Expelling leftwing members after thousands have already departed could spell the end for the ‘broad church’ strategy
Amid uninspiring opinion polling and after a very close shave in Batley and Spen – which prompted an outpouring of triumphalism way out of proportion with Labour’s narrow win there – Keir Starmer has taken the opportunity to settle some scores. After a marathon nine-hour meeting of Labour’s ruling national executive committee on Tuesday, it was announced, as expected, that four leftwing groups had been proscribed: Socialist Appeal, Labour Against the Witchhunt, Labour in Exile Network and Resist.
Reports suggest that the move could see up to 1,000 Labour members effectively expelled from the party. It isn’t necessary to carry a torch for all or any of these groups to see the cynicism of the manoeuvre. For some, the decision to proscribe these groups has rekindled memories of Neil Kinnock’s war on the Labour left in the 1980s; indeed, Socialist Appeal is the fragment of Militant that remained in Labour after the rest of the organisation was driven out three decades ago. As for the others, it is unclear how many of their members are still in Labour. Membership is down by about 120,000 from its peak under Jeremy Corbyn.
