Labour’s nightmare has no end in sight

The week began with Labour adopting an international definition of anti-semitism (albeit with caveats). It ended with the Iran-affiliated TV station, Press TV, broadcasting from a no-confidence vote against what it called a “pro-israel MP”. Here is definitive proof of Labour’s infiltration: Press TV journalist Roshan Salih, a party member, tweeted along merrily as Joan Ryan, chair of Labour Friends of Israel, was defeated by 94-92. Labour’s struggle has moved into a whole new dimension.

Votes of no confidence have previously been moved against Frank Field and Kate Hoey – but they are unusual cases. Mr Field and Ms Hoey are admired in Parliament and the wider country but are controversial among Labour activists because they back Brexit. They represent obvious ideological targets. The hard Left’s anger at

Ms Ryan, by contrast, has nothing to do with the EU and everything to do with her views about Jeremy Corbyn and Israel. To the voter in the street, Ms Ryan might seem like a moderate, popular local MP: she has won five out of six elections in Enfield North. But Ms Ryan says she has been targeted by “Trots, Stalinists and Communists” – and the threat to deselect her is not unique. That very same evening, Gavin Shuker, MP for Luton South, also lost a confidence vote. He said: “I’ve not changed, but the Labour Party has.” Yesterday, Tony Blair supported that view on Radio 4’s Today programme, asking: “Can it be taken back? I don’t know.”

If that’s how they feel, why don’t the moderates walk away? Because, they insist, they were elected by thousands of constituents, not the local party. It’s an honourable position, but it doesn’t rule out going independent or founding a new party – continuing to represent the seat in Parliament and standing at the next election. The lingering desire not to abandon Labour – to “fight, and fight, and fight again”, as Hugh Gaitskell once said – is commendable, but these no-confidence votes signal that it’s an increasingly romantic idea. Maybe the moderates still love Labour, but Labour no longer loves them. The hard Left’s goal is to destroy the remnants of Blairism, terrify the soft Left into silence and establish Corbynism as the party’s official ideology.

What more evidence of decline is needed than Mr Salih’s party membership? Press TV is controlled by the Iranian state, which – aside from oppressing women, gays and religious minorities – currently holds a British citizen, Nazanin Zaghariratcliffe, captive. Mr Corbyn was reportedly paid up to £20,000 for his contributions to Press TV. Mr Salih once interviewed Ken Livingstone on the subject “Has the Holocaust been exploited to oppress others?” Association with Iran extends to Mr Corbyn’s supporters on the NEC. Yasmine Dar, who topped the recent party-wide elections, has spoken with enthusiasm at an event celebrating the Islamic revolution of 1979.

Is there a credible alternative to this surreal nightmare? Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable clearly hopes so. By announcing his future resignation and pledging to open the leadership race to non-mps, he opens a door to a non-partisan celebrity or even an ex-labour heavyweight. His ambition is to revive the progressive centre, but he may find that harder than he thinks.

The problem is Brexit. If the Lib Dems do expand, or if a new party is founded, it will be hard to resist becoming a single-issue, anti-brexit vote – a curse not only of the EU referendum but also the failure of militant Remainers to recognise the result. So long as people like Sir Vince and Mr Blair refuse to accept Britain’s future outside the EU, they make it that much tougher to return the debate to economics or foreign policy and combat the Corbynite fringe.

A full confrontation with the hard Left is, however, impossible to avoid. We have argued for a long time that Labour’s moderates must act – now it seems the Corbynites are forcing their hand. The journey from votes of no confidence to deselections is easy to imagine, and moderates may find they are kicked out of Labour before they have a chance to leave.

Moderates’ lingering desire not to abandon Labour is commendable but an increasingly romantic idea