Neal Lawson is Labour’s latest target
JVL Introduction
Neal Lawson, leading light of Compass, is the latest leading light to fall victim to Labour’s witch hunt and we stand in full solidarity with him as Labour’s autocratic control freaks careen out of control.
As he explains below, has in effect been done for supporting the principle of pluralism and dialogue – the very principle on which the Labour Party was founded as a federation of trade unions and socialist societies cooperating for a common purpose.
It is an outrage and readers are urged to sign the petition in Lawson’s support.
But, as so many in JVL and without can attest, there have been so many before him. The witch hunt is not new and this is just the latest example.
It is impossible not to be reminded of Pastor Niemöller’s “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.”
We need all to stand together in defence of Labour’s democratic socialist values.
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Extra, 1st July 18.50: We also include a report of a highly critical intervention by Jon Cruddas, MP for Dagenham and Rainham – at the bottom of the post below.
This article was originally published by the Guardian on Sun 30 Jul 2023. Read the original here.
After 44 years, Labour moves to expel me. And my MP and activist friends are asking: who will be next?
There seem to be bullies at the top who don’t understand pluralism. They see only true believers and sworn enemies
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All evidence of Starmer’s reactionary agenda and all opposition is welcome but there’s an element of Niemoller about this –
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialis etc
The “Guardian” reports that two of Starmer’s shadow ministers have – ANONYMOUSLY! – criticised this attack on Lawson, John Cruddas has spoken out, other Labour sources are allegedly angry and perhaps girding themselves up to protest … Positive news, as far as it goes. However, the fight back for decency, natural justice and respect for agreed rules and procedures within Labour has to go A LOT further than that if Starmer and the HQ factionalists are to be deterred from their current destructive path.
I am not signing any petition in favour of Neal Lawson nor do I have the slightest sympathy with him or Compass.
Nor am I in favour of class collaboration, i.e. working with Liberals (i.e. Tories with a human face) or Green Liberals. The circumstances of Labour’s foundation was not as a joint effort with the Liberals but from a recognition that the Liberals were a ruling class party that could not be trusted to defend the working class, i.e. they were not socialists.
Who was it who passed the Cat & Mouse Act and persecuted the suffraggettes if not Asquith and the Liberals?
More to the point where was Lawson when the ‘anti-Semitism’ witchhunt was on? Holding hands with the witchhunters. Well I’m sorry that those who looked the other way or worse collaborated with Starmer have now been consumed by the devil they worked with.
Lawson, Compass and Jon Cruddas are part of the problem not the solution. They were as anti-Corbyn as Starmer but the logic of a witchhunt is that it devours even its most fervent supporters.
Seems like the now usual double-standards.
If I recall correctly, Luciana Berger, defected to Change UK and then the Lib-Dems before being re-embraced by Starmer. And Alistair ‘dodgy dossier’ Campbell supported the Lib-Dems against Labour too.
Okay – you rejected my comment about Neal Lawson but it’s worth noting – this from the guardian – ‘Lawson has worked for the party in many roles, first in the 1980s for Labour Students fighting Militant tendency, and has been a branch secretary, district secretary and general election agent. He was an adviser in the 1980s to Gordon Brown, worked on election strategy for Peter Mandelson during the 1997 election’ and you used the Niemoller quote yourselves ….
I am finding it impossible to express any sympathy or support for Neal Lawson,now on the receiving end of the witchunt. Lawson and other centrists/right wing Labour Party members did nothing when thousands of long standing members were excluded or expelled. I was banned from the Labour Party for five years because I signed the nomination paper for a TUSK candidate. Ex MPs such as Luciana Berger were welcomed back with open arms even though she supported an opposition party. Where was Neal Lawson when Jeremy Cornyn was suspended from the PLP. Where was Neal Lawson when left wing Jews were being purged. Neal Lawson claims to support pluralism but his idea of a broad church in Labour clearly excludes those on the left. The essence of a witchunt is that it takes on a life of its own and often those who support the witchunt become victims themselves. What did he expect,does he understand nothing?
This is all so sad and lessens Labour’s chances of getting in to power. Fragmentation weakens the party.
Not sure we should be concerned about soft-left folk like Lawson and Cruddas as they couldn’t care less about us and only get agitated when they become targets. And Lawson did break a rule but why did they wait so long to go after him? My guess is to deflect attention from the ongoing crusade against the left in candidate selections and expulsions where there is no auto-expulsion rule breaking.
Let’s not forget that Cruddas has moved to the right – his review of the 2015 defeat was to point Labour in a more reactionary direction and he was among the MPs who rallied against JVL and the left and with the BoD etc in the ‘antisemitism’ demo.
I have been watching the efforts of the current Labour leadership
to stop anyone watching “Jeremy Corbyn – the Big Lie” and how this
is proving counter-productive.
Regarding this attack on Neal Lawson (a former speech-writer for Gordon Brown) and that “two members of the Shadow cabinet” are outraged by it – surely it is time for someone to speak up against this latest idiocy! Has anyone approached Gordon Brown for this role?
The Tories must be delighted – they have already started using it to their advantage ..
I don’t think that it is necessary to feel sympathy for Lawson for
the point to have been made – of the sheer stupidity and wrong-ness
of what the current Labour Leadership is up to.
I think the point is made by the famous quote in the first post – where opposition to the policy does not depend on sympathy with individuals and I shall certainly sign any petition.
In fact the wider the sweep of the party machine – surely the more obvious is the necessity of opposition?
A couple of add-ons to a reasonably complete broadside. Berger actually STOOD as a LibDem PPC, which according to the ‘rules’ is minimum five-year automatic suspension/expulsion. Others such as Louise Ellman, whose loathing for Palestinians knows no bounds and made this sentiment plain in the HoC, have also been let in earlier than the rules permit.
Second, their supporters have falsified Niemo”ller’s dictum – replacing ‘Communists’ with ‘Jews’…..
Tony Lerman argues that sympathy for @Neal_Compass
is misplaced in a tweet here:
https://twitter.com/tonylerman/status/1675408210470088706
I agree with Anthony Lerman. Solidarity is a two way street.
Cruddas has missed the point in describing factionalism as ‘counterproductive’. He seems to accept that purges are intended to make the Labour Party more electable and points out, correctly, that they will not have this effect.
The fact is, however, that centralised control is the ultimate objective, not a means to an end. The people now running the Labour Party made a clear and conscious decision in 2017 that they would prefer to lose the next election rather than win with Corbyn as leader and nothing has changed since. The seismic effect of this shift does not seem to have been fully appreciated.
No doubt the current leadership would prefer Labour to win the next election and the collapse of the Conservatives has been so total that this could happen. Given a choice between losing the election and losing control of the Party, however, the leadership would regard the former as the lesser evil.
It has taken Neal Lawson a long time to learn that right-wing factionalism eventually consumes its own children.
No tears for him here.