” We ask all wings of the labour movement to stand up against these anti-democratic & nakedly factional manoeuvres – & we call for a culture of pluralism & debate to be protected & encouraged in the Party.”
Momentum
Update from Momentum
The Labour leadership has decided to proscribe three more organisations. Momentum opposed the last wave of proscriptions and we oppose these. While Starmer should be focusing on taking on the Tories he’s punching left and driving out committed socialists, denting our ability to campaign and win elections.
But the left is still a major force in the Party and socialist ideas – popular with the public – have never been more necessary for the crises we face.
Read our statement below explaining why we oppose the proscriptions. Let’s continue our focused organising in the Party and the country for a socialist future:
We believe that these proscriptions are anti-democratic and are part of a strategy designed to attack the wider Labour left, especially Momentum. This has very little to do with the three organisations themselves, whose influence and membership are marginal.
As a democratic socialist party, Labour should welcome socialists of all traditions, and disciplinary procedures already exist for individual members that behave inappropriately.
Following on from the last round of proscriptions, hundreds of Labour and Momentum members have been unjustly expelled or suspended for as little as liking or sharing a social media post, often with little understanding of the organisations they are supposed to be members or supporters of, and often on the basis of something that happened years ago. It is undemocratic, it is guilt-by-association, it has ended the political activity of hundreds of committed socialists, and it has no place in a democratic party. Expanding these factional proscriptions will create hundreds more time-consuming and pointless investigations that often cause members profound stress and anxiety, leaving local Labour parties short of the vital capacity they need to campaign effectively.
This has absolutely nothing to do with winning elections. Following on from attacks on Young Labour and socialist MPs, it is yet another example of a Labour leadership obsessing over purging the left at a time when socialist ideas are more popular and urgent than ever. In the wake of a Victorian Tory budget that threatens to plunge millions into poverty, Starmer should be setting out an inspiring socialist alternative to soaring bills and energy crisis, not fanning the flames of internal party conflict.
In this year’s NEC elections, Momentum-backed candidates will continue to fight for party democracy and justice, including publication of the again-delayed Forde report. We ask all wings of the labour movement to stand up against these anti-democratic and nakedly factional manoeuvres and we call for a culture of pluralism and debate to be protected and encouraged in the Party.
What proscriptions are you talking about ? If we don’t know who or what organisations are being notionally attacked, how the hell can we judge the justice or otherwise of the measures to which you are referring ? This sort of stupidity and inarticulacy is of no use to anyone.