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Militant

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From: The Socialist issue 883, 6 January 2016: Fight the flood of cuts

Search site for keywords: Letters - Bullying - Labour - Capitalism - Labour Party - Militant - Jack Straw - Alistair Darling - Gordon Brown

Letters

Do you have something to say?

Send your news, views and criticism in not more than 150 words to Socialist Postbox, PO Box 24697, London E11 1YD, phone 020 8988 8771 or email [email protected]

We reserve the right to shorten and edit letters. Don't forget to give your name, address and phone number. Confidentiality will be respected if requested.

Views of letter writers do not necessarily match those of the Socialist Party.

Bullying Straw man

This is a real Labour Party bullying story that not many people have heard of nationally.

Some of its victims were long-standing party members, holding key officer positions within the constituency, including our conference delegate. These victims included a teacher, a probation officer, a lawyer, a lecturer and a junior manager.

They were subjected to two years of vile and unsubstantiated abuse. Some were accused of illegal acts, threatening behaviour, theft of party funds, drug use - and of being paedophiles.

But all these charges were found to be completely without foundation. Public apologies had to be issued by two national newspapers and the local MP.

However, the twist in this story is that those victims, totally innocent of all these scurrilous accusations, were expelled from their local party! In addition, 30 years later, the local MP had to give a public apology for his repetition of some of these baseless lies.

Could it be that these facts never made the headlines because those subject to the abuse were left-wing Militant supporters? Is it a coincidence that the MP behind these false allegations was none other than the Right Honourable - but totally discredited - former foreign secretary and home office minister Jack Straw?

Peter Harris, one of the six expelled

Darling Brown-noses

I don't know if you have seen this news about Alistair Darling, former Labour chancellor, going onto the board of Morgan Stanley.

Morgan Stanley is one of the world's largest financial institutions. It is one of those major banks responsible for the 2008 financial crash. It has a history of corruption and fraud too.

Gordon Brown has joined the board of another financial giant. He was over the moon about how wonderful the City of London finance houses were, and resisted any attempts to regulate them before the crash of 2008.

This says everything about New Labour. They supported capitalism and capitalism has given them their reward.

Pete Watson, Nottingham

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Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.