Sunday, September 22, 2019
Labour's shambolic conference
When was the last time a major Party conference degenerated into such disarray from the very start? It has been quite some time, but Labour are clearly on a mission to set a new record.
They started off by declaring war on their student movement on the eve of nationwide freshers' weeks, moved on to try and abolish their Deputy Leader, potentially sparking a civil war within the party, and now a key aide has quit, quoting a lack of competence and decency in Jeremy Corbyn’s team.
As the Guardian reports, Andrew Fisher, who masterminded the party’s 2017 manifesto, has quit saying he no longer had faith that Labour would be successful. The paper adds that Fisher wrote a memo to colleagues saying members of Corbyn’s team had a “lack of professionalism, competence and human decency”. He also accused them of making a “blizzard of lies and excuses” and apparently claimed that the highest ranks of the party were engaged in “class war”:
The 40-year-old has been a controversial figure within the Labour movement. He was suspended from Labour in 2015 for apparently supporting a Class War candidate against Emily Benn, Tony Benn’s granddaughter, in the general election, and Benn called for him to be expelled. He also appeared in a video saying he had “very violent, bloody nightmares” about hitting former Labour cabinet minister James Purnell.
Barely a year after his suspension, Fisher was confirmed as Labour’s executive director of policy, and was given a large share of the credit for Labour’s surprise success in the 2017 general election which saw Theresa May lose her majority.
Fisher’s resignation adds to bitter infighting that has dogged the party. It boiled over again this weekend when pro-Remain Labour MPs and activists accused Corbyn of trying to “shut down democratic debate” on Brexit. The row, which broke out after the leadership tabled plans to delay a decision on whether it should back Remain or Leave until after a general election, came as a new Opinium poll for the Observer showed the Tory party had extended its lead over Labour to 15 points.
Labour is not helped either by its latest Brexit position, which is to have no position at all. The party continues to sit on the fence, arguing it can negotiate a new and better deal (good luck with that) and that put it to a referendum when it may or may not campaign against their own agreement. It is little wonder that many of Labour's 2017 voters are now backing the Liberal Democrats.
They started off by declaring war on their student movement on the eve of nationwide freshers' weeks, moved on to try and abolish their Deputy Leader, potentially sparking a civil war within the party, and now a key aide has quit, quoting a lack of competence and decency in Jeremy Corbyn’s team.
As the Guardian reports, Andrew Fisher, who masterminded the party’s 2017 manifesto, has quit saying he no longer had faith that Labour would be successful. The paper adds that Fisher wrote a memo to colleagues saying members of Corbyn’s team had a “lack of professionalism, competence and human decency”. He also accused them of making a “blizzard of lies and excuses” and apparently claimed that the highest ranks of the party were engaged in “class war”:
The 40-year-old has been a controversial figure within the Labour movement. He was suspended from Labour in 2015 for apparently supporting a Class War candidate against Emily Benn, Tony Benn’s granddaughter, in the general election, and Benn called for him to be expelled. He also appeared in a video saying he had “very violent, bloody nightmares” about hitting former Labour cabinet minister James Purnell.
Barely a year after his suspension, Fisher was confirmed as Labour’s executive director of policy, and was given a large share of the credit for Labour’s surprise success in the 2017 general election which saw Theresa May lose her majority.
Fisher’s resignation adds to bitter infighting that has dogged the party. It boiled over again this weekend when pro-Remain Labour MPs and activists accused Corbyn of trying to “shut down democratic debate” on Brexit. The row, which broke out after the leadership tabled plans to delay a decision on whether it should back Remain or Leave until after a general election, came as a new Opinium poll for the Observer showed the Tory party had extended its lead over Labour to 15 points.
Labour is not helped either by its latest Brexit position, which is to have no position at all. The party continues to sit on the fence, arguing it can negotiate a new and better deal (good luck with that) and that put it to a referendum when it may or may not campaign against their own agreement. It is little wonder that many of Labour's 2017 voters are now backing the Liberal Democrats.
Comments:
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Do you mean now backing the Lib dems in the last sentence?
Yes they are a shambles and I hope by the end of the week more come over to our side of Brexit.from both parties when people see the real shambles
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Yes they are a shambles and I hope by the end of the week more come over to our side of Brexit.from both parties when people see the real shambles
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