Whenever I meet any of the Corbynista diaspora for a beer the conversation inevitably turns to the methods and motivations of the people now running the Labour Party into the brick wall of Reform.  

They seem to have a special dislike for Apsana Begum. I have written before about how I came to learn that trying to get people sacked (me!) or thrown into prison (Apsana) is as much a part of their political methodology as actively supporting a genocide or getting overt racists to vote for them. There is a humour in these people calling themselves the “Red Wall Group”, or there would be if adopting neo-fascist ideas was funny.  

Now, I have absolutely no idea what sort of agreement Richard Burgin, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Imran Hussain and Ian Byrne made to have the Labour whip restored. When it was removed my hunch was: 

 “The only route back into Labour for the suspended MPs will be the sort of self-abasement favoured by Byzantine emperors for their errant subjects. It will require an utter personal and political self-humiliation which should be impossible for anyone with a scintilla of self-respect.” 

It would be nice to be wrong, but the fact that Apsana and Zarah Sultana haven’t had the whip restored suggests either that they were not willing to strike a deal or they are the target of a particular vendetta. Let’s take as good coin John McDonnell’s assertion that he hasn’t had the whip restored because he’s under police investigation. I don’t know enough about Zarah Sultana’s case to speculate about the nature of her perceived offence. She is probably a victim of Morgan McSweeny’s urge to “Change the party. Got to change the party. Haven’t changed enough. Change the party.” An under-reported biographical fact about the Cork man is that he is the scion of a strongly Fine Gael family, a party often referred to as “those Fine Gael Blueshirt bastards” in acknowledgement of their role in the Irish counter-revolution and providing a home to members of the Blueshirts, the Irish fascist movement.  

The story of the failed attempt to get Apsana sent to prison is well enough known. What is less well known is the severe disappointment that was expressed by Labour members who wanted her to be convicted. For some it was straightforward, undiluted misogyny and for others it was anger that a left-wing woman who is always on the right side of the class struggle could hold onto a seat that should belong to someone whose internationalism is not selective. My view is that racism is probably not a factor, as the sinecure held by an acceptable right-wing figure in the neighbouring Tower Hamlets constituency indicates.  

Apsana’s chances of getting back into the Labour Party are zero. The Labour right have been gunning for her since she emerged as an impressive left candidate. For what it’s worth, despite my deep affection for the theory of new radical parties emerging from splits and fusions of existing organisations, the readmission of the other four MPs who took a stand against a Labour government choosing to impoverish working class children has scuppered the immediate prospects of any new political formation with meaningful parliamentary representation. Looking at the voting figures for Apsana’s constituency, she got 43.1% of the vote and the Green candidate, who had the resources to put in a tiny fraction of the effort, got 13.9% of the vote. That Green vote was a conscious vote against Labour’s support for the eradication of Gaza and for an electoral programme much more in line with Apsana’s views that those of Morgan McSweeney.  

There is a conclusion to be drawn there.