'The Conservatives are the enemy not Momentum'

I feel I must respond to the letter you printed from P Robb, where he mourns the loss of the Labour Party as it was, and is less than complimentary of the current Party, with accusations of total infiltration by the left, lack of leadership and accusations of anti-Semitism.
By The Newsroom
Published 30th Aug 2018, 07:06 BST
Updated 30th Aug 2018, 07:11 BST
Jeremy CorbynJeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn

As a passionate Labour Party member, and in age a decidedly older one, (68), I vehemently disagree with P Robb. The Labour Party had to change. It was no challenge in opposition and after Tony Blair, membership had declined to an appalling level. Jeremy Corbyn has revived that with membership soaring with those joining the Conservatives in freefall. This is due, I believe, to Labour policies which promote fairness as opposed to those of this greedy self-serving government.

However, as with any major change there are those of the “old guard” who are change resistant and cannot bury this enough to appreciate that a change in direction is vital and is working. Instead they would rather give the Selfservatives another go by chucking their dummy out of the pram and saying “I was a Labour supporter but not any more”. The Conservatives are the enemy not Momentum.

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As for P Robbs’ accusation of anti-Semitism in respect of Jeremy Corbyn’s refusal to accept the IHRA agreement fully as the Labour Party Code of Conduct I think he needs to be clear why this is.

Writing the anti-Semitic code of conduct has been tackled by the Labour Party with sincerity, conviction and intelligence. Its intention is to stamp out anti- Semitism whilst still defending legitimate criticism of the actions of Israel.

Even Kenneth Stearn, the author of IHRA has saidthat it has stifled political support for Palestine’s case and criticism of some truly awful actions by Israel.

Corbyn has as usual stuck to his principles on this despite it giving a biased media and those resistant to change in his own party more ammunition to smear him.

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Corbyn has also been accused of being a terrorist sympathiser and communist in league with Russia, all with little evidence. You hear little mention that he has won two peace prizes or his argument that you can’t broker peace without talking to all those involved in the war.

I do not agree with P Robb but I disagree with him with sadness as I think a party divided is weakened and forgets who they should be opposing.

Joan Craven

Oakworth Close , S20

Related topics:Labour PartyJeremy CorbynTony Blair