Workplace bullying is horrific. It undermines the dignity of the employee, and one could reasonably expect colleagues to support the person experiencing this. Unless, of course, you are Labour MP Luciana Berger. Her constituency has been hijacked by the despotic bourgeois group Momentum, who are threatening that she should ‘get on board quite quickly.’ Her crime was to criticise the Blessed Leader Jeremy Corbyn.
This childish behaviour, unbefitting of anybody who wants to be involved in the political conversation in an active way, does not stop there. An online Momentum group have created a list of 49 Labour MPs who make them feel a little bit icky, and decided that these MPs should ‘join the liberals’. For anybody not fluent in hard left double speak, a rough translation is ‘jump before you’re pushed.’
Labour MPs have been unsatisfying with their response to this. My local MP, Toby Perkins, is a man I was proud to canvas and vote for. He is a strong representative of my area, and his resignation from the shadow frontbench last summer presented him as a man of astute principle. Imagine my outrage, therefore, that he has not publicly condemned this debacle, preferring instead to simply retweet one piece of vague praise for Luciana Berger. Even Hilary Benn, who managed to avoid genuflecting to the altar at the shrine of the Blessed Jeremy during the general election, has been oddly silent.
There are two issues at play here. The first is of less (but not without) importance: a basic misunderstanding of our democratic process. Despite how some people acted during the election, we are not American. The electorate in a constituency decide who they want to represent them, and nobody else. Momentum activists sitting in a Pret A Manger, eating avocado on toast and rattling away on their iPhone 7, can never assume that responsibility.
The second issue is far more serious: Labour MPs are being exposed as utterly spineless. They have been castrated by the full force of the hard left junto within Labour, hailing the general election as a victory, simply because Labour won seats – a level of post-truth politics akin to Trump’s lies about his inauguration crowd. They will go to great lengths to avoid criticising either Corbyn or his frontbench because, frankly, they care about their own careers more than they do the poorest of our society, who are not helped by this pathetic display of feathers.
There is a difference between uniting the Party, and being weak. With a few exceptions, most Labour MPs are in the latter category. The manifesto did well in the election but this does not mean that we should worship ground upon which Corbyn walks. As long as this continues, Labour simply does not deserve to have the privilege of running this country.
It is time for those of us disturbed by events in our Party, the party of the workers, to stand up and fight back. Not just for the sake of the Labour Party but for the sake of the country.
Disclaimer: all information was correct at the time of writing. It is possible that, since then, more Labour MPs have put principle before status. If this is the case, good for them.
