Friday 13 September 2019

The Real, Grownup Left

Chris Williamson, whose case for reinstatement in the Labour Party reaches the High Court today, is the only sitting MP to stand with Julian Assange, and the only person elected as a Labour MP to reject the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism.

His support for Jackie Walker and for Marc Wadsworth puts to shame every BAME Labour MP, and his support for Jackie Walker and for Tony Greenstein puts to shame every Jewish Labour MP. I will stand with him to my last breath.

I get people who attack me "from the Left", but none of them was ever banned for life from the Labour Party by Tony Blair. Unless you are in that position, then, frankly, I outrank you on the Left.

Likewise, people attack me who claim to be critics of the Liberal Establishment. But none of them has been kicked off Twitter for it, unlike it turns out, scores and possibly hundreds of people with views very much akin to my own. So, again, show some respect.

Ah, yes. Respect. Although he is yet to be thrown off Twitter, as he is probably too big a name to be, the only other person to have been banned for life from the Labour Party by Tony Blair is, to the best of my knowledge, George Galloway.

Notice that we are the people who are subjected to this kind of treatment. Not common or garden Corbynistas, but those who are left-wing rather than liberal at least as that word is now understood, who are conservative rather than capitalist at least as that word is now understood, who are radical rather than Marxist (although we can work with them when we have to), who are Red rather than Green, and who yearn for the Blue Labour Corbynism that could have been.

The Blue Labour Corbynism that could have been. I feel something akin to physical pain, and I am no stranger to physical pain, in writing what I am about to write. The man who has done the most to prevent the Blue Labour Corbynism that could have been is the man who man who could and should have done the most to bring it about. That man is, alas, Tom Watson.

I wanted George to stand at Birmingham Yardley, but he has chosen West Bromwich East, and the return of the Maxwells makes it imperative that he himself be brought back to speak under parliamentary privilege. Equally imperative is the reelection of Chris at Derby North, with or without the Labour Party.

Chris, too, is no sectarian Leftist. He led Derby City Council in coalition with the Conservatives, much as my Campaign Patron, Alex Watson, led Derwentside District Council by arrangement with the Independents against the disruptive fringe of the Labour Party, and much as I myself will have Independents, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, and Labourites, both working with me in every ward, and serving as my Political Advisors. That is the real, grownup Left.

By contrast, there is nothing meaningfully left-wing, or indeed grownup, about Laura Pidcock. She is not a supporter of Brexit, Modern Monetary Theory, the Universal Basic Income, Julian Assange, Chris Williamson, the County Durham Teaching Assistants, the revival of the British coal and steel industries, or putting Tony Blair on trial for Iraq. Nor is she an opponent of Trident, NATO, Britain's relationship with Saudi Arabia, gender self-identification, or the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism.

Another hung Parliament is coming, and we need our people to hold the balance of power in it. A new party is now in the process of registration. After nearly 30 years of suggestion, speculation, and even a sort of preparation, I will stand for Parliament here at North West Durham. The crowdfunding page is here, and buy the book here. Please email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com. Very many thanks.

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