Passionate disagreement is part of Labour’s DNA, but abuse should never be

It’s no secret that Labour are prone to infighting on occasion. However, while we might disagree passionately with each other about policy, an NEC decision or even the leadership of the party, one thing that should bring us all together is our commitment to Labour and its values.

However, I was disappointed to see some Labour MPs receiving vile abuse on social media for their vote on the recent opposition motion to refer Keir Starmer to the Privileges Committee. In a highly charged vote, more than a dozen Labour MPs chose not to back the government. Those MPs, along with the others that chose to abstain, surely had the weight of knowing they would be subject to campaigns like this one from the Tories, saying they voted to “cover up Keir Starmer’s Mandelson scandal” had they rejected the motion.

Emma Lewell put it best when she said plainly that she “came to this House… to do the right thing” – and that’s what these MPs believed they were doing, even if we disagree.

And yet, I saw Lewell face a barrage of abuse for voting against the government. One that stood out for me, from a self-described Labour member, called her a “disgusting traitor” and hoped she would lose her seat after “throwing [Starmer] under the bus”. Is this really who we are?

It was another window (if one were needed) into the torrent of abuse that our elected representatives get online every day. Worryingly, this sometimes crosses into the real world, with Connor Naismith sharing last night that he and his staff were followed and subjected to harassment and intimidation. It is this horrible trend that puts off many from entering politics, potentially losing valuable talent that could have been invested in the interests of fostering a better life for all our communities.

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When our MPs are subject to attack from our opponents on such a regular basis, we as Labour members should not be adding to their daily grievances with such messages. Our MPs are not “traitors” when they vote against the government, whether that’s on welfare reform or jury trials or any other contentious matter. Nor are the government “traitors” to the Labour cause when they take difficult decisions some members disagree with.

We can disagree, even fiercely, on the direction of the party. But if we lose sight of the fact that those on the other side of those arguments are our colleagues, not enemies, we risk eroding the very values that brought us into the Labour movement in the first place. If we cannot treat our own MPs with basic respect, even when we think they are wrong, what kind of political culture are we building?

Disagreement is inevitable. Dehumanisation should never be.

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