Group wants £40,000 to fight Corbyn’s ‘hard left’
A LABOUR pressure group associated with a number of West Midlands MPs including Tom Watson is raising money to fight the “hard left”.
Labour First is asking for donations to raise £40,000 for a full-time organiser. It describes itself as “a network of Labour moderates fighting against Momentum and other hard left groups to keep Labour as a broadbased and electable party”.
Momentum is a body set up to support Jeremy Corbyn by Jon Lansman, who was director of operations on Mr Corbyn’s successful 2015 leadership campaign.
Mr Corbyn has spoken at Momentum events, as have senior Labour politicians close to him including Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott.
Senior figures in Labour First include John Spellar, the MP for Warley in the Black Country and a veteran of Labour’s battles against left-wing group Militant in the 1980s.
Mr Watson, Labour’s Deputy Leader and MP for West Bromwich East in the Black Country, spoke at Labour First’s annual general meeting in Oldbury last month. His speech focused on attacking the Liberal Democrats for threatening, he said, to stop Brexit happening. Supporters include Ian Austin, Labour MP for Dudley North.
Labour First is attempting to raise £40,000 through crowdfunding website crowd pac.co.uk. It says one of the tasks of the new full-time official will be to help ensure Labour constituency parties elect “moderates” to represent them at annual conference.
The appeal has sparked criticism from some supporters of Mr Corbyn, with one website claiming it is an attempt to launch a new “coup” against the leader in a “self-defeating war of attrition”.