Elaine Brunskill, Tyne and Wear Socialist Party
Described as the ‘last Corbynista in power’, Jamie Driscoll is currently the North of Tyne mayor. He has been blocked by Keir Starmer’s Labour Party from being longlisted as a Labour candidate for the new combined North East mayor.
This anti-democratic move had been widely expected. Nonetheless, it still has shocked and angered many in our region and beyond. Right-wing Labour politicians have been wheeled out to try to justify their spurious grounds for blocking Driscoll.
Ken Loach
Driscoll’s exclusion has been linked to an on-stage appearance with left-wing film director Ken Loach. Some of his films are set in the north east, including ‘I, Daniel Blake’.
Ken Loach is held in high regard. Many are bemused that there is a problem with Driscoll attending such an event.
Starmer’s lackeys insinuate Ken Loach has been expelled from the Labour Party because of his views on antisemitism. But Ken Loach wasn’t expelled for antisemitism. He was expelled as part of a purge of Jeremy Corbyn supporters.
Unite, currently Labour’s biggest union donor, has condemned the move, alongside the Fire Brigades Union and others. Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “What is emerging from Labour is a pattern of behaviour to literally take out any MP or mayor who backs key manifesto demands on the renationalisation of energy, action on rampant profiteering, and investment in UK steel”.
Starmer’s Labour
The Labour Party is now firmly back in the hands of the right wing, having sharply veered away from Corbyn’s pro-worker policies. There is no room for the left in Starmer’s Labour Party.
On Twitter, it has been reported there has been a mass walkout from the Newcastle Labour Party nomination meeting. That’s good, so long as they don’t walk straight back in when none of this is resolved.
The Socialist Party says this event shows the need to build a new mass workers’ party. Driscoll should stand as a mayoral candidate outside the Labour Party, and as part of workers’ list with Jeremy Corbyn and others in the next general election.
The starting point of their programme could be Corbyn’s 2019 manifesto and refusing to implement Tory cuts. The unions who have denounced Labour for blocking Driscoll could look towards financing such candidates.
Any move in this direction would have the potential to light up the sky, acting as a focus for workers and young people who are fed up with the Tories, and increasingly disillusioned with Starmer’s Labour.
