Deselecting the War Mongers

Yesterday evening saw the fourth protest in Leicester since the commons voted in favour of further bloodshed in the Middle East. The action came off the back of a well-attended public meeting last Tuesday where Leicester Against War activists sat down to discuss the best way to build the anti-war movement, both locally and across the country.

One course of action that was suggested was a march upon the offices of local Labour MPs Keith Vaz and Liz Kendall, both of whom voted in favour of bombing Syria, against the wishes of their leader Jeremy Corbyn and in violation of policy established at the Labour Party Conference earlier this year.

For now, Leicester Against War will be holding weekly demonstrations every Friday from 5.30 to 6.30 (barring Christmas Day) at the Clock Tower.

Socialist Party members, however, have been supporting calls for mandatory re-selection of Labour war mongers over the past few weeks, with James Ivens and Nancy Taaffe appearing on the BBC’s Daily Politics to argue in favour of democratic accountability within the party’s structures.

Mandatory re-selection means that for each election that takes place, candidates must be democratically decided by party members. The lack of mandatory re-selection is therefore a major barrier to ensuring that the surge in membership which followed Corbyn’s peaceful socialistic program is reflected in the party’s elected representatives, many of whom voted in favour of war.

However, despite its emphasis on democratic processes, re-selection has been subject to misrepresentation in recent weeks, both by the press (liberal and conservative) and Labour MPs themselves. This is hardly surprising given the threat that an active party base would pose to right wing MPs who coasted into parliament during the Blair years.

Indeed, Momentum, the organizational expression of the new Labour membership, has been described variously as a “rabble” and a “mob” by the Labour Right, and re-selection has been presented as somehow counter to democratic practices.

Not only is this representation of re-selection patently false, it is massively hypocritical: the right wing of the Labour Party has for some years been involved in re-selecting MPs and councillors who resist the autocratic mould cast by Blair (a known war criminal).

For example, see the case of Liverpool West Derby MP Bob Wareing, who was deselected by the Labour Party in 2010. Wareing states: “My deselection…in a seriously flawed reselection process brings to an end a concerted effort to remove me by the New Labour Mafia.

“The Party leadership (under Blair and Brown) have regarded me as a thorn in their side as I rebelled against their betrayal of the basic principles of the Labour Party.”

More recently, ten Redcar and Cleveland Labour councillors resigned in support of seven other councillors who were deselected from the Labour Party in 2015. Playing a central role in this process was local Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) and soon-to-be elected Anna Turley (Redcar). Explaining the reasons for the deselections they made it clear, it was “time for change. We are building a fresh, exciting and committed new team.” Both MPs voted to bomb Syria and are members of Labour’s Blairite Progress faction, which represents the business-class over the working class.

Unfortunately, however, Corbyn and the shadow chancellor John McDonnell continue to conciliate the Labour Right, who spit bile in their faces (as well as those of innocent Syrians), by speaking out against re-selection.

If the Labour Party is to be saved from the purveyors of war, the new membership must be allowed to hold their elected leaders to account.

Like those who opposed US imperialism in Vietnam in the 1960s, the current state of the anti-war movement may be humble but the possibility of nationwide fightback looms ever present, especially given the persistent degradation of living conditions across the country.

To get involved see the Leicester Against War Facebook page or come down to a demonstration every Friday from 5.30 to 6.30pm (excluding Christmas Day).