Ken Loach may be kicked out of Labour

I hope there will be lots of posts now from those who condemned Corbyn for being anti-semitic. Or is investigation of left wing Jews OK?
The more I hear about what is happening in the party the more I wonder what real LP values are now.

I don’t recall anti semitism in the Labour Party until Corbyn,

This is dynamite from Skwawkbox, which reports that the chairman of Labour’s Colchester constituency party has quit, explaining his reasons in a letter that has been released to the public.

And it’s red hot.

Read Richard Hill’s letter for yourself [boldings by Skwawkbox]:

“As one of over 100,000 people to leave under your tenure I doubt my decision will give you pause for thought but I write anyway as after donating thousands of hours of my time over the last 5 years I feel I have enough skin in the game to express my immense disappointment in you. Your pitch to members was unity, authority and integrity. You are certainly an authoritarian. Unity and integrity seem to be sadly lacking. I’ve never wanted one faction to control our party, I value respect, plurality, robust debate and consensus-building. These are values I’m not sure we share.

“Another of your strengths that was lauded in the leadership campaign was your “electability”. That’s a meaningless notion in my view, and certainly not true in your case. You are 10 points behind an utterly corrupt and incompetent government that has decimated public services over the last 11 years. In recent elections the Labour vote has tanked, Hartlepool, Chesham & Amersham and the loss of 300 council seats aren’t indicators of “electability”, quite the opposite. The sight of you crowing after Batley & Spen was especially distasteful after Labour scraped a win with a massively reduced majority. Your triumphalism was pure delusion, if the Greens had stood, Labour would have lost.

“Perhaps winning elections isn’t what motivates you? It seems that punching left, controlled opposition and narrowing the political discourse matters more. This was not the vision you sold to party members. You promised not to trash previous leaders and to offer radicalism. You have removed the whip without grounds from Jeremy Corbyn and offered no policies whatsoever (barely even stating NHS workers deserve more than a 3% raise simply isn’t good enough). The blueprint for electoral success was written in 2017; a radical manifesto that understood how ordinary people were badly treated by a rigged system and offered a genuine alternative that would serve them better. This saw the largest increase in vote share for Labour since 1945. You have rejected that and played along with a narrative that it wasn’t appealing to voters, this can only be for ideological rather than pragmatic reasons. Young people and left behind communities, those with little power to change things, don’t agree and want and deserve a lot more.

“Labour is more than a party, it is a movement. You had half a million people, ready to campaign with you to undo decades of neoliberalism, rebuild our public services and build a better, more equal future. You’ve squandered that goodwill and with it your opportunity to become Prime Minister. I can only conclude you aren’t serious about winning power.

“Of all your failings and the endless excuses for them, the worst is giving approval to this criminally inept government’s handling of the pandemic. You could have challenged the obvious incompetence and corruption and maybe save lives but instead chose to “back the government”. Thousands died unnecessarily but you decided it wasn’t the time to challenge their actions for fear of negative Daily Mail headlines. You waved everything through, cowardice dressed as cunning is just weakness.

“I think it’s my own bloody-mindedness or idealism that kept me staying a member so long, under FPTP Labour is the only show in town after all. When you paid off Labour staffers in a case in-house lawyers advised you’d win, with the endless delays in publishing the Forde Report, when you lied about Rebecca Long-Bailey sharing an antisemitic trope, withholding the whip from Jeremy Corbyn and the general contempt you seem to hold [for] members. All of these should have been enough to send me packing. I held on in hope of the unity and radical vision you promised.

“It is with much sadness that I leave Colchester CLP. The fantastic members are like all across the country demonised and seem an inconvenience to you, this goes against everything the Labour party should be. My comrades aren’t hard left extremists, they’re ordinary, committed people who give their energy and enthusiasm in the hope of a better country and a better world.

“They deserve better than your empty rhetoric, endless relaunches and the slide towards irrelevance you are overseeing.”

The Conservatives have two major pluses. Firstly they have huge amounts coming from Tory donors to fund their marketing and they also have the fact that they can get more into the news because they are currently in government.

Part of the LP that does not want to agree with the other part. They may be a broad church but they are not singing from the same hymn sheet. In contrast it often seems that Tories will cover their differences, use weasel words about them, lie or come close to lying, just to have and stay in power. They are very much "my party, right or lying theives or anything short of murder and even that if we can spin it."

Why of why can’t they accept Corbyn has gone, he lost 2
general elections, refused to take part in the tv debates on
Brexit, even went on bloody holiday during it.

Voters didn’t like him, he doesn’t give a fig about winning the
next general election, possibly would delight in a loss.

Yes the Tories understand that completely Pippa, I think it's also one of the reasons they have had two female PMs, it is the conservative.party before anything.

Anniebach

Why of why can’t they accept Corbyn has gone, he lost 2
general elections, refused to take part in the tv debates on
Brexit, even went on bloody holiday during it.

Voters didn’t like him, he doesn’t give a fig about winning the
next general election, possibly would delight in a loss.

I’m afraid he has become a cult like figure. Which is dangerous.

MayBee70

Anniebach

Why of why can’t they accept Corbyn has gone, he lost 2
general elections, refused to take part in the tv debates on
Brexit, even went on bloody holiday during it.

Voters didn’t like him, he doesn’t give a fig about winning the
next general election, possibly would delight in a loss.

I’m afraid he has become a cult like figure. Which is dangerous.

Quite where does this come from. He's a constituency MP. He was voted on as a Labour MP. He has had the whip withdrawn for no definite reason. Nothing else.
But now apparently CLPs cannot talk about him. Where's the cult? No one is suggesting he comes back as leader. Most just want a leader who can do what Starmer can't. Unite the party.

It's only Tory supporters obsessed with Corbyn. I really don't get why.

I do get why GagaJo. He embodies what most Tory supporters would see as the ‘loony left’. Tory supporters in that context includes floating voters, who make up the majority of the population - not affiliated to a particular party, and also the moderate elements of the Labour Party itself, not that we go on about him. As a result of his stated beliefs and his actions, fired up by the press, he has become the embodiment of what that largest portion of the electorate are scared of in a leader, and by implication, a party, hence the obsessive referencing. In reality he’s a has-been.

Not from some Labour party Facebook pages I’m on. Maybe there are trolls in them but they can’t all be trolls. I get no end of abuse from some people because I’m prepared to support whoever happens to be party leader. They accuse me of being a Tory even though I’d been voting Labour before most of them had even been born,

Of course he's a has-been. I 100% agree despite previously being a supporter. All past party leaders are. I guess I'm what they see as loony left then. Hard not to be, as a teacher.

I had a bf that was a Labour supporter like you MB. I only support if the party reflects my principals. Each to their own.

Principles are wonderful- but what is the point if there is no chance in being elected and therefore able to change things?

The world has changed since the heyday of big Unions and mines, steelworks, etc, and people's aspirations have changed too. That does not mean they have lost their 'principles', just that they reflect new realities.

Kali2

Principles are wonderful- but what is the point if there is no chance in being elected and therefore able to change things?

The world has changed since the heyday of big Unions and mines, steelworks, etc, and people's aspirations have changed too. That does not mean they have lost their 'principles', just that they reflect new realities.

That's absolutely true. But no one is suggesting we resurrect Clause 4. Most Labour supporters though and particularly union people believe zero hours contracts are not acceptable unfortunately it seems some in the shadow cabinet don't agree. So there's one principle which really shouldn't be lost, The concept that people need a job which pays a reasonable wage someone can live on comfortably.

And on this I totally agree, 100%. Once all people have a decent wage however, I see no reason why it is wrong in principle to have people who for all sorts of reasons, and I hope principally hard work (and we all know a decent family, and all sorts of other things can help or hamper) rise above - as long as they treat their workers right and pay fair taxes.

Kali2

Principles are wonderful- but what is the point if there is no chance in being elected and therefore able to change things?

The world has changed since the heyday of big Unions and mines, steelworks, etc, and people's aspirations have changed too. That does not mean they have lost their 'principles', just that they reflect new realities.

That, absolutely.

GagaJo

I had a bf that was a Labour supporter like you MB. I only support if the party reflects my principals. Each to their own.

So, with respect, why don’t you teach in an inner city comprehensive school like my daughter did until government cuts over the years wore her down. I asked her to move to the private sector but she wouldn’t do it on principle.

If as claimed tory supporters are obsessed with Corbyn, what does it say of the chap whose letter * grany* posted

KS is a great barrister- he knows that he needs to let those with lose ropes get entangled and eventually more...

what is the saying 'never disturb an enemy who ...'

When Keir Starmer first became leader of the Labour party, and it looked as if he might continue with some policies from the previous manifesto, a smear campaign was started against him, with the hope that this one would work just as well as the previous smear campaign against the previous leader. Even a couple of posters on this site appeared to believe it.

I think that the reason the smears have gone quiet is because the right wing have realised they have nothing to fear from Keir Starmer.

Anniebach The letter is in no way obsessed with Jeremy Corbyn, his suspension was just one of a number of things that has caused that chap to hand in his resignation.

Kali2 I hope you are right, I will be really pleased if you are.

Ken Loach is kicked out of the Labour Party

Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has expelled legendary film-maker Ken Loach for refusing to disown fellow members who were expelled without evidence.

How ridiculous: this pillar of the Left has been unjustly expelled from Labour for insisting that people have been unjustly expelled from Labour.

The director’s I’Daniel Blake was a damning indictment of the Tory policy of persecution against the unemployed – particularly people with long-term illnesses and disabilities. Starmer’s decision to expel him may be seen as support for such policies.

He announced his removal on Twitter:

'Labour HQ finally decided I'm not fit to be a member of their party, as I will not disown those already expelled. Well…' KL

— Ken Loach & Sixteen Films (@KenLoachSixteen) August 14, 2021

voxpoliticalonline.com/2021/08/14/loach-expelled-from-labour-as-keir-starmer-expands-his-witch-hunt/

Well we knew it was possible. I suppose it at lest makes it very clear that Keir Starmer's party does not really care for people who point out the inequalities in our society.

Does Ken Loach support Keir Starmer as the elected leader of the Labour Party or is he one of those people that think that Corbyn should still be leader?