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The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain

Starmer’s gravy train

Plans to encourage people who have never been members of the Labour Party to run for parliament on the Labour ticket show just how out of touch Starmer & Co are with the rank and file of the movement they claim to lead. Whilst the “future candidates programme” was launched in 2011 during Ed Miliband’s leadership, allegedly to encourage more workers to stand in the constituencies, the current manoeuvre is simply another ploy to propel more Blairites into the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Some on the left have jumped on the “no limit on length of membership” waiver for these wannabe MPs that seemingly breeches Labour’s rules which state that candidates should be members of the party for at least a year before standing for office. But there have always been exceptions, such as the endorsement of Kim Leadbeater, who successfully defended Batley & Spen at the by-election last month. The rule is only being waived for the programme because the next general election, under our fixed parliament rules, won’t be held until 2024 and participation in the course is, in any case, no guarantee of selection as a constituency candidate.

The real issue is, however, the cynical way that Starmer is moving to build a short-cut to parliament for his cronies to replace the ageing Blairites who will not be standing again at the next election.