Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Seven MPs Quit Labour Party
Seven members of the Parliamentary Labour Party have left the organization. Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey have announced they no longer are members of Labour and will sit in Commons as the Independent Group. They have left over Brexit and anti-Semitism within Labour and over Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn's leadership on those issues. This is a disaster for Labour, and it's not good news for anyone who cares about Britain.
Mr. Umunna explained, "It is time we dumped this country's old-fashioned politics and created an alternative that does justice to who we are today and gives this country a politics fit for the here and now -- the 21st Century."
On its website, the Independent Group states, "Labour now pursues policies that would weaken our national security; accepts the narratives of states hostile to our country; has failed to take a lead in addressing the challenge of Brexit and to provide a strong and coherent alternative to the Conservatives' approach; is passive in circumstances of international humanitarian distress; is hostile to businesses large and small; and threatens to destabilise the British economy in pursuit of ideological objectives."
For those old enough to remember, this feels like the founding of the Social Democratic Party back in 1981. The Labour Party of Michael Foote was too far left to suit some, and the Gang of Four left forming the SDP, which immediately entered into an alliance with the Liberals. Eventually, they merged to become the Liberal Democrats.
The Independent Groups members maintain, however, that they will not join the Libs but instead, will work with all members of the House interested in working in the national interest. It's a nice idea, but there is no way for them to be more than backbenchers so long as they are merely an inchoate web of like-minded members.
Some on the left of the Labour Party could not be happier. Purges, expulsions or resignations in the name of ideological purity always make a certain segment happy. They are the same people who would rather be right than in office, and as a result, are often neither because they won't listen.
Deputy Labour Leader Tom Watson put it well when he said, "Betrayal narratives and shouting insults at the departed might make some feel better briefly but it does nothing to address the reasons that good colleagues might want to leave."
The reasons are obvious to anyone who looks at polls. The Tories are running a minority government that can't seem to Brexit without tripping over its own feet. The government lost a vote on Brexit by more than 200 votes, a defeat of historic proportions. But despite that, Labour polls second. The people prefer the inept Tories of Theresa May to the prospect of the words Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn. That's why they left. The main opposition party does not know how to win.
In 39 days, the UK will cease to be a member of the EU. There is no deal between the UK and EU on the terms of their relationship on day 40. The Jews of Britain are beginning to feel that uncomfortable queasiness that their grandparents and great-grandparents experienced in the 1920s and 1930s. Labour, in its zeal to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, has slipped into anti-Jewish bigotry.
The Independent Group isn't going to amount to much of anything if history is any predictor of events. It will have no power in parliament, and it will be fighting for votes that would normally go to the protest parties like the Greens, LibDems and the Celtic national parties. It's existence, however, is a rebuke to the Labour Party writ large. When the Tories bungle Brexit completely and get re-elected anyway, the Independent Group will at least be able to say "We told you so."
But it will be too late.
© Copyright 2019 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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