity a political choice not A nessessity that's why people not doing so well now.

Well the organisation is the Labour Party and the people what else is it And still working for the many not the few to improve lives.

It's funny though grandad I worked in some of the most deprived areas of the North in Blairs time, without exception every single one of the families I worked with and in particular the children of those family was better off under Blair than under the current administration.
Wonderful stuff.

even now they are not prepared to sit back but still work for the benefit of the organisation.

And there you have it; crystal clear and devoid of any ambiguity: for the benefit of the organisation. Not the country. Not the people it professes to be working for. Not the younger generation who looked to the LP as a channel to improve things for the future. Just the organisation. Thanks for confirming Grandad, it's as a I suspected.

There's room for both Galaxy or rather there was in the LP under Corbyn, if that remains true under Starmer I'm not sure.

Anniebach

Blair was the only Labour Leader to win three consecutive
general elections Grany

Corbyn had the worse general election defeat since 1935

Yes, Blair won three general elections and the great legacy of those victories where:-
The beginning of zero-hour employment contracts.
The start of Gig Economy employment working.
The British end of the 2008 Banking Crisis.
The Iraq war.

Oh........and Rupert Murdock running Labour party policy to ensure no press criticism of Blair and his cohorts was forthcoming while all the above was carried out.

Wonderful stuff.

I am not dismissing those young people trisher, I am dismissing the people who thought that was going to secure electoral change. They let those young people down thinking that membership and rallies would change peoples lives.

Galaxy

You were doing it wrong Iam64, dont you know door knocking, leafleting etc are old hat, you needed to write JC across your forehead to facilitate electoral change and improve the lives of people. Thank goodness the adults are back in the room.

I don't know how anyone can dismiss the young people who chose to get involved in politics because of Jeremy Corbyn in such a way. They hopefully will stay with the LP but I actually see Starmer as a block to this. I wonder if there are any stats on the number of young people amongst those who have left? It's fine to support the activists who door knock, but if you dismisss the younger supporters you may as well wave goodbye to the LP now.