Writing in Organized Rage prior to British Prime Minister Teresa May announcing General election Mick Hall highlighted the skullduggery afoot in the British Labour Party. He writes:

How the democratic will of pro Corbyn CLPs are being distorted by various tactics and subterfuges.



One of the main reasons for the damaging shenanigans which has hit the British Labour Party since Corbyn became party leader is clearly illustrated in the piece from Skwawkbox below. While Corbyn and John McDonnell gained and maintain the support of the majority of party members, the party bureaucracy is still controlled by the Blairites and Labour's right wing.

This small unrepresentative group have done all they can to sabotage Corbyn's attempt to turn
the party away from its adherence to neoliberal economics and austerity, which have proven disastrous for many of the party's core working class support.

Loyal party members have found their membership suspended for no better reason than they have challenged the politics and policies of the former leaderships. Some have been members for decades others joined in 2015. In parts of the country the situation is even worse with whole CLP's being suspended, Wallasey, Gorton , and Brighton and Hove, the largest CLP in the country are just three.

During the ongoing Unite leadership contest serious allegations have been made about the LP membership lists being given over to Gerard Coyne, who is campaigning on an anti Corbyn ticket. According to Unite member Ian Allinson who is also standing for the leadership:

Unite members are complaining about the volume of unsolicited emails they are receiving from Coyne. One member suggested that this would-be “union baron” should be called Sir Spamalot. Has Coyne got these details from the Unite membership system? Or are the suggestions that right-wing elements of the Labour Party machine have provided him with membership data correct?

Tom Watson the deputy leader of the LP who appears to have lost all reason in his attempt to damage Jeremy, has been touring the country and TV studios thrashing about in the undergrowth stirring up demoralisation and hatred. Len McCluskey, the incumbent general secretary of Unite, called Labour’s deputy leader a backstabber who lives in a “world of skulduggery, smears and secret plots.” He accused Watson of trying to get Gerard Coyne elected as the next head of the union.

He went on to write on the Huffington Post:


For the last three months I have been touring the country meeting working men and women as I campaign to be re-elected as Unite’s General Secretary.

They are - every last one, no matter whether they support me or not - decent people, committed to doing their best for their families, their workplace and their communities in a troubled world. They are the sort of people who make me proud to be a trade unionist, and proud to be able to help them in their daily struggles.

But there is another world in our movement, alas. A world of skulduggery, smears and secret plots.

That is where you will find Tom Watson. When Labour has needed loyalty he has been sharpening his knife looking for a back to stab. When unity is required, he manufactures division.

The Corbynites have welcomed Len McCluskey's intervention as the attacks on the party leader have been obscene, underhand, unending, and down right cowardly.

The Skwawkbox advices ordinary party members how they can win the party back to a system of democratic accountability where all members are held equally accountable for their actions.

Various Tactics And Subterfuges

Writing in Organized Rage prior to British Prime Minister Teresa May announcing General election Mick Hall highlighted the skullduggery afoot in the British Labour Party. He writes:

How the democratic will of pro Corbyn CLPs are being distorted by various tactics and subterfuges.



One of the main reasons for the damaging shenanigans which has hit the British Labour Party since Corbyn became party leader is clearly illustrated in the piece from Skwawkbox below. While Corbyn and John McDonnell gained and maintain the support of the majority of party members, the party bureaucracy is still controlled by the Blairites and Labour's right wing.

This small unrepresentative group have done all they can to sabotage Corbyn's attempt to turn
the party away from its adherence to neoliberal economics and austerity, which have proven disastrous for many of the party's core working class support.

Loyal party members have found their membership suspended for no better reason than they have challenged the politics and policies of the former leaderships. Some have been members for decades others joined in 2015. In parts of the country the situation is even worse with whole CLP's being suspended, Wallasey, Gorton , and Brighton and Hove, the largest CLP in the country are just three.

During the ongoing Unite leadership contest serious allegations have been made about the LP membership lists being given over to Gerard Coyne, who is campaigning on an anti Corbyn ticket. According to Unite member Ian Allinson who is also standing for the leadership:

Unite members are complaining about the volume of unsolicited emails they are receiving from Coyne. One member suggested that this would-be “union baron” should be called Sir Spamalot. Has Coyne got these details from the Unite membership system? Or are the suggestions that right-wing elements of the Labour Party machine have provided him with membership data correct?

Tom Watson the deputy leader of the LP who appears to have lost all reason in his attempt to damage Jeremy, has been touring the country and TV studios thrashing about in the undergrowth stirring up demoralisation and hatred. Len McCluskey, the incumbent general secretary of Unite, called Labour’s deputy leader a backstabber who lives in a “world of skulduggery, smears and secret plots.” He accused Watson of trying to get Gerard Coyne elected as the next head of the union.

He went on to write on the Huffington Post:


For the last three months I have been touring the country meeting working men and women as I campaign to be re-elected as Unite’s General Secretary.

They are - every last one, no matter whether they support me or not - decent people, committed to doing their best for their families, their workplace and their communities in a troubled world. They are the sort of people who make me proud to be a trade unionist, and proud to be able to help them in their daily struggles.

But there is another world in our movement, alas. A world of skulduggery, smears and secret plots.

That is where you will find Tom Watson. When Labour has needed loyalty he has been sharpening his knife looking for a back to stab. When unity is required, he manufactures division.

The Corbynites have welcomed Len McCluskey's intervention as the attacks on the party leader have been obscene, underhand, unending, and down right cowardly.

The Skwawkbox advices ordinary party members how they can win the party back to a system of democratic accountability where all members are held equally accountable for their actions.

4 comments:

  1. Mick,
    Interesting article. The opposite here with SF. There is a click in charge of it and there doesn't seem to be anyway to remove them.
    Now, not that the British Labour Party were ever friends of Ireland, but I have been following Corbyn's reign as the British Labour Party's leader and often wonder, is there no route that Corbyn can employ to have these Blairites removed from holding such positions? It seems to me that after two leadership challenges that he would have the upper hand to make major structural changes. It's odd that the constant sniping from the wings is seemingly allowed to go on without any firm reproach from the leadership.

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  2. Media is totally anti-people and merely a dressed up version of the state medias in tyrannical countries they attack endlessly. Very little different bar presentation. Same ends and control agenda. I agree with Niall, the Blair refuse in the Labour party, especially those in the PLP need rooted out. Hopefully the electorate will do exactly that. It is a great opportunity to do exactly that this election.

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  3. Your both correct the LP Bureaucracy needs rooting out, but once these people gain control of the party machine it's not as easy as it seems as i'm sure you both understand. I agree the British LP has an appalling record on Ireland, one of its ministers was in the government which shot Connolly and co and from there on it was downhill all the way. Just dreadful. I once spoke to a LP MP during the hunger strike and she told me proudly that Don Concannon, then the LP opposition spokesman on the north, went into the Maze to tell Bobby Sands he could expect no support form Labour.

    I have known Corbyn for many years I first met him when we were both speaking at a meeting about the situation in the north, back then that was no easy thing for an ambitious young english politician to do if he wanted to get a seat in parliament. He is one of the few politicians I would trust, his record speaks for itself. Until he became LP leader I would have poked labour with a very long stick but for me him gaining the leadership has been a breath of fresh air and it has certainly rattled the cage of neo liberal red tories like Blair, Tom Watson and co. He alone has placed back on the national agenda issues and policies which have been buried over here for the last thirty odd years. Win or lose he has created a space for socialists to enter the national fray. something I never thought I would see again in my lifetime.

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  4. So you know that 'little beauty' Corbyn? RESPECT!

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