Thu 7 May 2020, 09:33 AM | Posted by editor
LETTER from Tom Smith, Newport West Labour member.
Jennie Formby has resigned. On the day Keir Starmer was elected, I and others predicted her departure. Elements of the right wing were preparing to blame her for leaking that explosive document that demonstrated the shocking behaviour of Labour Party full-time staff.
The enquiry set up by Starmer will be a whitewash on the basis that “unity” is more important than disciplinary action. In the meantime, there is an ongoing attack on Dianne Abbot for speaking at a meeting where expelled party members attended – a Zoom meeting with hundreds looking in and she is supposed to vet who is logged in! She has been attacked every day, with vile racist abuse and even death threats. Once the NEC is secure for the right wing and all internal democracy is crushed, many of the left-wing MPs will be replaced by imposed candidates in their constituencies.
Right wing is ruthless
The right wing is utterly ruthless and maybe impatient for a purge to take place. Starmer has already selected his shadow cabinet and it will not be long before all officials will match needs of the right wing. He has appointed yet another follower to oversee spending plans and begin to drop many of the left-wing policies over the next period.
I have heard the right wingers moaning about the failure in the 2019 election, it will take years to recover and that Starmer is on a listening exercise etc. Yet not one publication of criticism has been sent out about Labour’s response to the recession, to the government’s grotesque handling of the pandemic, not one challenge to bailing out private health care, nothing on the blatant lies perpetrated by this government.
The key is the trade unions
But the battle is far from over. Many left MPs will be forced to fight it out. They know they might be ousted at some point so what is there to lose? Of course, the key are the trade unions. The right-wing trade union leaders are quite used to fobbing off rank and file pressure, but that does not mean a quiet industrial future. I am watching with interest the return to work scenario, where even right-wing unions are forced into opposition.
The Bank of England has produced a grim scenario of nine per cent unemployment and a possible recovery only in 2021. My own view is even if there is a partial recovery, it will do nothing to stop another onslaught of austerity or even dent in any significant way the unemployment level.
All this of course assumes no second wave of the virus. It assumes that trade talks with the USA and EU will produce economic benefits to the UK. That is an impossibility.
