Once upon a time Jeremy Corbyn said that he would not bring back Labour’s mandatory reselection of the Eighties if elected leader. However, it seems that the recent Labour coup has caused him to have a change of heart. Just last month, Corbyn refused to rule out Labour MPs facing mandatory reselection battles before being allowed to stand. So, it’s rather handy timing that a Corbynista has only just gone and published a guide on ‘How to Select or Reselect Your MP’:
‘If you are reading this, chances are either you are not entirely happy with your Westminster representative’s performance, or you know or suspect that your Constituency Labour Party will need to choose a new candidate next time round, for any one of a range of reasons.’
In a tribute to Chris Mullin’s 1981 booklet of the same name, David Osland’s pamphlet — published by Spokesman Books — offers a ‘a brief guide to trigger ballots and tips on securing the success of the person you want to see come out as a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate’. While Osland does concede that mandatory reselection is not the stated position of Team Corbyn (yet), Mr S suspects that the contents of the pamphlet will still manage to ruffle feathers in the party.
Discussing possible causes for disgruntlement, the veteran left-wing activist appears to make a thinly veiled reference to several sitting Labour MPs:
‘Let’s consider possible causes for disgruntlement. Perhaps your MP is somewhat slothful, or unduly fond of subsidised House of Commons booze, or a tad too keen on sending racy text messages to teenage dominatrices from lonely Spanish hotel bedrooms, or in the habit of crossing picket lines, or unfortunately addicted to hurling Anglo-Saxon expletives at black women comrades.’
Just as Simon Danczuk’s texts with a dominatrix have been widely reported, this is not the first time Osland has raised the issue of expletives being thrown in the direction of ‘black comrades’. Last November after Jess Phillips told Diane Abbott to f— off, Osland wrote a blog for Jon Lansman’s Left Futures asking why no one had considered whether Phillip’s altercation with Abbott was racially motivated.
With Osland concluding by flagging an upcoming motion — by the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy — at this year’s conference to help the cause, it seems that the party is getting closer to returning to the Labour of the Eighties with each day.
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