THE general secretary of the Unite union, Len McCluskey, has reacted with fury over the revelations contained in the leaked internal report by the Labour Party into the treacherous activities of the right wing who secretly worked to ensure Labour lost the 2017 general election.
This 860 page report details the activities of this cabal of right-wingers working in Labour headquarters and details their manoeuvres to discredit and oust Corbyn by working actively for a Tory victory.
In an open letter published on Wednesday, McCluskey voiced the anger of Unite saying: ‘The whole labour movement will be shocked by the revelations contained in the leaked report concerning how Labour HQ has handled complaints over anti-Semitism over the last few years.
‘Even those of us well aware of the dislike many officials held for Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership did not imagine that their bile would go so far as actively wishing for – even working for – Labour’s defeat in elections, including the 2017 general election.’
McCluskey continued: ‘Every activist will remember how agonisingly close we came to defeating Theresa May then. I have no doubt that had the party leadership enjoyed the full-on support of all Labour MPs and of Party HQ, both of which it had the right to expect, the result would have been closer still.’
Unite members have every right to be furious at the activities of these traitors for Unite he points out was ‘by far the largest single donor to the 2017 election campaign, giving around 75% of total union donations. We have the right to expect an honest accounting for this.’
According to the allegations, union money was in fact being handed over to right wing senior staffers at Labour HQ who diverted funds from the campaign to win the general election into a secret fund with a budget of nearly a quarter of a million pounds set up exclusively to defend seats held by leading right wing MPs.
McCluskey writes: ‘At first glance, there would appear to be a case to answer for breaches of electoral law as well as party governance procedures.’ Unite members must demand not just an accounting for their money but its immediate return to union funds out of the pockets of these right wingers.
Corbyn and his team were kept in the dark about all this treachery, but he is responsible for the spineless policy of appeasing the right wing and allowing them to fester in the heart of the Labour Party.
The huge support that Corbyn received in 2017 derailed the plans to dump him but the right-wing did succeed in ensuring a Tory victory.
They didn’t stop there but continued to attack Corbyn right through the last general election with their baseless accusations of anti-Semitism.
But Labour’s crushing defeat in that election was down to Corbyn’s refusal to deal with the right wing; in fact, they turned him into their prisoner imposing the disastrous policy of overturning the Brexit vote in favour of a second referendum and remaining in the EU.
The main architect of this policy which allowed Johnson to win was the new leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer.
McCluskey headed his message: ‘Unite behind Keir Starmer to cleanse Labour’s shame’ and absolves Starmer of any responsibility for the right wing plot. Starmer however is not interested in the struggle for socialism. His number one interest is in getting a seat at the table with the Tories in some national government.
The working class will however learn an important lesson from the exposure of Labour’s right wing, namely that unity with right wing social democracy is not only impossible but a deadly trap that Corbyn willingly walked into.
Union members must not just demand their money back but that the right wing is driven out of the labour movement. At a time when capitalism in the grip of a massive crisis and plunging into complete recession the issue of leadership in the working class is vital.
The only way forward is for the working class to break completely with right-wing social democracy and go forward to building a new revolutionary leadership that will organise to bring down the Tories and go forward to a workers. government and socialism.
Only the WRP is building this leadership – join today.
