Labour has to change to stand any chance
KEN Loach, the well-known film director, has been expelled from the Labour Party.
Having been a member since the 1960s, the reason given for his expulsion is that of refusing to disown four small left-wing banned groups of the party and for his strong support for Jeremy Corbyn.
In defence, if indeed one feels that such a fiasco merits it, he replies: “I am proud to stand with the good friends and comrades victimised by the purge. There is indeed a witchhunt. Starmer and his clique will never lead a party of the people. We are many, they are few. Solidarity.”
I must say, having listened to him expressing his thoughts in a somewhat lengthy interview on BBC Radio 5 Live, I feel very sympathetic to his criticisms of the present Labour Party.
Most certainly he continues to support Corbyn, despite much continued victimisation of the former leader from within the party.
A situation which I believe not only stirred up trouble among Labour supporters generally, but served to embolden both the Tory party and the Press at large during the build-up to the last election.
Ken draws attention to the 2017 election when, under Corbyn, Labour did so much better than expected, ultimately leading to the downfall of Teresa May.
So concerned at the time were the Tories and Press at large that it led to all manner of tactics to destabilise Labour and bring Corbyn down.
Also, Ken draws attention to the fact that over 120,000 members have left the Labour Party since Starmer took over the leadership.
And as regards the serious accusation of Corbyn being linked to antiSemitism, Ken refers to some Jewish friends within the party who feel that Corbyn was unfairly treated in this respect.
Most certainly the leadership under Starmer appears fragile and doesn’t seem to be making sufficient progress, considering there has been so much warranted criticism of the Tories of late, more particularly with regard to sleaze.
Also, Boris is rapidly declining in popularity, not only with the electorate at large but also within his own party.
Maybe, then, it is time for a large part of the the Labour Party to part company in order to resolve the apparent disunity from within.
The youth, in particular, and the unions both form a substantial part of the membership, and could break away and form an alliance with the Green Party, the rationale being partly that any manifesto must have at its heart a commitment to tackle climate change and have no fear of expressing socialist principles.
Some radical changes are necessary for, in the present political climate, Labour have absolutely no chance of winning an election for some considerable time.
These views, I admit, are rather extreme, though are intended to stir up a debate and emanate from one who would greatly desire the Labour to meet with success in the not-toodistant future.
David Abbott, Stoke Golding