Even before the EHRC Report was released, Starmer vindictively targeted and scapegoated Corbyn, his leadership predecessor/ In the Prole Star Article entitled, “The Labour ‘Unity’ Con – And The Tragic Results, Steve McKenzie warned of the fake promise of ‘unity’ as expounded by the newly elected Labour Leader. He wrote, “A great deal of play is made about the word unity. It is the unity of a workforce that can win a strike. It is unity, behind an agreed candidate, that can win all sorts of elections. However, as we have witnessed over the last five years, it is pursuit of a false unity, with those following their own agenda, that can, and does, help bring down leaders, and destroy movements. A call for unity, based on false principles, or no principles at all, or based on appealing to the lowest common denominator, that destroys the very unity it claims to be seeking to create.” He lays out point by point the destructive path under the deliberately deceitful banner of claimed unity, the first of which I quoted in an earlier post.
Topping a scathing list of unnecessary harm inflicted on the Labour Party, McKenzie says, “The woeful strategy of appeasement and apology, supposedly in a quest for unity, with those on the right who were ruthlessly conducting a one sided civil war, against the left in the Labour party, was a central cause of the downfall of Jeremy Corbyn. The pitiful response of the left, apologising in response to every false allegation of antisemitism, was an embarrassment. Watching decent anti racist campaigners like Mark Wadsworth and Jackie Walker being thrown under a bus, (unity ???), was infuriating. Seeing the cowardly action of the NEC, unanimously adopting the full IHRA definition of antisemitism, was exasperating. These actions were the result of the failure to stand up to the bogus antisemitism smear campaign, and to call it out for what it was, and still is. As we have witnessed the consequences of this were an unmitigated disaster. Every step backwards by the left, led to the right taking two steps forward.”
Although I would add Tory postal voting fraud, McKenzie claims that, “A combination of right wing manoeuvres lost us the 2019 election, however, their real objective, of toppling Jeremy Corbyn at all costs, was achieved. Despite this certain parts of the old left appear to have learned nothing at all from this experience. Things have unfortunately continued in the same vein. They continue to use the same strategy and tactics, appeasement, and continue to get the same result, defeat. Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to make the same mistakes.” He says, “Following Jeremy Corbyn’s resignation we were all supposed to unite behind Rebecca Long Bailey, the left’s continuity candidate in the leadership election. The totally lacklustre campaign, led by the old left, included Long-Bailey continuing to appease, by accepting the Board of Deputies’ ten pledges. The upshot of this was only 130,000 of us uniting behind her and voting for the left candidate. Consequently Sir Keir Starmer was elected, promising us, you guessed it – unity.”
Following on from that continued calamity McKenzie cites the NEC By-Election fiasco saying that, “At the same time as the leadership election was taking place, byelections were taking place for NEC positions. The old, and somewhat discredited left organisations, were insisting that there should be unity, behind those who they, through their front organisations, had decided the left candidates should be. Of course there is no way that unity can be achieved on such a basis, consequently we ended up with a number of left candidates standing. Many of the serious left candidates, who were opposed to the witch-hunt were suspended, following spurious and anonymous allegations. Ostensibly to enable an investigation to take place. In reality to stop them standing in the election. (This has become a standard tactic of the right wing). Despite all of this carry-on, and not because of it, the result was a split vote, and another defeat for the left in the NEC byelections.”
McKenzie says that, “Since then things have moved rapidly to the right as Sir Keir, and those behind him, have sought to send a message to the establishment, that the Labour party is safe in their hands. Her Majesty’s loyal Opposition are indeed just that… The ghost of Jeremy Corbyn, and more importantly, what he stood for, is being laid to rest.” He highlights a series of right wing moves after the departure of a key figure, “Left wing general secretary Jennie Formby lasted a month before she was gone. She was replaced by right wing Blairite, David Evans. Then there was the leaked report, that exposed: Racism, Sexism and Abuse among senior right wing paid officials. A conspiracy against Jeremy Corbyn, falsely making it appear as if he was not dealing with antisemitism allegations. Channelling funds in the 2017 general election, away from marginals to safe seats, with right wing Labour MP’s. It was a major embarrassment for the right wing, and risked exposing the reality about what had really been going on.”
McKenzie has sharp criticism for Starmer’s handling of the leaked report and its explosive contents. He justifiably claims that, “This has been met by the leadership with a rigged inquiry that has been set up to fail.” This is, “an inquiry that is designed to whitewash the matter, and kick it into the long grass.” Worse still McKenzie is alarmed by Starmer’s total, “failure to hold the government to account.” He is cynical about, “Our ‘unity’ candidate, and ‘forensic’ expert, Sir Keir, has been far less decisive when criticising and dealing with clown prince Johnson and the woefully inadequate Tory government. Its absolute mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic has been, and is, a disaster. A crisis, that their absolute incompetence has turned into a catastrophe, that has caused tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. A forensic analysis and damning critique was deemed inappropriate by the leadership of the so-called Opposition. Instead, playing the role of silent witness was thought to be far more politically astute.”
McKenzie points to yet another unforgivable mistake Starmer has made: “turning on the unions.” He describes, “One of the most telling examples of waging war on the left, while remaining uncritical of the government, was the failure to back the education unions, and the dismissal of Rebecca Long-Bailey. Our knight of the realm, was demonstrably half-hearted when it came to backing the NEU in their campaign against the thoroughly irresponsible attempt, by the Tory government, to send schools back early, before adequate safety measures were in place. Rebecca Long-Bailey lost her job in the shadow cabinet, partly as a result of backing the union. (of course the bogus antisemitism smear campaign was used, yet again by the right, as an excuse to dismiss her. Once again resolving a political problem by organisational means).” The Unions currently supply the bulk of the Labour Party’s funding, but with his controversial actions so far, Starmer has now put their continued financial support in serious jepody.
Few issues have ignited more fury among Labour Party members than Keir Starmer’s outrageously rash decision to compensate John Ware and the Panorama 6. McKenzie rightly describes, “The latest outrageous behaviour that is helping to turn a split in the Labour party into a chasm, has been Starmer’s decision to settle a court case, costing hundreds of thousands of pounds, and issue a grovelling apology, to six former Labour Party employees who appeared in the incredibly biased and one-sided Panorama programme, ‘Is Labour Anti-Semitic’. [Note: the title of the programme is spelled as it appeared at broadcast – ironically using the hyphenated spelling of ‘antisemitism’ which has been discredited by the IHRA as having Nazi connotations]” When Corbyn openly criticized the obscene, totally unwarranted payout Ware opportunistically hit him with a SLAPP Suit, but Ware has fallen eerily silent now that Corbyn has amassed a substantial legal fund to fight the case in Court, something Ware hadn’t anticipated,
McKenzie goes on to describe evidence of Keir Starmer’s, “unconscious’ bias,” saying, “We haven’t even touched on the racist behaviour that has been displayed by Sir Keir Starmer so far. Evidently, according to our leader, the Black Lives Matter campaign is ‘a moment’. No doubt a genuine mistake though, the highly experienced lawyer just forgot the word ‘defining’ in both television interviews… Add to this the bullying of Diane Abbott and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, when they spoke at a meeting where two Jewish members, who had been expelled from the party, were part of the 400+ in attendance, and a pattern begins to emerge. The fact that Starmer then informs us that he is booking himself in for an unconscious bias awareness course with an e-learning module lasting just 20 minutes, is farcical and just adds insult to injury.”
McKenzie contrasts, “Genuine Unity v Unity at all costs,” saying that, “The bogus ‘unity’ candidate in the Labour leadership campaign has proved by his actions that accepting the totally unprincipled, ‘unity at all costs’ approach, is wrong and politically disastrous. The cynical calls for unity, by an undemocratic cabal, is also divisive and plays into the hands of the right wing. He asks, “Are the right overplaying their hand?” McKenzie claims that, “there are reasons to be optimistic,” explaining how, “It would appear that the right wing have really overplayed their hand on this occasion” and why he fees this is so. According to McKenzie, “The rapid turn to the right in the party has jolted many serious socialists and genuine trade unionists into life.” He asserts that, “Anyone who scratches beneath the surface can now see that the unity candidate was nothing of the sort. Unity at all costs, in the mouths of these people, is meaningless, and merely a method to deceive, while their real agenda is being followed.”
McKenzie elaborates on, “Real unity, based on honesty, transparency and basic principles, is a completely different concept, and something that we should all be aspiring to achieve. Unity based on socialist policies and solidarity with workers in struggle must be differentiated from the false unity of the graveyard, that we have been sold by those with an alien agenda, and a vested self interest to protect.” In the few short weeks since McKenzie wrote this analytical article about the reality of rapidly diminishing unity in the Labour Party, Keir Starmer has accelerated the pace of division as he and his right wing cabal have barely attempted to disguise the witch-hunt targeting of progressive Left Labour members, MPs and supporters; a deliberately targeted aggressive purge is well underway. While this has the full support of the BBC and right wing Media, Constituency Labour Party members are fighting back calling for Corbyn to be reinstated and passing votes of ‘no confidence’ in Starmer and General Secretary Evans.
McKenzie has described Starmer and his team as “out of Control,” saying that, “The right, buoyed by their recent victories are behaving like a school bully who has let power go to their head. Thirty two former staffers are threatening to take the Labour party to court, based on the benchmark that the out of court settlement and the grovelling apology has set. That is of course, unless Jeremy has the whip withdrawn. Corbyn himself is being threatened with legal action. This has led to a backlash and a display of solidarity. At the time of writing over £300,000 has been raised for a legal defence fund, if it is needed.” That fund continues to climb, but just the fact it is there to fund a Court case will stop many opportunists in their tracks because SLAPP Lawsuits are essentially just harassment and intimidation cases that will not win if subjected to scrutiny in Court. McKenzie says, “More and more Labour party members are beginning to realise that there is no option but to stand up, get organized and fight back.”
McKenzie concludes his findings by reminding us all of the dire need to fight-back and how we should proceed. He says, “That has to be based on: On genuine unity, which in turn is based on honesty, integrity and solidarity. No to the false unity of the graveyard based on duplicitous self serving agenda’s of the right. No to the fake unity of the old, and discredited voices of the invertebrate left, who have based their strategy on appeasement and apology. No to running away and leaving the Labour Party in a fit of pique. It only plays into the hands of the right wing.” So what will it take? McKenzie says, “Yes to getting off of our knees and starting a proper fight-back. Yes to getting properly organized in the Labour movement at a grassroots and rank and file level, in the CLP’s and on the councils, in the workplace and in the union branches.” Thankfully all of these actions are ramping up into high gear right now as Labour Party outrage continues to grow exponentially at a rate comparable with the Pandemic!
In the Skwawkbox Article entitled, “Croydon Labour branch declares no confidence in Starmer and Evans,” they say the, “Motion passes with clear majority. The Skwawkbox revealed yesterday that Valley Branch Dyffryn in Aberconwy, Wales, had become the first to vote no confidence in Keir Starmer. Another Labour branch has also declared its lack of confidence in Starmer and in the party’s general secretary David Evans, and in fact beat Valley to the drop.” They report that, “One week ago, on 14 November, even before Starmer disgraced himself by contravening Labour rules to withdraw the whip from Jeremy Corbyn after Corbyn was unanimously reinstated by a right-dominated panel of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) -Fairfield, Park Hill & Whitgift and South Croydon Branch, which represents four wards in the Croydon constituency, passed its vote by a clear majority.”
The Skwawkbox warn, “There have been only a few days since the whip was withdrawn from Corbyn, yet dozens of constituency and branch parties have already passed motions supporting Corbyn and/or condemning Starmer and Evans. Many more are busy arranging their own meetings, while right-dominated regional offices try frantically to block them. There is a groundswell building rapidly – and not one Labour’s hierarchy will enjoy.” Before the NEC ruling Evens had been ordering CLPs not to discuss support for Corbyn and some officials were suspended for disobeying this undemocratic dictate, Evens had issued similar threats trying to block CLP debate or motions surrounding the warped decision to use membership funds to pay of a baseless SLAPP suit brought by John Ware after legitimate criticism of his Panorama hatchet job, “Is Labour anti-Semitic?” But the ability of the current Labour Leadership team to shut down legitimate debate will be short lived especially with a growing number of no-confidence motions.
The Skwawkbox also proudly announced, “Brand new, nightly, free working-class socialist channel launched tonight – Socialist Telly (Left Media TV).” They reported that, “A brand new – and free – socialist streaming channel has launched this evening: Left Media TV, or ‘Socialist Telly’. The station will be run by grassroots left activists and will feature current affairs, panel discussions, expert analysis and political education. The first transmission, which just ended, featured the excellent Cornish Damo interviewing working-class stalwart Jon Trickett: Socialist Telly’s Launch Event. Socialist Telly (@SocialistTelly) In what is believed to be a global first the programmes will, at least initially, run live on Twitter – the first live socialist broadcasts on the platform, followed by streaming on other social media platforms. Follow Socialist Telly on Twitter for the earliest access.” Oh how the Tories will ring their hands, it’s not like they can demand to have it shut down as they are trying to do with RT.
With all the loud “Stop the Steal” protests and the angry claims of sore loser Donald Trump, he is actually right that the US postal vote was rigged, but he still did not manage to steal the Election. I received this in an email: “UPDATE: Postmaster Louis DeJoy Ordered to Account for Mail-In Voting Problems, Federal Judge says ‘Someone may have to pay a price’. 100,000 signers needed: Sign vote by mail pac’s petition to demand postmaster louis dejoy resign immediately for interfering in election. Louis DeJoy is a Trump loyalist whose reckless behavior put Democracy at risk: He slowed mail service to a CRAWL to delay mail-in ballots; He IGNORED a court order to ENSURE all delayed ballots were delivered; He’s DIRECTLY responsible for 300,000 MISSING mail-in ballots in the most important election of our time. The Postal Service has served Americans faithfully for decades, until DeJoy and Trump destroyed it to try to rig the election. Postmaster DeJoy is a threat to our Democracy, he must go; Demand DeJoy resign.”
I wonder if Idox delayed or failed to send out our postal ballots here? In the UK this one unaccountable private company with strong Tory links and knowledge of our recent voting history sent out and then ‘managed’ the postal votes: but could we really trust them? We must question and build robust opposition to this corrupt Tory Government that swept to power following the incredulous ‘landslide victory’ of the Covert 2019 Rigged Election. Labour PMs who’d been virtually ignored, or peppered with questions over fantisemitism, before the vote were suddenly sought after and pushed into the spotlight to tell and retell the shameful defeat to reinforce the Tory lies. They were expected to exaggerate fantisemitism, demonize and blame Corbyn personally, make the ‘borrowed votes’ lie sound believable and repeatedly grovel to make the fake news stick. Tories were never put on the spot over huge swings in their favour after an abysmal election campaign, because if they had been the thin tissue of lies would have easily been stripped away; we still need a full Investigation of that vote to expose the truth and Get the Tories Out. DO NOT MOVE ON!