I am proud of my roots

I remember Win Francis well from the 1980s, when she was a Labour stalwart.

Those unfamiliar with events 30 years ago – the photo that accompanied her letter, showed me nose to nose with the notorious Derek Hatton – will not be aware that, in 1986, I was casting my vote in Labour’s National Executive Committee to expel him from the Labour Party.

For my roots were about a Labour Party committed to achieving power to improve the lives of the people we represented and to seeing off those seeking to take over the Labour Party for their own ends.

If this sounds familiar, it is.

For the organisation set up specifically to promote Jeremy Corbyn, called Momentum, contains all the ingredients of those promoting a cult of personality and not a broad political force capable of unseating the Conservatives from government.

The improvements in the life chances of so many of our people have only come about because we faced down a narrow sectarian clique in the 1980s.

Such cliques and cults may appeal to many activists, but simply alienates the vast majority of voters whose support is required for real change.

I’m proud of my roots and the lasting legacy of Labour government which sprang from it.

David Blunkett

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