From our correspondent

UNITE demands mandatory reselection of MPs

From our correspondent

Members of UNITE, which is Britain’s biggest trade union, have voted strongly in support of mandatory re-selection for Labour MPs. Delegates at the union’s policy conference carried a motion which called for party members to have the right to “select candidates that reflect their views”.

The vote also criticised ‘right-wing Labour MPs’ for apparently working with the media to ‘destabilise’ Corbyn. Unite members meeting in Brighton – who earlier today applauded John McDonnell’s defence of Corbyn – approved a motion which championed anti-austerity policies and highlighted the Labour leader’s ‘overwhelming mandate’ from party members.

A Unite spokesman explained: ‘This vote today simply reflects the immense frustration that our members feel. They look at the conduct of some within the party, the challenge to the elected leader and they feel angered.  They want Labour fighting the Tories,  not among themselves.’ The full text of the motion passed at Unite conference reads:

““We condemn the attempts of right-wing Labour MPs, in concert with hostile sections of the media, to destabilise and remove Jeremy from his democratically-elected position despite his overwhelming mandate from party members, affiliated and registered supporters. We believe these attacks are designed to return Labour to a pro-austerity position. MPs have not got ‘jobs for life’. They represent their constituency but ultimately they are selected by and accountable to their Constituency Labour Party. To ensure democratic accountability and the rights of party members to select candidates that reflect their views, conference supports the need for mandatory reselection of Labour MPs in each Parliament as essential. We also call on Unite to support moves to bring more democracy into policy making by returning powers to the Party Conference.”

”

From our correspondent

Blow for Hull MP Alan Johnson as local party back Jeremy Corbyn.

Labour supporters in Alan Johnson’s Hull West and Hessle constituency have given their backing to Jeremy Corbyn. Members who attended a meeting of the constituency party last night voted 48-7 in favour of a motion supporting the embattled Labour leader.

From our correspondent
Blow for Hull MP Alan Johnson as local party back Jeremy Corbyn.
From our correspondent

The political ambitions of big-pharma lobbyist Owen Smith

  • Q: Would you have voted for the Iraq war?
  • A: I thought at the time the tradition of the Labour Party and the tradition of left-wing engagement to remove dictators was a noble, valuable tradition…”
From our correspondent
The political ambitions of big-pharma lobbyist Owen Smith
From our correspondent

That Far Left Entryist Takeover of the Labour Party

I have watched with bemusement the claims that the 120,000 new Labour members now banned from voting, and perhaps half of the remaining 400,000 Labour electorate, are entryists from organisations of the “hard left”. Anybody who believes there are over 300,000 members of “hard left” groups in the UK is frankly bonkers.

From our correspondent
Our correspondent

Supporting nominations for Jeremy

You may have read or heard that all local Labour Party meetings have been cancelled for the duration of the leadership contest. That is not correct. We are entitled to hold meetings for Supporting Nominations for leader and for LP Conference business.

Our correspondent