Forward momentum

What a dreadful day. What a dreadful week. What a horrendous situation.

I don’t believe in party fixing whoever is doing it. If what has been suggested took place had been a head office gambit I’d have been spitting blood – and quite rightly. Just because I am rightly proud of my union membership (of Unite coincidentally) and the value that link brings to the Labour Party does not mean I am any less willing to look the other way when it’s Unite accused of playing silly buggers.

Labour Party action has been necessarily swift and harsh – as it had to be. Suspension of memberships, suspension of the selection process and the resignation of Tom Watson* have come quickly. Action needed to be taken and seen to be taken. It has been. There’s no glossing over it, if some in Unite have been this bloody stupid that impacts on all of us. As a Unite member I expect and trust that if Unite have been found wanting then they too will act swiftly to get their own house in order – Ed Miliband is right to expect this too. Labour and Unite are close and must remain so. But sometimes it is our best friends who are the ones who can be most homest with us about our percieved flaws.

Now we need to focus on moving forwards. It is less than two years to the next election. Getting our house in order is essential. I trust Ed and Iain McNicol to do so. But it is not essential for us, it is essential for the people who need us. For the people we hope to convince to elect us, and for the people who will suffer from the tyranny of Tory rule if we don’t.

We can’t and shouldn’t forget what has happened. To forget is to doom us to repeat it. Either from a union or someone else. Selections are a privilege of membership. Our members work so hard to get Labour elected. They deserve the right not to have their processes degraded and devalued by the politicking of a few. Our members are our greatest asset and no one should feel able to ride roughshod over them. Iain and Ed get that. So does everyone I have met in the union movement. We need to stop allowing the few that don’t to misrepresent the rest of us.

Unite are right about the need for a more diverse PLP. Moving forward we need to recognise that the best way to do that is to train up and reach out to great candidates from everywhere in our broad movement. And have the confidence in them to win based on their talent and legitimate campaigning.

But more than anything else we need to get our confidence in ourselves back, regroup and remember that the fight we need to win above any other is the fight with the Tories and we don’t have long left to do it. The next general election is just 22 months away. The future of the NHS, our schools and public services are at stake. This is far more important than anything else we spend our time on. It’s going to be a tough and bloody fight. Let’s go into it together, united and strong in the face of the onslaught our enemies are about to unleash on us.

We owe the people of Britain an electable, credible Labour Party. That was why swift action was essential yesterday. and it is why a deep breath from all concerned and a understanding of the greater battles we face is what is needed to regain forward momentum. If we don’t, the generations to come – who will struggle without a free health service or schools that don’t crumble around them will never forgive us.

*On a personal note I will miss Tom as campaign coordinator. I know the man’s reputation and the feelings of those who have crossed swords with him. But I remember the man who was kind to a shy 19 year old volunteer who helped him organise a youth concert. Who took her for lunch and let her cry on his shoulder when her boyfriend screwed her over. He was a good boss. Good enough to remember me when I returned to politics nearly a decade later, this time to stay.

This piece was first posted on the Scarlet Standard blog