There is no need to give you a link to the news that broke earlier today: Keir Starmer has ordered the suspension from Labour Party membership of Jeremy Corbyn. It is all over the media. As a loyal Liberal Democrat member, I ought to be cheering. History shows that when Labour takes an authoritarian anti-socialist turn, Liberals and Liberal Democrats have benefited at the polls because Conservative claims that a Lib Dem vote is a vote for socialist Labour lose their potency.
However, the news reinforces the feeling that Keir Starmer would be an even more uncomfortable coalition partner than Tony Blair. Peter Black has already drawn attention to the summary dismissal of two of his front-benchers for voting against the illiberal Covert Human Intelligence Sources Bill. Peter summed up: "It appears that Starmer is trying to take Labour back to the authoritarian, centralising, illiberal days of Tony Blair." His latest action confirms that impression.
Even if the EHRC report lays the whole responsibility for Labour's antisemitism on Corbyn, it is surely not up to the parliamentary leader to decide on the man's membership. There must be due process within the party, surely? In fact, my impression during the antisemitism furore was that the worst one could say about Corbyn that he was complaisant about the failures of Labour's machinery to stamp out antisemitism within the party. It would be difficult to find anti-Jewish sentiment in any of Corbyn's utterances in recent years. To single him out for punishment is to pander to the received unwisdom of the media (and I include the broadcasters in that). It will also be seen as the first step ruthlessly to eradicate socialism from the party's agenda, whiich will be applauded in some quarters while being seen as a betrayal within many constituency Labour parties. One is reminded that Blair-Brown did not kick out John Prescott, the standard-bearer of the Left and the unions, but embraced him in the fold.
I applauded the fact that Corbyn was put on the ballot for Labour leadership, albeit at the last minute. It was good that the current social democratic style was challenged by an out-and-out socialist and that the issues would be debated, but I fully expected Andy Burnham to win (though I would have voted for Yvette Cooper given the chance). In the event, for a variety of reasons, Corbyn was triumphant much to the delight of the Tory press. He immediately set about doing what Starmer is doing now, stamping his authority on the party. He had his moments at the despatch box, but was generally more unworldly than one feared and he failed to shake off the perception that he was the friend of all revolutionaries, whether or not armed. However, his failure as a leader is inufficient reason for expulsion.
Liberal Democrat leadership is quite rightly bound by the constitutions of the federal and state parties when it comes to matters of discipline. It may have felt uncomfortable when the press was baying for an instant expulsion of the hate figure of the moment, but it was right to stick to due process. I dread to think what would have happened to the party if Nick Clegg had had absolute power to expel anyone he believed had crossed him ...
PS Aggrieved readers will no doubt point to a couple of dubious expulsions in Wales. Unfortunately, even the most constitutional checks and balances can be manipulated if the wrong people come to dominate crucial committees.
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