Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Labour in Crisis: Labour Leadership hopeful Owen Smith says: I'll block Article 50 until (the) Prime Minister pledges second EU referendum, if you want a cast iron reason why you should not vote for Smith, he has given you it, he wants to trick people out of their democracy, this guy isn’t a leader in anyway shape or form
















Dear All

Do you ever wonder if you have done the right thing?

Yesterday, I got an email from the Labour Party asking me to vote in the Labour leadership contest, I knew who I was voting for prior to that email coming into my inbox.

I voted Jeremy Corbyn.

Did I do the right thing?

Of that I have no doubt whatsoever!

I did the Leave campaign in the recent EU referendum, I was noticed for my contribution and end up being a guest on the Gordon Brewer Big Debate Radio show, I had been before but I was always sitting in the audience so for me it was a real treat to experience life on the other side of the table.

Did I do the right thing?

Of that I have no doubt whatsoever!

The Labour Party needs to shift left, especially in Scotland where the party was wiped in the Westminster 2015 elections, I saw it coming, in fact for years decline wasn’t just restricted to the vote going down and general unhappiness, it also showed in the way that people have drifted away from activism.

No candidate gets into public office with help from the rank and file members who pound the pavements delivering the leaflets, doing the street stalls and busying themselves with community business.

I was proud of the way that the Leave Campaign in Glasgow operated and the passion and dedication of the men and women who gave up their free time to make the case for leaving the EU. They achieved a terrific result in Scotland with limited time, limited resources and personnel, over a million votes was garner in the process thanks to their efforts.

Brexit wasn’t just about standing up for the United Kingdom, it was also about locally standing up for Scotland’s people, those who haven’t prospered in the EU dream, those who can’t get work because foreign labour is brought in to undercut them in their own country.

Where were the politicians standing up for the rights of their own people?

Strangely quiet, the price of being ‘diverse’ was further alienation of the poorest society destroying their life chances, restricting their social mobility and subjecting them to stress in the hunt for jobs that doesn’t exists or are so poor in terms of money and conditions, it is a return to workhouse conditions in places such as Amazon which some people describe as little better than a modern day sweat shop.
Owen Smith is standing for leadership of the Labour Party, he didn’t get my vote, his pitch to Labour voters and members is this in my opinion, if you vote for me, I will reach out to Conservative voters and bring forward policies that keep them happy.

If I want to vote Conservative, I would rather vote for the genuine article.

Owen Smith hasn’t impressed me during this nasty campaign, and this Labour leadership contest really is a nasty campaign, whoever wins will not be uniting the party. If Smith’s side wins which I doubt, he will not be seeing Corbyn activists coming out for Smith/ Progress candidates.

The recent statement by Owen Smith that he will block Article 50 until the Prime Minister pledges second EU referendum is proof to me that I made the right decision in my voting.

Owen Smith like Angela Eagle will fade away into the background; if Smith as leader ordered me to campaign for a general election to approve the final deal to leave the European Union, I wouldn’t even bother will him.

Like a million Scots, I want Brexit to be honour, I don’t want a grubby backdoor deal, I want a clean break so that the United Kingdom can begin again.

Tomorrow I go to the hustings in Glasgow for the Labour leadership contest, I may put my hand up to ask a question or I may just sit and listen, I have voted but it is important to see what is getting said from the candidates as they lay out a future United Kingdom.

Smith said:

"Labour won't give the Tories a blank cheque."

First point, although he may think he is ‘Labour’, he isn’t the party and neither are Progress, Labour went downhill when the careerists took over, you just have to look at how hard they have fallen in Scotland via the ballot box.

Smith said that Jeremy Corbyn was “deeply irresponsible” for his comments on the EU referendum result calling for Article 50 to be invoked immediately. Presumably accepting the will of the people doesn’t sit well with Owen Smith.

If he won’t accept the will of the people, he fails the real test of a leader, so who does Owen Smith represent if he doesn’t represent the will of the people?

Big business?

The same big business which wants to privatise the NHS and asset strip this country and pay peanuts to the people stuck on zero hours contracts?  

Owen smith isn’t the solution to the problems of the United Kingdom; he is party of the problem, part of the class who think they are our rulers and not our public servants. Working people built the Labour movement but it got hijack by the middle class who couldn’t get elected as Conservatives, so opted for Labour and Conservative lite agenda, paid for at the cost of those people who they gave lip service to purport to represent.

He added:

"I'm a passionate pro-European and I will fight tooth and nail to keep us in the EU. Under my leadership, Labour won't give the Tories a blank cheque. We will vote in Parliament to block any attempt to invoke Article 50 until Theresa May commits to a second referendum or a general election on whatever EU exit deal emerges at the end of the process. I hope Jeremy will support me in such a move."

This clearly shows why Owen Smith will not be the leader of the Labour Party, already most of the Labour CLPs have declared for Jeremy Corbyn at a ratio of about 6 to 1.

Brexit is happening, if it doesn’t then there will be a huge bloody stink and considerably amount of anger if people are tricked out of what they voted for, Owen Smith may think he is the man in the high castle, but he is about to come down to earth with a huge bump once the election of Jeremy Corbyn is confirmed.

This is the time of the phoney war, the real battle will be the de-selection of the 172 Labour MPs who led the Labour Party to this position it now finds itself.

One de-selection or removal I am particularly keen to see is the vote against Angela Eagle in Liverpool, if you believe what is in the public domain, her CLP want to get rid of her and I doubt that in other CLPs there will be a similar feeling towards others.

It is easier to clear out the 172 Labour MPs than continue to allow them to fester, some people need to be knocked back down to rank and file member, not activist because the reality of the situation is, once people like these lose public office, they disappear!

Perhaps it is better they disappear from ever returning to front line politics!

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University    

1 comment:

  1. poor labour Georgieboy , they actually need you , even I would vote for them then

    ReplyDelete