Dear Sir,
I refer to Kathryn Beetham’s letter on the above in last week’s Newton News and comment as follows:
Brexit, the most important political matter facing Britain, was not discussed at the Labour Party conference. Instead, the Labour (Momentum) Party Conference ‘united’ around policies designed to remove New Labour’s Flagship policies from the Statute Book.
– Student loans, one of Tony Blair’s flagship policy is to be scrapped!
– PFI Contracts for schools (Schools for the Future) are to be ‘bought out‘!
– PFI Contracts for hospitals to be ‘bought out’. Clearly, this had to go as it was privatising the NHS by the back door, a charge that the Labour Party like to accuse the Tories of doing.
– Nationalise everything, even if we ruin the economy doing so. Why? Because Carl Marx said so!
– Tax until the source of taxation no longer exists, then borrow and spend.
That is, Corbyn/Momentum wants to wipe Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and all the policies which New Labour supported from history. This, regardless of the cost to the economy and the future of Britain.
Kathryn should not be taken in by all the chants of “Ho Corbyn”. Many where chanting “No Corbyn” The Labour Party lost the election. The Corbyn promise failed. Those that reluctantly decide to give Corbyn their support for the sake of presenting a united front will now revert to type and seek a more centralised position in politics.
On the other hand, the Conservative Conference had to get on with running the country and had to defend the austerity measures it HAD to introduce to keep the International Monetary Fund from running our economy, as happened in Greece. However, the Conservatives could celebrate 3 million more people in work, fewer able people on benefit and a substantial cut in our public benefits bill and our day to day borrowing. All this while negotiating Brexit, on behalf of the majority of the voters in the Referendum and in Sedgefield Constituency.
Given that Phil Wilson is Tony Blair’s ‘heir’ in Sedgefield I would rather hear his opinion of the two conferences. After all, Corbyn managed to get him ‘not invited’ to the Durham Miner’s Gala, which, it could be argued, is his birth right to attend and speak at as he is the local MP and proud of his mining roots. How can former New Labour supporters stomach this slight from Momentum and Corbyn? Most Momentum/Corbyn supporters were new-born when the mines closed and, being based in London, have never seen a pit!
Phil Wilson was re-elected on the promise that he would not impede Brexit. However, he voted against the ‘Great EU Treaty Repeal Bill’ in accordance with Momentum/Labour party policy, and against the will of the Democratic ‘Leave’ majority of the country and his constituency.
How will Phil Wilson and his apparent fellow travellers in Labour/Momentum ensure social cohesion in the event that they manage to thwart the democratic will of the majority to leave the EU? You only have to look at Catalan to see what happens when the right of self-determination and the expression of the democratic will of the people is denied.
Yours sincerely,
Alastair P.G. Welsh
