Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Labour's red letter day?
The most significant blow to Jeremy Corbyn's Labour yesterday was not the defection of seven MPs to a poorly defined independent grouping, but the readmittance of Derek Hatton to the party.
This was the man who, in September 1985, as Deputy Leader of Liverpool City Council, sent redundancy notices to 31,000 council workers through a private cab firm, so as to make a political point. That action in turn gave the then Labour leader, Neil Kinnock, the ammunition to root out the hard left from Liverpool.
It inspired Kinnock's most famous speech, at the Labour party conference in Bournemouth over 33 years ago, in which he accused Militant of the “grotesque chaos of a Labour council – a Labour council – hiring taxis to scuttle round a city handing out redundancy notices to its own workers”.
The Independent reports that as Kinnock spoke, Hatton shouted “Liar!” from the back of the hall, prompting the Labour leader to address his adversary directly: “I’m telling you, and you’ll listen – you can’t play politics with people’s jobs and with people’s services or with their homes.”
In the circumstances the decision to readmit Hatton sends an interesting message. The Labour Party has moved towards him, not vice versa. Kinnock turned the fortunes of his party around with that speech, Corbyn appears determined to undo that work.
That is evident by some of the social media comments yesterday and today, in which supporters of the current Labour leader seem happy to be rid of the seven defectors. For them the loss of the likes of Chuka Umunna is a good thing, while Hatton will be greeted like a prodigal son.
This is a red letter day for Corbyn's fan base, for everybody else it is confirmation of Labour's unelectability.
This was the man who, in September 1985, as Deputy Leader of Liverpool City Council, sent redundancy notices to 31,000 council workers through a private cab firm, so as to make a political point. That action in turn gave the then Labour leader, Neil Kinnock, the ammunition to root out the hard left from Liverpool.
It inspired Kinnock's most famous speech, at the Labour party conference in Bournemouth over 33 years ago, in which he accused Militant of the “grotesque chaos of a Labour council – a Labour council – hiring taxis to scuttle round a city handing out redundancy notices to its own workers”.
The Independent reports that as Kinnock spoke, Hatton shouted “Liar!” from the back of the hall, prompting the Labour leader to address his adversary directly: “I’m telling you, and you’ll listen – you can’t play politics with people’s jobs and with people’s services or with their homes.”
In the circumstances the decision to readmit Hatton sends an interesting message. The Labour Party has moved towards him, not vice versa. Kinnock turned the fortunes of his party around with that speech, Corbyn appears determined to undo that work.
That is evident by some of the social media comments yesterday and today, in which supporters of the current Labour leader seem happy to be rid of the seven defectors. For them the loss of the likes of Chuka Umunna is a good thing, while Hatton will be greeted like a prodigal son.
This is a red letter day for Corbyn's fan base, for everybody else it is confirmation of Labour's unelectability.
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To me you imply that this is good for the Tories ,the only winners.At the moment it looks to me that ,at the moment, the Tories will be the next govnt.
Where do you see the Lib Dem’s, or indeed vince cables role role with the independent group. Would the Lib Dem’s entertain them? Or are we on the verge of another SDP? I don’t like Corbyn and find momentum quite sinister. I’ve voted labour all my life, but I wouldn’t vote for anyone at the moment, I wonder if a snap election is around the corner with the Labour Party weakened, or are tories about to jump as well?
As a Labour member and a Union activist I am total at a loss for words as to why the Labour Party has allowed the barking left wing such as Derek Hatton back into the party. I can only summise that the party direction is turning ever closer to the far left, a far left that will never see the inside of No10. I have criticised a few Torys in Labour overcoats over the years, but now we see the SWP in trench coats mascaraing as Labour, its a wake up call.
Wake up Labour ; you can’t play politics with people’s jobs and with people’s services or with their homes.”
Chris Cooze
Labour Party Member
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Wake up Labour ; you can’t play politics with people’s jobs and with people’s services or with their homes.”
Chris Cooze
Labour Party Member
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