As I write the Labour Party NEC is meeting with protests from both the Jewish Community and the the intolerant left outside. Health prevents me from joining my Jewish friends. Meanwhile the Labour NEC results were announced yesterday with the Momentum 9 or 8 depending on how one looks at it sweeping the board.
The only surprise was that Anne Black didn't replace the awful Pete Willsman, but the it seems 80% of the ballots were cast before the infamous speech he made at the NEC and before he was dropped by Momentum.
Labour moderates including the independent Eddie Izzard failed in their bid to reclaim the party. Hardly surprising given the substantial numbers of people who joined Labour to support Corbyn. However the figures demonstrate that the majority of members couldn't be bothered to vote.
With 550,000 members just 16.7% of them voted, and the hard left's core vote came out at just 10%, much lower than one would expect. Exactly why would all these "members" not bother voting? It exposes the lie that the left's strategy to "democratise" the Labour Party is a sham. Decisions will be made by small groups of activists.
Momentum is however in firm control of the party machine. There are some areas where the moderates still hold sway but the trend is there for all to see. Labour will take a turn to the authoritarian left.
The anti-IHRA lobby attracted party outsiders, the SWP and wandering around was Andy Brooks General Secretary of the pro-North Korean New Communist Party that split from the CPGB back in the late seventies as the CP wasn't "Stalinist" enough for them. Interestingly the NCP participate in the "Labour Representation Committee" (LRC) allowed because the NCP do not stand candidates against Labour.
The fact is the organised left cannot rely on the bulk of Labour's members who couldn't be bothered to vote. How difficult is it to vote on-line, I mean really. The membership is passive and the activists have the car.
The future of Labour still hangs in the balance. A major split seems unlikely as much as it desirable though a minor split remains a distinct possibility. Even if the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism is passed the argument will continue. Corbyn has shown his bias and his weakness over this and other issues. He is not fit to be a leader.
John McDonnell the "Healyite" trained Deputy Leader is waiting in the wings. His opportunity will come.
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