By Peter Doyle, Penrith and the Borders Labour member
Adding some detail to your previous article on the dead hand of the Labour bureaucracy, and the banning of Jamie Driscoll, it is worth noting that Labour North has now split North East CLPs – about two dozen – right down the middle. Half of them have either refused to nominate for the North of England mayoral candidate selection, or they have refused to meet, which amounts to the same thing.
You have to bear in mind that the North East hasn’t only been a bastion of the Labour Party for decades; it has been a bastion of the Labour right wing. The biggest affiliated union in the region has historically been the GMB, a standard-bearer for the Labour right.
It is all the more telling, therefore, that so many CLPs have refused to participate in the compromised selection process, because many of those who are outraged by the treatment of Jamie Driscoll will have been traditionally in the centre or on the right of the Party. The manoeuvres of the right wing are going to alienate many of their own erstwhile supporters.
South Tyneside Fabian Society backing Driscoll
In South Tyneside, the area that includes the constituency of former right wing MP, David Miliband, the local branch of the Fabian Society – again, not noted to be left wing in the slightest – was addressed by Jamie Driscoll, who received unanimous support.
In Gateshead, even the Labour Council group has “declined” to make a nomination, as they had the right to do, although without a clear statement of reasons, it may be that some of its members were as much opposed to the whole idea of a devolved North East mayor as to the banning of Jamie Driscoll by Labour’s right wing.
Predictably, the misnamed Jewish Labour Movement has backed the banning of Jamie Driscoll, without, however, suggesting he was antisemitic. In response, a dozen local Jews, including Labour members, have issued their own statement in support of Jamie Driscoll. The twelve signatories, including a rabbi, objected to the JLM using the Jewish community in the factional struggle in the Labour Party, adding that Jamie Driscoll “is not and has never been an antisemite”.
Mysterious appointments for new executive
The developments in Cumbria that were referred to in the article can be further amplified. Carlisle CLP has been suspended now for over twelve months. The Boundary Commission has created a ‘new’ Carlisle constituency and Labour North has not been prepared to say when there will be any meeting of any kind to cover the new area. Not a single Labour member in the new constituency knows what is going on or when something might happen; meanwhile there are no meetings.
In Penrith and the Borders CLP, the whole executive resigned when Councillor McGuckin was suspended and when that happened every local Labour branch bar one simply collapsed and stopped meeting.
The exception was the Brampton branch, a left-wing branch. As it happens this ward branch is moving into the ‘new’ Carlisle CLP that will be created and Labour North have taken it upon themselves to appoint three members of Brampton ward branch to the new CLP executive, without any elections or consultation with the branch.
Why were the ‘chosen few’ chosen?
Despite sending more than a dozen e-mails to Labour North, Brampton branch have had no explanation for the criteria used for the elevation of three of its members to the new executive. So unsurprisingly, most Party members will think it is because the chosen few are in general agreement with the political faction of Labour officials.
In Copeland CLP, the whole of the CLP executive resigned over the failure of a local councillor, Joseph Ghayouba, even to make the long list. As one of his public statements shows (see above), he is on the left of the party and that is the entire reason for his exclusion. Workington CLP, which is going to amalgamate with Copeland, feel that they have been excluded altogether from the selection for the new seat, so they, too, are at loggerheads with Labour North.
So that is four out of four of the CLPs of North Cumbria, brassed off with the high-handed bureaucracy of Labour North.
Right wing might be biting off more than they can chew
On the whole business of suspending party branches and constituencies, the right wing might be biting off more than they can chew. With Jamie Driscoll, they have put the cap on it. I had a post forwarded to me from an ordinary Labour member in Newcastle and it speaks volumes about the damage Labour North is doing to members’ morale.
“I think it is wrong” he writes “that the London Labour Party is seeking to impose their chosen candidate on the North East. It seems clear to me now, that Kim McGuiness was chosen by Keir Starmer years ago to replace Jamie Driscoll. Becoming Police Commissioner appears but a cynical short-term measure to increase her profile. I do not wish to be unkind but having a choice between a has-been MEP, a virtually unknown Newcastle Councillor and The Chosen One is the equivalent of having a short-list of one”.
The damage to Labour’s ‘on the ground’ election work by the ban on Jamie Driscoll, is summed up in a couple of sentences: “Should Jamie Driscoll defy the London Party Leadership and decide to stand as an Independent Candidate I will face a dilemma, like many hundreds of other Labour Party members. Should I campaign for the man who appears to be by far the best candidate for the North-East, based on his track record, or not?
If I did, I would have to resign as Chair of the Benton Branch of the Labour Party and the Regional Political Committee of Unite the Union. Ceasing to be a member would affect many friendships. It would be a wrench. I have enjoyed leafleting and door-knocking for many years in Benton and Forest Hall.
No doubt, Jamie Driscoll himself will be wrestling with his conscience, conflicting principles and loyalties over the next few days. I am sure that the [Newcastle] Journal will keep us well-informed of the outcome of his deliberations.”
