I've known for some time that Alice Mahon was considering leaving the Labour Party. At Labour Party Conference in Manchester, I spent a considerable amount of time persuading her to stay and I hope my thoughts helped keep her with the Party a bit longer.
Alice is resigning for a lot of reasons. Most of which are in today's Yorkshire Post. So I won't catalogue them. The final straw for Alice was the treatment meted out to Janet Oosthuysen who won the original PPC selection in Calder Valley. It took six months for the NEC to make its mind up on the issue. Their grounds for doing so, a police caution, was blasted all over the media thanks to a scurrilous campaign led by Janet's opponents in the Labour Party. Not satisfied with that, because the NEC was still undecided , they then besmirched her name further with totally false personal allegations which were splashed in the Mail On Sunday.
Having succeeded in getting rid of Janet, there was then a re-run in Calder Valley, where Party members who supported me are now asking for an inquiry. One of my endorsers was Alice and I was proud to have her name on my leaflet. I am very sad indeed that she is going.
But I cannot , in truth, blame her for being sick of the stitch-ups, the smears, and the tactics of those whose arrogance sickens ordinary Labour Party members.
The Guardian today has a piece on the Rrith and Thamesmead debacle in which I am quoted.
I note today's Times says Georgia Gould, who works for Tony Blair's Faith Foundation, should be the candidate chosen to "send a reassuring message to Labour voters." What nauseating rubbish
People with friends in the media and other high places may think they can ride roughshod over the hopes, dreams and aspirations of those like Alice who have devoted their lives to the labour movement. The truth is that their antics fool no-one - however many strings they are able to pull. In losing Alice Mahon, Labour has lost one of its greatest champions for peace and social justice. But I'm glad to say Alice will still be my friend and comrade.
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