Hard-Left mob take revenge on Lord Moderate
A LABOUR politician who has fought hard-Left infiltrators for a quarter of a century has fallen victim to a ‘revenge’ mission by Jeremy Corbyn’s Momentum activists, it was claimed last night.
Lord Kennedy has been forced to quit as a councillor after a campaign by the Leftwing Momentum group to deselect him in its battle to seize control of Labour town halls.
His removal comes 25 years after the then plain Roy Kennedy ousted Labour rebel turned Militant Tendency MP Dave Nellist from the Commons.
As a Labour organiser, Kennedy plotted the defeat in the 1992 election of Mr Nellist, who had been kicked out of the party by former leader Neil Kinnock and stood under Militant colours.
Kennedy’s purge of the hard- Left earned him rapid promotion at Labour HQ from Tony Blair – with Gordon Brown giving him a peerage in 2010.
But Momentum has turned the tables on Lord Kennedy, 55, by forcing him to stand down as a councillor in Lewisham, South London.
A Labour source told The Mail on Sunday that some Momentum activists see Kennedy’s forced resignation as ‘revenge’ for his role in the downfall of Mr Nellist, who is now a prominent cheerleader for Mr Corbyn. ‘They are well aware of Roy’s record in fighting the hard-Left and wanted him out,’ said the source.
Lord Kennedy’s decision to stand down came after hundreds of Momentum supporters joined his local party and insisted he went through a new selection process before council elections in May.
A Labour insider said: ‘Momentum has taken over the local party in recent months and made it clear they want Roy out and one of their people in. There is nothing he can do about it.’