Labour Party civil war: Jeremy Corbyn accuses hostile party officials of sabotaging Labour’s election campaign

They stopped a manifesto of hope from becoming a reality.

Jeremy Corbyn along with some of his former leadership team have openly accused disgruntled Labour officials of potentially costing the party the chance of victory by sabotaging the 2017 election campaign in a factional dispute.

A submission from Mr Corbyn and his top allies prepared for a Labour internal inquiry says “there is clear evidence of factional activity by senior paid employees of the party against the elected leadership of the time” as well as “apparent sabotage” during the election period.

The intervention is likely to inflame the Labour’s ongoing civil war and present a new challenge for Sir Keir Starmer, who was elected on a pledge to unite the party after a tumultuous period.

Sir Keir Starmer sham unity claim he made during the leadership election soon crashed and was shown for what it was in both his sacking of Rebecca Long-Bailey for sharing an article from the Independent newspaper and his out of court settlement made to the same staffers who are accused of sabotaging the general election of 2017. A settlement made by Starmer against legal advice from the labour Party lawers.

Sir Keir Starmer made the ‘unreserved’ apology for suggesting that ‘whistleblowers’ involved in last year’s widely-criticised Panorama programme were not reliable, the apology comes after legal advice stated that the party had a strong defence. The former Director of Public Prosecutions ignored the legal advice and made a political (personal) decision to make the apology and fork out members money with over a six-figure payout to the so-called whistleblowers.

“We unreservedly withdraw all allegations of bad faith, malice and lying. We would like to apologise unreservedly for the distress, embarrassment and hurt caused by their publication.”

The apology comes after the Party’s lawyers said they were confident of winning the case brought against them, but Sir Keir Starmer was determined to issue the apology and agree a settlement said to be in six figures with the former staff.

The 13-page contribution, says: “Given that Labour was less than 2,500 votes in key seats away from forming a government, having won 40 per cent of the popular vote, it’s not impossible that Jeremy Corbyn might now be in his third year as a Labour prime minister were it not for the unauthorised, unilateral action taken by a handful of senior party officials in 2017.”

The claims relate to the contents of a leaked dossier drawn up by allies of Mr Corbyn in the last days of his leadership, that included an explosive cache of previously private messages between senior party staffers aligned with the party’s centrist wing.

The messages detail at length senior staffers disappointed when Labour did better than expected in the election or polls, with some saying explicitly that they had been working against a good result for the party. While none of those named in the report have disputed the veracity of the messages, some have said that claims made in the report are false.

The leaked internal communications also show officials warning to keep certain activities, including the direction of some campaigning resources, secret from the leadership and its allies or any other officials they deemed to be too left-wing.

“Many of us experienced the daily hostility and obstruction towards Jeremy, his office and members of the shadow cabinet and the frequent leaking and hostile briefing to the media,” the statement says, adding that “some of us will provide examples of these in our individual submissions”.

In 2016 hostile MPs including Sir Keir Starmer tried to replace Mr Corbyn as party leader in a “coup”, but he was re-elected with a bigger majority in a second leadership contest.

Sir Keir Starmer commissioned lawyer Martin Forde QC to lead an inquiry into the leaked document after it came to light, to look into its contents but it seems more so how it was leaked. Other than factional hostility, the dossier claimed a “toxic” culture had developed at the party’s head office that included racist, sexist and violent language. It also claimed that factional hostility made it harder to deal with antisemitism in the party.

One of the former staff members involved described the suggestion by Mr Corbyn’s team as a “ridiculous conspiracy theory” and an attempt to create a “stab in the back myth” adding: “The leaked report contains no evidence that party staff did not try and do the best they could to win the 2017 election. Not one piece of actual evidence.”

However, one election night chat log included in the leaked report showed that 45 minutes after the exit poll revealed that Labour had overturned the Conservative majority, one senior official said: “The result was the opposite to what I had been working towards for the last couple of years”.

They stopped a manifesto of hope from becoming a reality.

Labour not only lost the general election in 2017 through the democratic argument but because the Party itself betrayed the members, supporters and the people.

Treachery, a word never used lightly, it is a terrible word, its meaning conjures a sinister shadow within the human psyche, Treason is more than a breaking of trust, it is a violation of a presumptive contract, betrayal produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organisations or between individuals and organisation.

“The relationship between the Labour Party and its members has been corrupted.”

This treachery was not just a small rogue department of staffers who disliked Jeremy Corbyn. This started with MP’s that carried out a coup to remove the then Party leader. After that failed coup and overwhelming membership backing, they then continued plotting to undermine Jeremy Corbyn at every turn.

These MPs that carried out that coup lead the way. Their assault on the leadership acted as an example. This treachery started with a coup and that coup included the now Party leader Sir Keir Starmer.

The leaked Labour Anti-Semitism report describes just such a betrayal. The 851-page report cites a vast amount of primary source material. It is utterly damning. Abusive insults. Claiming the membership is mentally ill. Hyper factionalism, conspiracy. Dirty tricks and factional politicking doesn’t cover this. It’s an absolute and total betrayal of every decent quality and every value the Labour movement stands for.

Jamie Driscoll, North of Tyne Mayor writes: “The deliberate derailing of disciplinary cases of racism and Antisemitism to undermine the Party and its leader. Senior Labour Party staff actively working to lose the 2017 General Election. The People deserve better

The Labour Party have always particularly loathed traitors, the working class look upon traitors within its ranks with disdain. Traitors have come in many forms, from the scabs of the miner’s strike to those right-wingers who used Brexit as an excuse to undermine Corbyn the Labour Party. MP’s like Chuka Umunna and the change UK traitors.

The deliberate derailing of disciplinary cases of racism and Anti-Semitism to undermine the Party and its leader. Senior Labour Party staff actively working to lose the 2017 General Election. Let that sink in.

The report details the people who were paid to run the Party deliberately sabotaging our election campaign.

They put the Tories into power. They didn’t just betray the Labour membership. Every council worker whose job has been cut, every Universal Credit claimant waiting weeks for money, every person struggling to pay their bills in the gig economy. They betrayed them all. And blamed it on Jeremy Corbyn and the wider Party membership.

We don’t need an inquiry into why the report was published, or how it found its way into the public. The case has been made in its quarter of million words. The accusations need answering. All those who stand accused must be brought up on charges.

They betrayed not just the party but the people.

They should get a fair hearing, with representation. But we must know the truth. Those who are found to have betrayed their comrades, their employer and their movement must face expulsion.”

The same can be said of the staff who work for the Party. These mentioned in the leaked document outlining the undermining of Jeremy Corbyn and plotting to throw the general election. These staffers in the Labour Party’s Governance and Legal Unit are just one rotten apple of a barrel full.

#LabourLeaks