Hallelujah.

I am not one of life's natural joiners. Since leaving university in 1975 I can think of only two institutions I have joined as a paying member. Admittedly I joined one of them twice.  I joined the Gauge O Guild (a railway modelling society) in the seventies and then again in the 2000s, both times in the mistaken belief that I was going to build a model railway layout.  In fact I never got much further than reading catalogues, drooling over them, and daydreaming.

The only other organisation I have joined as an adult is the Labour Party. I did this in 2015 following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader. I did not sign up to vote for him, but once he was elected I felt strongly enough about his vision for the future direction of the party to want to be a part of it.  At this point I must confess I had very little idea who he even was. My instincts had always been socialist, but they had not, until that point been fulfilled by the vision of any party leader.  I spent a significant part of the Blair years living abroad, and I was disappointed that Brown proved to be so inept and horrified at the way Miliband was destroyed by the press. Despite my reservations I was an instinctive Labour voter, even if they were only the least worst option.

So it is particularly galling that those of us inspired by Corbyn's vision were instantly vilified, particularly those who also joined Momentum.  We were Trots; we were thugs; we were a personality cult.

To be honest I had to look up what a Trot was, just in case it was inadvertently true. (I don't think it was, but I am still not quite clear on this). One of the things which attracted me to Corbyn's vision was his lack of aggression, so to be labelled a thug was so ridiculous it became a badge of honour.

As for the accusations of being part of a personality cult, as I said I scarcely knew who he was as an individual. It was his policies which motivated me.  For the first time I could remember there was a coherent attempt to create a democratic socialist alternative to the bastard capitalism which had become the accepted norm since the days of Margaret Thatcher.

At this point I would just like to say that if we want to see what a personality cult actually looks like we have to look no further than the current government. It was elected on the back of good old Boris, everybody's friend, with only the one policy, that of getting Brexit done, through the peculiar medium of microwave cookery, although even this turned out to be a lie as no such oven ready deal actually existed. Now since the Covid-19 pandemic and the PM's subsequent incarceration in the ICU of St Thomas's Hospital we are told he embodies the entire nation as if he is some sort of sweaty, scruffy Britannia in a lounge suit. Even the fact that he was released from hospital on Easter Day is suspicious in its symbolism. He hath risen indeed.

To return to my muttons, following the election defeat last year and the resignation of Corbyn I was extremely apprehensive about who would replace him. As it turned out none of the leadership candidates particularly inspired me.  I voted for Rebecca Long Bailey but really as the least worst option. Once it became clear that Keir Starmer was to be the next leader of the party I became much more pessimistic about the future direction of Labour. The fact that Luke Akehurst was so enthusiastic about him first set the alarm bells ringing. Then his appeasement of the BoD stuck in my craw and his appointments to the shadow front bench made my mind up.  I had intended to remain in the party and see how things developed but at this point I cancelled my direct debit and informed the Party that I no longer wished to be a member.

At the time it was the appointment of Wes Streeting and Jess Phillips to the front bench team, which tipped me over the edge. Subsequent revelations about the report prepared for the EHRC which was recently leaked have convinced me that I did the right thing.  I am deeply saddened by the fact that many tens of thousands or ordinary people like myself and my wife joined the party in good faith and were totally shat on by shadowy figures within the party machine determined to stop Corbyn. 

I haven't had a close look at that report yet and when I do manage to find out more I shall return with further thoughts.  Until then stay safe and do what Baked Potato say.