After Frank Field’s resignation, this is going to mean war for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn
THE biggest battle on Merseyside isn’t between Liverpool and Everton any more. It’s a red-versus-red clash instead – as Labour’s moderates prepare to take on Militant mark two.
In the Eighties Liverpool was the battleground for the soul of the Labour Party. Far left Trotskyite infiltrators — operating under the banner of the Militant Tendency — took over the city council.
Under the leadership of the charismatic but confrontational Derek Hatton they were set on purging traditional Labour voices and creating Moscow on the Mersey.
They ramped up tension between the city and central Government by playing politics with council jobs.
Their antics provoked then Labour leader Neil Kinnock into giving one of his most famous speeches when he condemned the “grotesque chaos” of a Labour Council sending redundancy notices to its own workers by taxi. Eventually, the moderates won, Militant was defeated and the city was saved.
But now, fast forward 33 years and another titanic struggle for the future of Labour is being played out in Merseyside.
Veteran Labour MP Frank Field who was the target of Militant in the Eighties, has sensationally been thrown out of the party he’s served all his life after resigning the whip in protest at the rise of the new extremists.
But this time it’s not just Liverpool that’s being taken over by the hard Left but the Labour Party itself.
And instead of Labour’s leader mounting a fightback for moderation, as Neil Kinnock did, the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn is the heart of the problem.
Corbyn will be in Liverpool later this month for Labour’s own party conference — where the fate of the party may be decided.
Will it cement victory for the new militants, now calling themselves Momentum, or be the moment that we get, in every sense, the opposition we need?
I’ve known Frank for many years and he’s Labour to the core.
He’s dedicated his life to fighting poverty. He has been a tough critic of my party and speaks with the moral authority of someone whose whole life has been given to serving the poorest.
He pursued Philip Green over the collapse of BHS and got millions back for the company’s pensioners.
But because Frank is an authentic spokesman for working people, including on issues like Brexit, he’s been targeted by the new militants who want everyone to follow Comrade Corbyn’s rigid party line.
Frank is also heir to the Old Labour tradition of fighting racism and intolerance wherever it comes from. A war baby, he cherishes the role Labour played in defeating fascism. So when he takes such a stand against the party he loves, and does so citing the leader’s own complicity in anti-Semitism, then this is an alarm bell no-one can ignore.
Other Merseyside MPs including Luciana Berger and Louise Ellman have also spoken out against rising anti-Semitism and intolerance within Labour ranks and the abuse they have received is truly shocking.
The question now must be, will others follow Frank?
With not just local parties, but the leadership itself, implacably in the grip of the hard Left, can moderates stay, and thus lend cover and credibility to the current leader?
Labour was the party, when Frank was a boy, which helped create the state of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people, which helped build Nato as a bulwark of Western values and which put the interests of working people first.
Now that Labour’s leadership is criticised by our own Chief Rabbi for its attitude to Israel and the Jewish community, now that Labour has a leader who doesn’t believe in Nato and a strong defence, now that Labour is more interested in single-issue protest than building a better future for workers, can the majority of Labour’s MPs, who are decent, hard-working and moderate, really stay?
Frank is right to shine a light on the issue of anti-Semitism. And not just because it is truly horrendous that, after the horrors unleashed in the 20th Century, this intolerance should return.
But also because attitudes towards the Jewish community are the best indicator of how free and progressive a country is.
Throughout history, the countries where Jewish people have felt safest, like the Netherlands and the UK, have been among the world’s freest.
Countries where Jewish people have faced growing prejudice, like Germany and Russia during the last century, have been countries slipping into darkness.
And as the Chief Rabbi has reminded us, what starts with prejudice against Jewish people spreads to taint society more widely.
The Jewish community is the canary in the coal mine.
And if our democracy is to stay strong then we need to have political parties that are broad-based social movements and not increasingly ideological sects.
I am a Tory but I grew up to admire and respect the patriotic Labour tradition of people like Clement Attlee, Ernie Bevin, Jim Callaghan, Peter Shore, Barbara Castle and Frank Field.
I wish him well and hope that his bravery will prove the wake-up call his party and the country needs to ensure there’s a sensible party of the centre left once more.
Pugh the man to save sea
NO more heroes any more, the Stranglers sang. Well, they reckoned without Lewis Pugh, a man whose grit, endurance, idealism and dedication make him the very model of a modern hero.
Lewis is the endurance swimmer who powered his way into the record books this week by covering the length of the English Channel – from Land’s End to Dover – in 50 days.
He covered the 330 miles – past the Eddystone Lighthouse, the Isle of Wight and Dungeness Power station – in just Speedos, cap and goggles.
In stormy waters, sometimes swimming in the dead of night, through rain and high winds, with shoulder injuries, jellyfish stings and treacherous currents to slow him down, Lewis triumphed in a trial of character and cojones, which takes the breath away.
But what drove Lewis on was not a desire to etch his name in the record books.
It was a swelling passion for our seas, the wildlife in them and the future of our planet.
In our own waters, and across the globe, the seas have suffered as a result of past exploitation, the growing danger from climate change, acidification and the rising tide of plastic waste.
We have an opportunity to change that now.
Leaving the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy means we can have a more sustainable approach to managing the fish in our seas.
And reducing our reliance on single-use plastics, as well as improving recycling, can stem the flow of waste into our seas.
But there is still more to do and making sure that more of the Earth’s surface is protected from exploitation is critical.
Lewis records that during the length of his swim he encountered jellyfish in abundance, happy to bask in our warming waters, but far fewer fish, dolphins and other marine wildlife than he would have expected.
As another modern hero, Sir David Attenborough, has reminded us, our Blue Planet is a precious but fragile place and we all have a responsibility to think about our impact on our seas.
But the good news is that more and more people in Britain are cutting down on plastic, recycling more and helping nature recover, which is heroic in itself.
Google hypocrisy
MY friend Jeremy Hunt is quite right to call out Google for hypocrisy.
The tech giant is planning to co-operate with China to censor material online.
But it won’t respond to calls from the UK, US and others to co-operate in removing horrific images of abuse.
The company’s motto used to be “Don’t be evil” but that was dropped earlier this year. Now we know why.
I can see why Harry and Meg love Hamilton
I’M not surprised Prince Harry burst into song – albeit briefly – when he and wife Meghan met the cast of hit musical Hamilton.
The hip-hop lyrics are infectiously catchy, so much so the Gove family often sing along to them in the car.
And a musical about breaking free from an overbearing and distant overlord who doesn’t govern in your interests does have a special resonance for us.
Udder-fully romantic
A FARMER from my native Aberdeenshire took the bull by the horns this week and proposed to his girlfriend by writing “Will you marry me?” on the side of her favourite cow.
Happily, she accepted and will presumably now promise to forsake all udders.
Kirsty's Island Retreat
SAD to see the lovely Kirsty Young having to take a break from Desert Island Discs to battle fibromyalgia.
This terrible condition – marked by chronic pain and extreme fatigue – has no ready cure.
It can strike any of us down, casting a shadow over even the simplest pleasures.
I hope Kirsty recovers soon – and I also hope that the light shone on this illness hastens progress towards a cure.
Buy British itself
I SEE the wonders of the Mediterranean diet are being hymned in the papers again.
But the core ingredients – fish, quality meat, fresh vegetables and fruit in season – are all caught, reared and grown across our own islands.
Almost everything you need for a healthy, balanced diet can be sourced from British farms and fishermen.
And you know it will have been caught or grown in a way that respects the environment.
Instead of our diet going south, why not save on the food miles and help the planet by buying British?
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I'm rooting for Charles Venn
THE return of Strictly to our screens this autumn divides the Gove household. But not in the way you might think.
My wife can’t stand the show and my daughter cringes at it – but my son and I are hooked.
We’ve cheered on Ed Balls’ Gangnam Style and rooted for Susan Calman last year.
This year I think Casualty actor Charles Venn and Paralympian Lauren Steadman could become popular favourites.
But no, I won’t be harbouring dreams of joining in. There is no politician worse at dancing than me.