Unity & Patriotism — you’re Representative of Neither Keir, so I’m Damned if I’ll Represent you.
It was once said by Samuel Johnson that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Jeremy Corbyn felt differently, he said patriotism is about supporting each other, not attacking someone else. I think there’s elements of truth to both and on Corbyn’s terms, last night Keir Starmer was anything but patriotic.
Last night was the second reading of the controversial Overseas Operations Bill, an obscene piece of legislation that would’ve exonerated members of our armed forces who took part in acts of torture, if said acts took place more than five years ago. Now I prefer to think that anyone with an ounce of humanity would be horrified at British troops committing such barbaric acts such as torture in any form, much less getting away with it, but apparently the Leader of the Labour Party, Former Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, decided abstaining on it was the way to go. Not only that, he whipped all of his MP’s to abstain on it. There was a rebellion from members of the Socialist campaign Group, the only MP’s frankly deserving to call themselves Labour. 3 of these, Nadia Whittome, Beth Winter & Olivia Blake held junior ministerial positions. They had been instructed by the whips that should they vote against Keir’s wishes, it would be taken as a resignation from their junior roles. To their credit, they put what was right before their own career advancement and voted against the Bill anyway, it is of course what any sensible person would do. Let’s not forget, we are authors as well as signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 3 of Section 1 of the Convention is a very simple, single line of text:
No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
That’s it. Its that simple. The Overseas Operations Bill the Tories put forward violates the Convention, but given that post Brexit they want to tear it up I don’t suppose it bothers them. It should bother anyone with any respect for the law, so you’d think that’d include Starmer, a former human rights lawyer for heaven’s sake, but apparently not. I genuinely don’t know what he was thinking.
As a man elected on a promise of unity, he’s shown no such thing here. Despite only whipping to abstain and a single-line whip at that, he decided to sack three junior ministers who, coincidentally, are all on the left. It’s Rebecca Long-Bailey all over again — over the top heavy-handedness for the left, whilst the right get a slap on the wrist, or as we saw with Nancy Astor fan and advocate for purging Corbyn supporters Rachel Reeves, no action gets taken at all. But its worse than that. The whipping arrangements were for a one-line whip only, this means it’s meant to be in line with Party policy, but neither attendance, nor how you vote is binding. A three-line whip being broken is typically the prerequisite for a sacking, not this, but sacked they were. Worsening this even further is that the news of the sackings was leaked to the hard-right hack site Guido Fawkes, who typically hate Labour was really the dirtiest trick going. Solidarity to all those who voted against this horrible piece of legislation, but especially so to Nadia, Beth and Olivia.
In speaking out as I have here however, it has meant I’ve had to step down too. I had recently been interviewed and successfully empanelled to stand for Labour in May’s County Council Elections, but I cannot represent the Labour Party under Keir Starmer. I’ve my own reputation to consider, my own sense of self-respect and where once representing this party would have brought me immense pride, what it’s declining into under Starmer is not something that would bring me pride, right now it’d be embarrassing. I’d have to look in the mirror and think ‘Damo, you’ve sold out’. I didn’t choose to stand for any desire to have power, but for a desire to effect change, to hold feet to the fire on Cornwall Council, but how can I do that when having the word Labour next to my name means advocating shameful acts such as this? I’d had complaints filed against me already, I’d already been admonished by Cornwall Labour and I had agreed to back off from attacking Starmer publicly meaning I had to keep my mouth shut despite hating myself for doing so. I’d agreed on the basis there was no shortage of things to attack the Tories over and there still isn’t if I’m honest, but with Starmer consistently supporting that awful Tory government, offering only the measliest of critiques when they screw up, most notably right now as they seem set on repeating all the mistakes regarding coronavirus, and particularly regarding getting the kids back in schools its been difficult to keep quiet.
Keir Starmer is clearly hell bent on dragging the Party rightwards. I can’t support that. I detest the Tories and won’t represent a Party yet again trying to be a paler shade of Tory that is establishment acceptable. We’re supposed to stand up for workers, for the poorest, the most vulnerable. With a lawyer for a leader you’d expect upholding the rule of law and the difference between what is right and what is wrong to be of the utmost importance. War crimes are still crimes and no lawyer has any business sacking anyone for backing that simple truth. Keir might find it no problem to sell out and sacrifice his own principles, but I do. I won’t do it, so with him as leader, because of the direction he’s taking us, with what he’s doing to the Party, I no longer feel able to stand as a representative of the Party and have therefore withdrawn as a local election candidate.
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