There are many parties with no MPs which are opposed both to a British war in Syria and to British membership of the European Union.
A leading figure in one of them, appointed to the Parliamentary Lobby by the newspaper with which that party is closely associated when he was only 19, remains an active member of that party, was on its Executive as recently as 2011, still writes for that newspaper, chaired the Stop the War Coalition for the first 10 years of its existence, and is employed as Chief of Staff to Len McCluskey.
Lo and behold, every Labour MP who could make it back for the recall voted against war in Syria. Every single one. They were joined by all of 30 Conservatives, one quarter of the number of Labour rebels over Iraq.
The Stop the War Coalition is now chaired by a sitting Labour MP who himself writes for the above newspaper, which has always advocated a Labour vote at General Elections (unlike, say, The Guardian), and who serves on the elected governing body of the co-operative that publishes it, a very high proportion, possibly still the majority, of the members of which are also members of that nominally extraparliamentary party.
The Stop the War Coalition is now chaired by a sitting Labour MP who himself writes for the above newspaper, which has always advocated a Labour vote at General Elections (unlike, say, The Guardian), and who serves on the elected governing body of the co-operative that publishes it, a very high proportion, possibly still the majority, of the members of which are also members of that nominally extraparliamentary party.
That nominally extraparliamentary party is not UKIP.
If you mean Andrew Murray, please don't make me laugh. I'll take UKIP over the "Communist Party" of Britain, thanks all the same.
ReplyDeleteGoodness me, are there really grown adults (outside of the jungles of Colombia) who call themselves "communists"?
I suppose we need these people for a good laugh.
I never said that I approved of him. I said that he had a staggering level of influence, for good or ill.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, for good. Dan Hodges is going doolally over how Murray, as McCluskey's Chief of Staff, swung Labour MPs against the war until Miliband had to get off the fence.
Where's the problem with that, say I?
UKIP, purely as a matter of fact, has nothing remotely approaching that kind of influence. That's just the way it is.
Fair enough.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it a little disingenuous to pretend that 'no one these days calls themselves communist'?
ReplyDeleteWhether you agree or disagree is irelevant. There a millions of people across the world organised in mass communist parties apart from communist states such as Cuba, Vietnam, China, there are mass communist parties in India, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and yes Europe-(ever taken a look at politics in Portugal/Spain/France/Greece/Cyprus/Czech republic..etc? Hard to avoid the presence of mass communist parties with mass popular support (coming second, third or sometimes first in general elections, holding many members of parliaments, mayors, local councillors)
Yes communist parties have declined since the collapse of the Soviet Union but they haven't disapeared entirely and some are even growing in influence and numbers-especially since the economic crisis.
So stop being disingenuous and use political argument not cheap smears.