Indivisible

Over the weekend, Theresa May tried to square the Irish border circle, by agreeing that Northern Ireland would remain in the EU’s customs union and single market while the rest of Great Britain pursued her loony’s hard brexit project. This means that the border between the EU and Great Britain would be the Irish Sea. It was hardly surprising that the DUP torpedoed this idea, in a humiliating fashion for the Government.

It’s unsurprising that both the Scottish First Minister and the Mayor of London spoke out for me too deal; if Northern Ireland gets to stay in the single market, then why not other areas that voted remain.

Of course one answer is that the whole of the UK stays within the customs union and single market …

Nasty

The press have launched an attack on London Labour’s Left for having the temerity to attempt to get their supporters selected as candidates for next year’s council elections. The bulk of the words talks of Haringey where a debate about housing finance and gentrification has polarised the Party, but of course, Ealing, Enfield and Lewisham are mentioned, with good old Crofton Park’s decision to place Cllr Lord Roy Kennedy on an open short list is mentioned as a “losing his trigger ballot”, which while true does not mean that he was replaced as a candidate. It should be noted that in Ealing and Lewisham, the Left are not making gains.

This quote from the Standard,

Others believe the involvement is more direct. “There’s no way local members are doing this on their own. They’re getting assistance to stir things up in a way they didn’t think of,” said one MP.

just shows that the anger at the manipulation and manoeuvring, the refusal to welcome new members and the refusal to listen. is completely underestimated and the aggressive use of the complaints process, rules and  legacy bureaucratic power merely reinforces this anger, the sense of unfairness and the will to change the Party!

For the record, there is no national committee nor caucus in the Leader’s office, nor the Momentum office, not even in Unite, TSSA nor CWU planning this. They are winning in Haringey because of the issue and in other places, where they are, because these people no longer represent the membership

The swawkbox covers Haringey with an article written by a recent joiner who has not joined Momentum. I am grateful for them both, for reminding me that this gets quite nasty, and deeply undemocratic … the freedom to associate is a fundamental right and those who organise to drive new members out through boredom, complaint or bureaucratic manoeuvre are serving the Labour Party and democracy poorly.

The skwakbox quotes its anonymous correspondent as follows,

… I met members from the other Haringey CLP, Tottenham and some of the new members from my own CLP who had been excluded from participating.

It struck me that they were really nice people; they came from a mixture of backgrounds. … They were a mix of ages, ethnic backgrounds and ranged from having manual and highly professional jobs. What surprised me the most was they were members who had been members for decades and some just a few months.

They told me they did not care how long people had been members, they were all made to feel welcomed. Some were already on the executive committee and one had already became a councillor in a by-election. New members were being fully engaged and there was not a nasty atmosphere as there was in my CLP. Over the snap election the Tottenham members were campaigning all over the country, they were focused on getting a Labour government. They were all seemed to get along. I was jealous.

 …

Special

At the Brockley selection, which selected by about ⅔ majorities candidates supporting the incumbency, the questions were as about transgender rights, Brockley campaigning & why it’s important to live in the wards, who they voted for in the Leadership, and issues important to Brockley.

The transgender debate is important to some member’s of Brockley ward, and asking about the leadership votes is a short cut to understanding one’s political centre of gravity. This latter question was challenged as questions prohibited in employment interviews are also prohibited in Labour’s selections. The Chair, rightly ruled it in order; its the one of the two central political questions in the Labour Party, although many wish it weren’t because of their past actions.

The other two questions relate to Brockley campaigning and why it’s important to live in the ward, and what are the important Brockley issues? Many asked why the second of these questions was not declared a duplicate.

To me this shows the inward looking nature of many of Brockley Labour, there’s nothing really special about Brockley, its problems are the same as everyone else’s  Housing, Education, Diversity & cuts in services (which is caused by the Tory central government.), issues. I am disappointed that no-one has asked about welcoming refugees and Lewisham Council’s participation in immigration raids and data sharing. …

Brass

A proposed rule change on the CLP capitation fee.

Fair capitations for CLPs

Chapter 2 Clause III Sub Clause 6

Insert between “member” and “and”, “a minimum payment of 50% of the standard rate for each standard rate paying member and 100% of the standard rate for each elected representative rate paying member” …