Labour Conference Descends Into Banana Republic, and Tolls The Death Knell For Corbyn's Labour

Labour conference has plumbed new depths.  First, we have had the last few years where the Corbynite leadership tried to frustrate members wishes over Brexit.  Then we had the leadership dragging its feet at every step to avoid implementing the 2018 conference decision.  This year with conference flooded with motions demanding Labour adopt a Remain position ahead of a General Election or referendum, we had McCluskey telling Shadow Cabinet members like McDonnell and Thornberry that they should stand down if thy couldn't back Corbyn's position.

Yesterday, we had the ridiculous and degrading spectacle that the leadership in full Boris Johnson, Bonapartist fashion, prorogued the NEC to prevent it from discussing the NEC position on Brexit, and had NEC members vote by e-mail, instead of having any discussion.  Today, with UNISON coming out to join other unions, and the vast majority of CLP's to back Composite 13, calling on Labour to campaign for Remain and to oppose Composite 14, which calls on Labour to adopt a neutral position until after a Labour government has negotiated a fantasy labour Brexit, before holding a conference to decide how to vote we had the worst and most apparent bureaucratic hatchet job its possible to witness.

Conference chair Wendy Nichol, took the vote on Composite 13, which on a show of hands looked like it was passed.   That was also her initial decision.  Immediately, Jenny Formby intervened to tell her she had got it wrong.  Nichol then rules that the vote was lost!  Understandably, delegates demanded a card vote.  In all the years I have watched Labour conference, going back to the 1970's, I have never known on an important issue, where there is a disputed vote for the Chair to refuse a card vote.  Yet, Nichol did, saying that the vote had not been as close as votes the previous day, which had provoked card votes.  Yet, only minutes before, she had ruled that the vote had gone the other way!!!

As Nichol came under pressure from delegates for a card vote, the cameras panned to MCCluskey, who looked clearly worried, knowing that a recorded card vote would almost certainly come down against him, and for Composte 13.  But, Nichol refused to call one.

This is a worse stitch up than even those that the old right-wing used to perpetrate.  It is an indication of the extent to which the Labour Party has been captured by a small Stalinist sect around Corbyn, and McCluskey.  But, it is a Pyrrhic victory.  The fairly immediate effect will be that it will cause huge anger amongst the party rank and file 90% of whom support Remain, and who will have witnessed this Stalinist hatchet job with total disgust.  Its now likely that it won't just be floods of Labour voters disappearing off to the Liberals and Greens, but also floods of Labour members.  At best it will mean that those Labour activists that Corbyn relies on to keep him in his position, and which labour requires to go out canvassing will have little enthusiasm to do so.

The truth is, of course, as I've said over recent days and weeks, the position set out in Composite 13 as well as 14 is inadequate.  The Corbynite position in Composite 14 is really just code for a pro-Brexit position.  By failing to take a pro-Remain stance here and now with which labour can fight an election, it dooms Labour to the kind of electoral oblivion that was seen in the European Parliament, and local elections earlier this year.  It is pro-Brexit, because it implies that there is some fantasy Labour Brexit deal that Corbyn could negotiate that is better than remaining inside the EU.   There is not, but labour now will never be in the position of demonstrating that that is the case, because with this position, it has thrown away any chance of winning the forthcoming election.  In fact, its likely that labour will end up in third place behind Johnson's Tories, and the Liberals.  In some seats it may even end up behind the Greens.  In wales it will probably lose seats to Plaid, and in Scotland it will lose all its seats to the SNP.

But, the position as set out in Composite 13 was also irrational too, as I have set out recently.  It called for Labour to commit to campaigning for Remain.  That, at least, might have given Labour some hope of winning an election by getting its lost votes back from the Liberals and Greens, or at least of stopping the Tories getting a majority.  But, it then also committed Labour to holding a referendum, in which it would put Remain on the ballot against its own negotiated deal.  As Emily Thornberry's attempt on Question Time, to defend this irrational position showed, it was ludicrous.  How could you explain that nonsense to voters on the doorstep.  If you are going to waste time negotiating a deal, why on Earth would you do that, if you know in advance you are going to ask voters to reject it?

And, what if voters actually then voted for a Brexit deal.  As a Labour government you would then have committed yourself to being responsible for implementing this reactionary deal.  That's like a shop steward getting themselves elected, whilst agreeing to hold a subsequent vote on whether black workers in the workforce should be sacked to provide jobs for white workers, and so committing themselves to implementing that reactionary decision.  The Stalinists seized upon the irrational and bizarre nature of this position to attack it, even though their own position was even more irrational, and thoroughly reactionary.

The Stalinists must know that this means that Labour has lost all chance of winning the next election, but bear in mind that these are the same Stalinists who want Brexit, and via the Morning Star have even backed the idea of a No Deal Brexit.  What they have done by trashing any hope of Labour winning the next election, is to open the door for a Boris Johnson victory who they must now see as their best hope of pushing through that No Deal Brexit, that they have been wanting for the last 40 odd years.

For a short time, the hope of a revival of left-wing fortunes blazed brightly as part of the drive to get Corbyn elected as Leader.  Today's events have extinguished that flame, and probably for a long time to come.