Senior Labour figures: stop treating members like children and trust us to decide who we want to be leader

The Labour Party is having its most grown-up conversation in a generation; so without resorting to threats and insults, it’s time senior party members stop treating the rest of us like children and trust us to decide who we want our leader to be.

Having topped a recent YouGov poll and at the time of writing, edging slightly ahead in party constituency nominations, it is fair to say left-wing candidate Jeremy Corbyn, is igniting the leadership contest in a way few could have predicted.

At this point I need to make clear that Corbyn is not my first choice for leader. I am however, becoming increasingly alarmed at the level of rhetoric coming from the top of the party, in an attempt to steer Labour back to the centre.

Suggesting Corbyn supporters should ‘get a [heart] transplant’ (Tony Blair) or that they are ‘morons’ (John McTernan), is at best, abusive, and at worst disrespectful to members democratic right to decide on the future of their party.

Moreover, fellow leadership candidate Andy Burnham’s omen that a Corbyn victory may lead to a party split is no less divisive than Cameron’s election strategy of pitching England against Scotland. Add to the mix MP John Mann’s recent plea to halt the election due to far-left infiltration from The Communist British Party of Great Britain (Provisional Central Committee) – has Mann checked out their membership numbers recently – and rumours of a coup should Jeremy get elected, it’s clear that certain members wish to steer the party towards a leadership result that they deem to be more palatable.

Messrs Burnham and Mann will do well to remember that thanks to ‘one member, one vote’, fellow member votes hold as much weight as their MP votes and shouldn’t otherwise be misdirected by threats and interventions.

Earlier this year, the Labour Party suffered its worst election defeat in a generation. This is something no one can deny. It is therefore completely understandable, that we are having our first real debate on whether the party needs to move left or right, since Neil Kinnock became party leader in 1983.

Tony Blair was right about one thing last week, ‘Labour shouldn’t despair’. The current depth of conversation and level of engagement within the party is healthier than it’s been for a long time. With over a month to go, we need to make sure the debate isn’t shut down, and whatever the result come September 12, the party needs to get behind its democratically elected leader and get on with the job of being in opposition.

After all, it is our expectation as Labour Party members and supporters, and indeed the expectation of the wider electorate that the leadership contest is delivered with integrity and in a clean and fair manner. Put simply, it’s time to let the party decide.