I have known Frank Field since my election in 1983. I sat on his select committee and I regard him as a friend and one of the most decent and honourable people who have ever set foot in the House of Commons. He has done more for the underprivileged and the vulnerable than anyone of our generation. He leaked a report, well before he was an MP, when he was chairman of the Child Poverty Action Group which showed the duplicity of the the Callaghan government over the treatment of benefit claimants. He has been fearless in the Commons in attacking the rich and powerful over their ransacking of pension funds. He has been fighting the cancer of militant tendency in his constituency at a time before most starry eyed Corbynistas were born. And now Militant tendency have won. They have control of the levers of power of the Labour Party. They are now called Momentum and they have finally deselected Frank and will replace him with one of their own. This is a terrible day for democracy and the final death knell for Labour as a party that can be trusted to govern fairly and equally.
It goes without saying that I totally disagree with Frank over the EU. For one so intelligent, so experienced and sensible I have never quite understood why he has held these long held beliefs. But I respect him and I respect his right to hold them and act on them. Representative democracy is the bedrock of our Parliamentary system. Yet it is being murdered by stealth.
Moggites and Momentum have much in common when it comes to the power of the ‘people’. Moggites claim that the people have spoken in a referendum and that is the end of the matter. There is no room for argument or compromise. Their will must be done, but not by anyone who is not a true believer. Never mind if the electorate’s instructions are opaque and not to worry if it will do untold damage to the economy. Any dissent is anti democratic. Only the true guardians of the holy flame can be trusted and everyone else are mere supplicants to Brussels, traitors, mutineers, enemies of the people. Any MP who fails to do the bidding of their constituents and their party bosses must be purified or be cast out the party. The Electoral Commission declared that agents of Vote Leave acted illegally during the referendum. The have been fined both individually and collectively. Some are being referred to the police. They claim that this was a stitch up by a biased commission. In the alternative they say that if it wasn’t it doesn’t really matter. The money that was abused wouldn’t have made any difference to the overall result. And anyway, it was a mere drop in the ocean compared to the vast influence of the EU. This is the little people standing up to the self interested elite.
For Momentum it is only slightly different. Labour MPs are merely the delegates of the thousands of new members. The many controlled by the few. They will have no say in the manifesto. They will be given their orders and obey them. Anything less is treachery and will be rewarded by deselection courts where you can see the kangaroos jumping. Websites and trolls pour out fake news and abuse and threaten anyone who is not a true believer. And if they happen to be Jewish heaven help them. After all, it was the Jews who started all this smearing of Corbyn who is doing his level best to rid the party of anti semitism. And even in the unlikely event that it does exist, it is only a tiny minority. What on earth is the matter with the Jews? It’s time for them to start building bridges.
Both Moggites and Momentum are destroying our democracy, don’t give a damn about tolerance and have promised their supporters through deception and guile, that on the one hand Brexit will lead to a land of opportunity and prosperity and on the other that the overthrow of capitalism not only is within their grasp but will radically improve our lives.
Both are dangerous fantasies the full horror of which the public has not yet clocked. The great irony is that the Moggites are threatened with the prospect of a Labour government. In many ways it is what they want. It will achieve Brexit because that what’s what Momentum wants. And it will lead to a new Tory Party made in the Moggite image.
Imagine a Parliament with two extreme parties where the moderates have been squeezed out and a Liberal Democrat Party who should not be allowed out without a carer. I have never been so worried about the safety and prosperity of our country. And yet nobody shows courage and leadership. There will be social unrest and it troubles me deeply.
