Day 49. Independents. (18/2/19)

Massively important that we say this first. If there is anybody that has been subjected to anti-semitism within the Labour party then that is, very obviously, an appalling thing and it cannot be tolerated. The Labour  movement that I believe in, that I have membership in, has no place for intolerance or bigotry of any kind. The only thing that it should ever stand against is the right wing and its constant attacks on the working class.

If anybody reaches a point where they feel that they cannot be a member of the Labour party because of internal persecution due to the religious beliefs then action needs to be taken.

I don't pretend to be educated enough in this area to have a compelling, informed opinion. The subject of Israel/Palestine is so far beyond my grasp, my understanding that it would be wrong for me to even start to talk about.

I find it difficult to believe that there is bigotry within the left of politics. That's not my understanding of what the left, my idea of the left, represents. That said, I'm familiar with the 'horseshoe theory' of politics, where it's stated that the far left and far right, rather than sitting at the far ends of a straight line and being ideologically diametrically opposed actually bend toward each other and share beliefs.

Again, it's not something I have direct experience of and cannot speak with any education on.

I also can't speak with direct experience of religious persecution. I'm Church of England, I've never had persecution aimed at me. I would hope that it doesn't exist within my chosen wing of political beliefs but the allegations refuse to go away.

I know those who have raised issues that are concerning when it comes to actions and affiliations attributed to Jeremy Corbyn. Equally, I know those who dismiss them completely. Both have evidence to back their arguments.

My belief, from outside, is that there has been evidence of anti-semitism within Labour and that this has been, and continues to be, tackled. I hope that remains the case. Bigotry should only ever be the province of the far right.

This said, I can only possibly address today's group resignation from Labour with the knowledge, understanding and experience that has developed my political worldview and with the evidence that makes sense to me.

The fact that seven MPs have chosen to publicly abandon the party is concerning in as much as the potential effect that it can have on our political future. And not in the manner that they possibly expected.

That they chose to announce that their 10am press conference would be concerning Britain's political future seemed, to me at least, to be self aggrandising of the most self important manner.

I'm old enough to remember the 'Gang of Four' launching. From memory, at least they had a plan for the party they intended to create. The seven that announced their way forward to a new kind of politics do not appear to have this. They are not a party. They are not creating a party. They are an independent group of MPs. There is no manifesto but there is a website.

Crucially, if you're a 'group' rather than a party, you don't need to declare the identities of your backers. I'm not necessarily reading anything into that but you can if you wish.

One member of this group of seven had the opportunity to stand for leadership of the Labour party at the point that Corbyn won. For my money, at the time, he may well have been a very electable option. Urbane, well spoken, somebody that would work well within the world of soundbite politics and may well have appealed to the electorate in the way that Tony Blair did. If memory serves, this potential leader stood down rather than stand as he was concerned at the effects of media intrusion into his life. One assumes he imagines there will be no media intrusion following this rather high profile decision.

And, if we're talking 'profile', this group of seven consists of two MPs that you would think of as having profile and five who you would tend to regard as 'no, not sure who that is'. All seem to have extremely centrist voting records.

Political rumour from seemingly informed twitter sources points in the direction of these seven standing down from their current seats in order to compete in marginal Labour/Tory constituencies at the next election.

Two points here:

The seven MPs were not voted into Parliament solely on their personalities and individual abilities, no matter how impressive they may actually be, no matter that the ideal of electoral protocol is that you are voting for the candidate that you prefer on an individual rather than party basis. They were elected on a Labour manifesto. Some were parachuted into safe seats to ensure their political career had an upwards trajectory by the party they have now left. They are not obliged to resign their seat having relinquished the whip but you would imagine that if they chose to contest their own seats tomorrow there would be seven people who had just become a footnote in political history.

If they do intend to contest marginal seats, having been from the centrist end of the Labour party, they are simply diluting the Labour vote and handing seven seats directly to the Tories. Congratulations, you've doomed the rest of us to more austerity.

There are those who will, and do, laud their decision to leave the party today. Their reasons for doing so may hold a great deal of validity. They may well find their current positions intolerable.

But there are those Labour MPs who have disagreements with the leadership who have chosen to remain with the party and fight for the idea of the Labour party as the broad church it was meant to be: a party that can represent all those who work. Ultimately, for me, those MPs will have more of an influence for good.

Ironically, for an independent group that launched with a declaration that racism and intolerance of any kind was not to be accepted (which is obviously correct), one of their launch party managed approximately three hours before making a statement on live television that could only be interpreted as having extremely racist connotations. Even in current political climes this may be the fastest gaffe on record.

The Independent Group may well come to be seen as the shortest lived political movement in history. Equally, it may become, historically, the moment that condemned us to further Conservative misrule.

As I said, I can only judge any of this through the prism of my own experience and education. I've not had to suffer intolerance because of my beliefs and have not moved in areas where that intolerance would become obvious to me. I have no intention or desire to have people think that I would want to lessen the experience of others. I cannot question the experience as I have not undergone it.

I do not know any of these people individually and have no idea whether they are good or bad constituency MPs.

I genuinely thought long and hard about whether to write about this here as I'm not convinced I am educated enough in certain aspects to have an informed view. But to not include comment here, to act as though I have no opinion at all, would be a lie.

I stand to be educated but I cannot see what good today's resignations achieve.