Photo: Hannah McKay/Reuters
Left-wing Labor MPs have expressed private fears they could also lose the Labor whip after Keir Starmer decided to bar Jeremy Corbyn from running for the party.
The move has also put the future of campaign group Momentum in question after Starmer said those who don’t support his leadership should leave the party. Grassroots activists said they were determined to remain a Labor campaign group and to support Labor candidates.
Momentum said it had seen its biggest surge in new members in many months, but said the group’s future would put pressure on policies like nationalization and wealth taxes.
The group’s determination to remain influential in Labor is a strong indication that they would not run for Corbyn as the independent candidate – although no final decision is likely to be made until Corbyn makes one himself.
The party is likely to suspend all members if they back Corbyn against a Labor candidate, although the former leader has said his initial intention was to exhaust all avenues to run for Labour.
See also: What Starmer’s campaign against Corbyn means for the Labor left
Momentum’s Hilary Schan, in response to Starmer’s invitation for critics to leave the party, said “the door may be open – but we’re not going” and said the group is still calling for rejoining Labour.
But left-wing MPs have described feeling they are being watched closely for transgressions, with one describing it as having to “watch out for traps being set for us and guess afterwards if we’re being set”.
Only two MPs have commented on Corbyn’s suspension – Labor MP Diane Abbott and now Independent MP Claudia Webbe, who had closely supported Corbyn but was suspended after a court case.
Starmer’s allies now hold all the key levers of power in the party and say the strategy of rejecting the mistakes of the Corbyn years, particularly cracking down on anti-Semitism, is bearing fruit in the polls, where Labor now lead by 20 points
But many among Socialist Campaign Group MPs claimed the party was no longer capable of being the broad church it was under other successful Labor leaders such as Clement Attlee and Harold Wilson, or even under Tony Blair.
“This is unprecedented in Labor history,” said one MP, pointing to a tweet from Northern Ireland’s Shadow Minister Peter Kyle, which said: “If you’re anti-Semitic or disagree with corporate support… then this isn’t them party for you.”
The MP said it implicitly suggested that different views on the economy were not welcome – and that amounted to anti-Semitism.
They said it’s not a favorable climate for attracting activists. “These are people who want to be prime ministers, membership is supposed to be inspiring and enjoyable, but people feel like they’re being monitored all the time.”
See Also: Starmer’s Ban on Corbyn Is Another Step To Eradicate Left From Labor Party | Owen Jones
There are some around the Labor leader who still believe Starmer should eventually oust more Corbyn-linked MPs, particularly those who have been equivocal about the seriousness of Labor’s anti-Semitism problem or support for Ukraine.
“I still think we should have suspended more of them for ‘Stop the War’ but Keir gave them another chance,” said a senior Labor source. “Now the entire SCG is extremely cautious.”
Momentum has refocused much of its campaign efforts on politics in recent months, having previously devoted much more energy to influencing constituency selection to elect more left-wing MPs. But that was repeatedly thwarted by the tight grip the national executive committee held on local selection.
Schan said it was clear that Momentum’s leaders still wanted to remain very close to Labor and to advocate for change within the party.
“What we stand for is a set of guidelines, a set of views that Keir Starmer seems to find illegitimate,” Schan said. “We’re not pushed aside just because a man decided he didn’t like us.”
Momentum’s resources have gone into campaigning on key issues such as fair wages for public sector workers – criticizing Starmer for banning MPs from picketing – and calling for further nationalization and against further private interests in the NHS.
She has won some new victories in grassroots Labor bodies, including Young Labor and Labor Students on a platform to abolish tuition fees. But funds are also scarce for the organization, which had to start a large fundraising campaign last year.
“We pull every lever we can for a socialist policy,” said Schan. “If you look back at the popular policies that Labor has actually announced in recent months, they are all on the left, be it the public ownership of the railways, the massive introduction of public housing or the unexpected tax.”
Momentum said there was a new election campaign coming up in the next few weeks, including Labor’s National Policy Forum consultation, the last before the next manifesto, in conjunction with the SCG.
There will also be a new push for grassroots organizing, with events across the country and the launch of local election campaigns.
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