Half Chewed Humble Pie: Labour’s Right, down but not out.

So the general election is starting to fade and the effect of Labour’s shock successes, that forced Labour’s parasitical ‘wreckers’ to faux grasp faux humble pie, has started to fade too. During the election I metaphorically held my nose when the likes of Wes Streeting received support for their election campaigns but I think it’s safe to reflect on the election now and safe to reflect on Labour’s continued internal problems.

Firstly, the problems Labour had before the election have shrunk to a mere gnat’s bite of what they were. Labour’s amazing successes wiped out the nonsense of Corbyn being unelectable, wiped out the nonsense of ‘the members are reflective of the wider electorate’, wiped out the nonsense that Britain does not want a Left alternative. After one of the most sickeningly vile media campaigns, that echoed Zac Goldsmith’s disgraceful Mayoral election campaign, we can also confidently say that Corbyn as electoral liability has been put to bed. So what is there to worry about from the ‘wreckers’?

My interpretation of the wreckers’ plan for the election is this:

Labour’s Right (who hold key positions) starved Labour of resources to fight marginal seats where Labour were incumbent, except where Labour Right MPs were standing. Resources were also withheld from fighting for marginal seats where Labour were not the incumbent. Just as Labour’s ‘wreckers’ set up Copeland and Stoke as by-election losses, their plan was to set Labour up to lose substantial numbers of seats and gift the Tories the landslide that the media were so confident in predicting. A venomous Corbyn critic even made the strange decision to stand against Corbyn in his Islington seat, even though the chances of unseating Corbyn were nil. I believe this critic thought that they were buying a front row seat for the night of Corbyn’s destruction and wanted to stand on the same stage as Corbyn on the bitterest of nights as Corbyn accepted his victory for his own seat, while knowing his Labour leadership had been crushed. The exit poll must have choked them.

In Scotland, Labour voters were encouraged to vote Conservative, not Labour. A nonsensical decision given Labour’s primary objective was to ensure the Conservatives did not gain seats. Again, Labour’s Right, as they have done on so many occasions, thought they had the election sewn up. The Scottish Labour leadership were not fighting to win the 2017 election, they were not fighting to regain lost Labour seats, they were seeking to compound the destruction of the Labour leadership, which they knew their colleagues in England had engineered. The Conservatives were going to win by a landslide, so the bigger the better. The Scottish Labour leadership should be replaced as soon as is possible to build on the Corbyn bounce afforded them.

What Labour’s Right proved once again was that what they think of their political nous, what they think of their abilities for political strategy do not match up to reality. They are fantasists, they are the Wiley Coyote’s of British politics. Even if you are not a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, even if you are an avid anti Corbynite, it must be sickening for your political perspective to be being ‘championed’ by the utterly shambolic, incompetent, witless, guileless, hopeless rabble of losers that constitute Labour’s Right. Even with control of the machine of Labour’s various committees and offices, Labour’s Right have proved again and again that they are entirely incapable of winning, even when they control all the cards and decide what the rules are.

And what of the actual election result? Labour lost 12 seats to the Conservatives. The Conservatives lost their majority and finished the election with 318 seats. The Conservatives could find only one party to partner with in Westminster, the DUP, and the DUP provide the Conservatives with 10 seats, taking them over the line to form a minority government, with 328 (327 minus the Speaker). Technically, because Sinn Fein abstain, the Conservatives only need 323. Without the 12 seats that Scottish Labour lost to the Conservatives, they would have only had 316 and could not have formed a government. The decisions of Labour’s Right cost Britain a Labour led government.

But the parasitical ‘wreckers’ are not done. Not because any of their arguments against Corbyn as being an election liability have a shred of credibility, but for the same reason they have always opposed Corbyn. Labour’s Right oppose ANYONE in Labour’s leadership that isn’t them. Self-interest, self-advancement and self-promotion are what drive Labour’s Right. But their ineptness has finally started to unravel them. Financial ‘backers’ have lost faith that the people stroking their political egos can get them back the influence they were used to buying. If Labour’s Right couldn’t unseat Corbyn and restore the ‘donors’ to their purchased place before the election then what chance they can do it after election success?

One such casualty are the lobbyists, Progress, who have seen the bulk of their funding pulled. Progress and associated MPs have been one of the sects around Labour who have been widely criticised for undermining and briefing against Labour for years, and most vehemently and unprecedentedly against the Corbyn leadership. With other minor taggers on, Progress are largely considered the fulcrum of the parasitical ‘wreckers’ within Labour. Proudly taking credit for undermining the current Labour leadership at every turn, the arrogance gifted them from wallowing in substantial financial gifts has become wan now that that their results have not lived up to that arrogance.

In their attempt to keep the cash flowing into Progress they are grasping around for backers from wherever they can find them. They have asked members to up their contributions to keep the staff of Progress remunerated to the standard they have become accustomed and, one presumes, they will attempt to send round many similar begging bowls as the one featured in the above Jewish Chronicle article. Progress continue their undermining of Labour in the JC article and attempt to rewrite a little Labour Right history into the bargain. Instead of laying the fault of the Conservatives being in a position to form a minority government correctly at the feet of the 12 Scottish Labour’s losses to the Conservatives, Progress’s director attempts to continue antisemitic smears against the party for the loss of 3 London seats. It is possible maths is not among the Progress director’s strong points but 324 is still more than 316 and still enough to form a minority government.

So Labour are not out of the woods as far as their parasitical ‘wreckers’ are concerned but the rest of the PLP can now see that influence that they waved around, bullied and badgered with is worth resisting. We can be assured that scheming will still be going on behind the scenes, their are people whose livelihoods are dependent upon it after all. Those who do not wish Labour ill but who do not understand what is driving Labour right now and oppose its leadership should admit their errors and accept that the rejuvenated membership really is a boon for Labour. The membership have only ever wanted for all sides within Labour to pull together, get the Tories out of government and begin rebuilding Britain. It is clear there are still in and around Labour who have only their own interests in mind.