By a Cumbria Labour member
The Penrith and the Borders CLP, meeting last week, passed the following resolution overwhelmingly. We cannot report a verbatim account of the discussion but suffice to say that there is a degree of anger among ordinary Labour members about the way Starmer has treated Jeremy Corbyn and about Starmer’s insipid and Tory-lite leadership. The following is the text of the resolution passed:
This CLP has become increasingly concerned about the direction and quality of the leadership of the Labour Party. In particular, we see little effective opposition to our disastrously incompetent Government, no significant progress with campaigning on the 10 pledges Keir Starmer made during the Party leadership election, and a worrying trend for the decisions and actions of the leadership to divisively fuel growing conflict within the Party.
This CLP believes that the following points illustrate our concerns:
* Shadow Cabinet appointments have been almost exclusively made from the right of the party — this does not reflect the membership of the Labour Party
* Members have been banned from discussing decisions and actions of the party through heavy-handed rulings of ‘incompetent business’, particularly in relation to challenging legal settlements when, in a democracy, all outcomes of legal processes are open to challenge
* There has been a disappointing slowness in acting on the report, ‘The work of the Labour Party’s Governance and Legal Unit in relation to anti-Semitism, 2014-2019, The Labour Party, March 2020’
* The decision to change the voting methods for the NEC elections was undemocratic as this would normally be a decision of conference
* The removal of Jenny Formby and the installation of David Evans, a person with a reputation for his antagonism towards Constituency Labour Parties and those on the left of the Party
* Keir Starmer’s undermining comment on Black Lives matter, when he dismissively said that it was a ‘moment’ not a ‘movement’
* The failure to demand the sacking of Dominic Cummings when he clearly broke lockdown rules in traveling to County Durham and also to Barnard Castle
* The failure to call for an investigation into Dominic Cummings’ role in the construction of a building, without planning permission, in a conservation area and the subsequent avoidance of making Council tax payments for the building
* Inconsistency in dealing with issues of anti-semitism such as the failure to discipline Steve Reed, shadow local government secretary, who tweeted an age old antisemitic trope which alludes to Jewish people as puppet-masters: “Is billionaire former porn-baron Desmond the puppet master for the entire Tory cabinet?”
* The worrying response when Jeremy Clarkson, lifelong Tory and friend of David Cameron, said that he could potentially vote for Labour with Keir Starmer. The Leader’s response was, “people are beginning to notice that Labour has changed”. This statement implies that the Labour Party is changing in a way that makes us attractive to committed Tories
* Keir Starmer’s ‘constructive opposition’ has failed to challenge the Government’s incompetence, corruption or flawed ideological approach in dealing with Covid and has, in reality, been an obsequiously compliant strategy
* The whipping of Labour MPs to abstain on the vote to approve the Overseas Operations Bill to exempt British armed forces from prosecution for war crimes by British soldiers abroad
* The whipping of Labour MPs to abstain on the Covert Human Intelligence Sources Bill (Criminal Conduct), also known as the Spy Cops bill, which would legalise criminal acts by MI5 agents and informants in pursuit of intelligence
* The failure to protect students, children and teaching professionals. Keir Starmer has refused to support the National Education Union, the biggest teaching union in the UK with almost half a million members, in requesting temporary school closures because schools are “an engine for virus transmission”. Scientists have also warned that keeping schools open could mean infection rates stay higher for longer.
* The incredible disunity caused by Keir Starmer’s refusal to restore the whip to Jeremy Corbyn without reason, due process or clarity on what Mr Corbyn must do to rectify that situation. And all this despite his commitment to bring party unity during his campaign for leader.
Labour perceived as being divided
This CLP notes that, according to a YouGov poll using data from the 3rd and 4th of November, there has been a steep rise of up to 57% of voters perceiving the Labour Party to be divided. This is a significant failure for a Leader who campaigned on his pledge to unite the party.
This CLP believes that togetherness, not division, is of utmost importance for the Party to make progress and effectively challenge racism and harassment in whatever form this may take, and to build an effective opposition. This CLP calls for Keir Starmer and the Leadership of the Labour Party to:
Either:
* Lead a robust and effective opposition to the Tory Government
* Take actions that clearly illustrate that the 10 pledges are being honoured and progressed
* Stop the divisive factional attacks on the left of the Party
* Appoint a Shadow Cabinet that more accurately reflects views and aspirations of all Party members
* Immediately restore the whip to Jeremy Corbyn
Or:
Give consideration to making way for a leadership team that is willing and able to do unite the party around a progressive policy programme that injures the Tory Government instead of democratic socialists.
A report of other CLPs passing resolutions in support of Jeremy Corbyn and critical of Starmer, can be read in Tribune, here
November 22, 2020
