Labour’s paranoid throttle on debate
JVL Introduction
Lord Prem Sikka calls on the Labour Party to broaden the policy debate and engage with critical voices.
Its desperate search for fiscal rectitude while ruling out many promising means of raising the taxes needed to fund productive investment in the green economy mean backsliding on almost every earlier commitment: a £28bn green investment strategy, universal free childcare for children over nine months, abolishing tuition fees…
When Labour rebuilt the economy post-WW2 public debt stood at 270% of GDP. It is now at 60% (not counting quantitative easing, money the government owes itself). But Starmer’s cronies seem to think even that is too high…
Failure to meet people’s legitimate aspirations could lead to rapid disenchantment with Labour and create a crisis of legitimacy.
We can only fear where people will turn to after that…
‘Why Left-Wing Labour Members – Including Politicians Like Me – Feel Stifled By Keir Starmer’s Leadership’
Keir Starmer has closed-off policy-making and refuses to engage with critical voices, writes a Labour peer
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On the throttling of debate – Since 2021 The Labour International (LI) left leaning CLP exec has been devastated by expulsions from the party. Since 2020 2 CLP chairs, 2 secretaries (including me) , 2 women’s officers, 2 TULU’s, data protection officer, Bame officer, and the communications officer have been expelled. This last Friday – expulsion notice day -4 were expelled. 3 more exec members were also issued with notices – youth officer, Disabilities offcer, CLP treasurer. All are members of Labour International Left Alliance (LILA), and that was the reason given that they were expelled, even though LILA is not on the proscribed list. I’ve heard that Duncan Shipley – also a member of LILA- has been issed with an investifgation notice. As fast as we get new members to stand, a vicious homegrown group of Labour To Win members most likely led by Luke Akehurst send in serial complaints. The youth officer and Disabilities officer survived – for now – the only 2 that have managed to. Every single LILA candidate (bar 1) that stood in the recent CLP exec elections were issued with investigation notices.
We have no idea how many ordinary members have also been expelled as we have no up-to-date membership list.
This amounts to bullying and of course is a disincentive for new members to raise their heads above the parapet. I hold out very little hope for an honest conference in September and expect yet another Blairite style mediafest instead.
Neverthelss we persist. The delegate based GC, and thus the membership, is still firmly left.
When it comes to stifling debate , I felt I had to get that off my chest!
There is one party across Britain which supports progressive taxation – taxing the rich more for the common good. That is the Greens.
Labour under Keir Starmer is no longer a progressive party – and worse for progresssives, he has so consummately ‘left-proofed’ the Laour Party that there is no chance Labour becoming a progressive party again in the foreseeable future.
For reasons why progressives (socialists and social-democrats) should join the Greens, see the recent Novara Media interview with Green Party Deputy Leader, Zack Polanski: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgiPW9gB2S4
Labour has also endorsed big increases in the military budget despite it already being one of the biggest in the world.
Bet Starmer wishes Prem had never been made a Labour lord. Prem Sikka is like a drop of fresh water in a sea of sludge.
Biden won by uniting the democrats not expelling them. There will be no one left to canvas at this rate. Getting more people to vote has always been essential to a Labour win. Tories tend to vote anyway as it makes them feel important.
Labour voters have to have more reason to vote than hating the Tories. I’m worried Starmer isn’t very shrewd with this tactic of expelling dissent.
Labour’s paranoid throttle on debate: the first and most paranoid example which horrified me was the instruction sent out to all branches/CLPs or anywhere else, that on no account could the suspension of Corbyn be discussed, even in closed Branch, CLP meetings or in any forum in any way. Staggering. Our Branch ignored this Stalinist-style ruling on the grounds that we could recognise madness who we saw it, but the CLP fell into line…..for some time. That turned out to just the start.