In which he complains about the hard left.
He said the “bullying and thuggery” of the militant left – which he said made the party unelectable during the Eighties – had now returned and posed a “dangerous” threat to both the Labour movement and democracy.
Did it ever go away? Or did it merely go into hiding, awaiting an opportunity to return?
Back in the eighties they were up against Thatcher, not the hopeless bunch that the Tories have now. I would hope that Corbyn’s lot are still unelectable despite this dismal state of affairs but nothing is certain is it?
Indeed. If the Tories weren’t in such disarray themselves, the prospect of a Corbyn sinecure in number 10 would be as much a joke as it was Foot being PM in the eighties.
The only bullying going on in the eighties was directed at the left by the right wing of the Labour party. I don’t remember any right wingers getting expelled for having socialist views within a socialist party. That was the start of the take over of the party by the tories in red ties, aka Blairites. Also you might consider that when the Blairites had control the left did not spend all their energy trying to overthrow the leader, but as soon as someone from the left is elected leader all the right wingers go into meltdown and start doing their damnedest to ruin any chances they had of winning an election. People often say there is no difference between Labour and the tories and the reason for that is because Labour has been controlled by Neo-Liberals like Blair (Thatchers greatest achievement anyone??) for the last 35 odd years.
To anyone else reading this and thinking “Projection”, read it again properly.
I had difficulty keeping a straight face. I recall those times vividly as I was politically active and opposed to the Thatcher government. It’s why I went from a staunch Labour supporter to the Liberals in the early eighties. I was young, okay? These days I’m politically homeless and I’m far from alone.
Hahahahahahahahaha! Seriously, that is hilarious.
You have an incredibly selective memory. Militant Tendency were very busy trying to deselect candidates who did not go along with their polices. Any party – whatever its political position has to be a broad church. The hard left – Militant Tendency in the eighties and now Momentum – do not tolerate any dissent. Hence, again, we are seeing moderate MPs being targeted for deselection.
Blair booted out extremists who were playing this game when he gained control of the party. Something that his two immediate predecessors started. It was the only way the party could move back to the centre ground and become electable, because the hard left were never going to agree to any compromise, which is important if the party is to appeal to the larger mass of the electorate. Blair knew this as did Kinnock and Smith.
Now they have come back. Labour is again becoming an extreme, hard-left party that does not represent the views of the majority middle ground in the country. Their polices are downright nasty and intolerant. Blunkett is right here and for once, I find myself agreeing with him. And to suggest that Blair and Co were Tories in red ties is almost as laughable as claiming that Militant Tendency were poor bullied victims.
Selective memory huh? I selectively remember people on the left being expelled from the party for having socialist views, but I have obviously selectively forgotten about all those right wingers in the party that were expelled….oh wait, no I haven’t. None of them were expelled. They took over the party and turned it into tory lite, but that’s fine if you think that mass expulsions of members was done by those being “bullied” although it requires a certain amount of cognitive dissonance to see things that way. Bully’s are usually recognised as the ones with power, but don’t let little details like that get in the way of your “left is big bad wolf” narrative.
Sigh… Militant Tendency was a cancer that was destroying the party from the inside. To call the moderate MPs right wingers is stretching the Overton window to breaking point.
Militant Tendency were and still are nasty hard left bordering on communists. Expelling them was the rational thing to do if the party was ever going to be electable and represent the centre left.
To suggest these vile people were bullied is laughable revisionism.
@Tony,
The Conservatives are led by a SJW Socalist Prime Minister and a Socialist “tax the rich more” Chancellor:
You should be celebrating.
“Did it ever go away? Or did it merely go into hiding, awaiting an opportunity to return?”
Much like Blunkett himself?
Well, yes…