Friday, January 20, 2017

Defying the leader, defying a three line whip; Labour MP Ian Murray says he is going to defy Jeremy Corbyn and vote against triggering Brexit countdown, the Labour Party need to stamp out the dissent by the PLP by making an example of some MPs, Ian Murray and Mike Gapes should have the whip removed for the rest of this parliament



















Dear All

Culls are useful political tool to reset a party where the elected MPs have gone rogue, although dissent is healthy in the political eco-system, there comes a point where effective management dictates a cull.

There are many Labour MPs who don’t like Jeremy Corbyn, the last leadership election solved nothing but some have jumped ship to the private sector. Those that have jumped ship are no loss to the party.

If you have spent anytime watching the ‘civil war’ in Labour you are aware how unhealthy this is for the party. At present there are two Labour Parties operating, the Blair version, a clone of the Conservatives and the momentum version which has Corbyn as the leader.

At some point things will come to ahead and that means momentum candidates challenging the Blair faction for seats.

It is said that some Labour MPs could vote against the leadership on Brexit, in effect defying Corbyn but also the public. The Labour Party is in dire straits, people want a Labour Party back which stands up for working class people. The vanguard of the working class people are the working class, this however has been taken over in the party by the middle class.

The result has led to the collapse of Labour as graphically seen in Scotland.

I hope that dozens of Labour MPs do go against the party's leadership if there is a vote on starting the Brexit process. Let these people show their true colours, let the people see them as they really are, out from the shadows and into the cold light of day.

Then people can understand why the Labour Party members must chose new MP candidates.

Jeremy Corbyn has said all his MPs will be told to approve the triggering of Article 50 because they should accept the result of last year's referendum. This is what leadership is all about, focus on a direction of travel, sadly the middle class ‘rebels’ don’t want this, they want a middle class clone of the Conservatives offering people no real choice.

In June's referendum, 51.9% of voters backed leaving the EU, while 48.1% supported remaining in the 28-nation group, it was a tough fight, a small band of people including myself fought the good fight with hardly any time, money or resources.

And we won!

The victory was very much a people’s victory, it was a statement that sovereignty must return to the British people from the unelected and anti democratic elite of the EU who are bring European countries to their knees in their drive to create a European Super state.

Corbyn has said:

"I have made it very clear that the Labour Party accepts and respects the decision of the British people. We will not block Article 50."

The problem with that statement is that although Corbyn has the backing of his part of the party, the other side don’t agree with between 60 and 80 of the party's MPs ready to defy the leadership if there is a vote in Parliament. If these Labour MPs defy a three-line whip then every one involved should be suspended and barred from standing again as a candidate at any level within the Labour Party.

This is the real test which Jeremy Corbyn must pass if the Labour Party is to go forward as a party.

Labour's Mike Gapes has been outspoken in his criticism of Corbyn in the past, told the Ilford Recorder he would not be toeing the party line.

I would have him suspended pending an investigation, if his comments are true, I would remove the whip from him for the rest of this parliament without a second thought.

There is a pain barrier which the Labour Party needs to go through, in Scotland; the sole Labour MP Ian Murray is said to going to Jeremy Corbyn and vote against triggering Brexit countdown. Murray is an ally of Kezia Dugdale, her leadership is looking less secure as momentum fully intend to get rid of her as soon as possible.

Ian Murray should be suspended pending investigation; the Labour Party cannot tolerate him defying a three-line whip. Once suspended this will send a clear message to the Blair faction, you are there to serve the party and the leader to ensure the return of a Labour Government. Clearly what Murray is doing is undermining the party and the leadership, Labour must get rid of him.

It is funny, when you start getting rid of people, other people start to ‘wise up’, they start asking themselves questions, questions like can I pay the mortgage, will I be able to get another job, will I be able to pay the bills and put food on the table.

As a justification, Labour MP Mike Gapes cites:

"I will show the same loyalty he did when he voted, 500 times, against the Labour whip under successive party leaders. The people of Britain did not vote to become poorer and I will not vote in favour of any deal that would see us leave the single market."

He has overstepped the mark, not on his comments about Corbyn defying the whip but him defying the national interest of the British people.

If he wants to be ‘principled’ he can go join the unemployment queue and take his chances on JSA.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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