Must watch to set context:
The next section of the report starts by breaking down the numerous factions within the Labour Party, both on the right and on the left. It then explains that between 2015-2019 the “Trotskyist” organisations within the party were extremely small and only ever had a few hundred members. Some of the more extreme members were even expelled from the party in 2016. These former members then attempted to join local Momentum groups but this was blocked in 2017 when Momentum changed their constitution in order to exclude people who were not members of the Labour Party.
It then goes on to outline how Jeremy Corbyn’s outstanding success at winning the majority of votes (59.5%) in the 2015 leadership election and also the significant surge in membership around the time of the leadership competition and in the subsequent months was seem as a significant threat to the “Blairite politics of Progress”. The fact that the Progress candidate, Liz Kendall, only managed to scrape 4.5% proved quite a shock and “senior figures in Labour HQ did not view these developments positively.”The report then explains how, despite the fact that Labour party“staff are supposed to operate neutrally with fairness towards all members and affiliates”, they were, in fact, using party resources (paid for by party members) “to further the interests of one faction and in some cases.. to undermine the party’s objectives”.
Staff members engaging in right wing factional behaviour either already worked in the GLU or were appointed to the GLU. They would even hold the “Senior Director and Executive Director positions responsible for overseeing GLU’s work and managing GLU staff” and also hold positions in the General Secretary’s Office.” It explains that even the General Secretary was engaging in factional behaviour at times. Senior staff even opposed the Corbyn and Burnham campaigns in the 2015 leadership elections. Jo Green, Labour’s Head of Broadcasting at the time, remarked to the Acting Director of Policy and Political Research, Simon Jackson, that “Anyone who nominates Corbyn ‘to widen the debate’ deserves to be taken out and shot” and referred to him as “that fucking trot”. Jackson responded in agreement.. “quite. if the left can’t get on the ballot it shows they’re moribund… putting them on there only validates the views”.
15th June 2015
Here’s an exchange between John Stolliday (who was then a Senior Media Monitoring Officer at the time) and Jo Green. Stolliday would later refer to Burnham’s campaign as “team #failure”
John Stolliday: I bet Ed would vote for CorbynJo Green: ed wants andy to win i am told…John Stolliday: fucking hell
20 July 2015
Here’s an exchange between Greg Cook (Head of Political Strategy) and Jo Green…
Greg Cook: “such a Trot now” (Cook was referring to a Labour MP)Jo Green: “yep. like most of the PLP it seems”
Here’s a remark from Jo Green to Simon Jackson about Andy Burnham…
Jo Green: “just panders to what members want. he’ll be a total disaster… the PLP is a joke now .. full of people unable and unwilling to be sensible”3 August 2015
Here’s a comment from, Greg Cook to Jo Green about Kate Hoey..Greg Cook: (Kate Hoey) “is better than Corbyn, Abbott, Burnham, Nandy, Lewis and about 150 others”
12th August 2015
Comment from Jo Green, just a month before Corbyn was elected leader..
Jo Green: “physically sick about JC”
13 August 2015
Here’s an exchange between Jo Greening, Head of International Affairs and Acting Director of Policy and Political Research Simon Jackson discussing Ed Miliband..
Jo Greening: “he is pathetic”Simon Jackson: “probably”Jo Greening: “I mean wtf”
Simon Jackson: “quite a legacy to leave the party with”…the party “could hang in there trying to stay sensible and wait for the storm to pass”, or “it could plunge in to trot hell”, with “NEC pushing Trotism, staff appointments of Trots” and Corbyn shadow cabinet and staff would be “loads of mad trots”
As it became clear that Corbyn might win the leadership election, Jo Green and Stolliday, who was moving into the GLU soon, discussed delaying or cancelling the election, by claiming insufficient resources to check new members, or by all the other candidates pulling out..
John Stolliday: “Where do you think Iain & Mike are on delay?”
Jo Green: “finely balanced. in the end i think they have to decide on the basis of whether we have resource to do the checks rather than a political decision also the leadership teams would need to sign off delay I am now of the view that the three other candidates could just drop out next week and the whole thing would have to be halted”
John Stolliday: “which presumably would risk a huge argument. That would be ace”
Jo Green: “it would!”
John Stolliday: “Great idea”
Jo Green: “unite could disaffiliate, form a new party”
John Stolliday: “I’ve been assuming that will be the case anyway within a few years, whoever wins frankly it would be brilliant for Labour. Financially tough but absolutely great for the party”
Jo Green: “i think it will happen yeah”
John Stolliday: “Byron must be fucking loving this”
Jo Green: “well as i understand it he wanted andy to win, not sure even his politics are corbyn levels of madness but then again he’ll be wondering what he can get out of it, hateful twat”
John Stolliday: “the mad ones on the NEC all love him – Jennie Formby & Christine Shawcroft”
14th September 2015
Stolliday, who was about to be appointed to a key role in GLU and Labour press officer Anna Wright discuss a planned visit from the newly elected leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, the following day…
John Stolliday: “We were all amazed that somebody has bought dozens of bottles of prosecco, mad”
Anna Wright: “It is ludicrious. I hope the fucking thing is short. Cannot be arsed with small talk”
John Stolliday: “I’m not drinking it, I’m not clapping, I’m going to stay at my desk or leave the office”
Anna Wright: “We need to go up and show face for Team Watson or we’ll end up on a list… Look at that fucker looking statespersonlike, Looking after our secrurity”
15 September 2015
After Corbyn’s visit, Dan Hogan, then a Policy Communications Officer but who would later become an Investigations Officer in GLU (late 2016) and Amy Fowler from Fundraising, discussed Corbyn’s visit with GLU staff member Katherine Buckingham adding her comments later..
Amy Fowler: “How did you think it went when he was in earlier? Stevie P whooped and is now dead to Carol”
Dan Hogan: “people were polite. Stevie P should be shot. Jez’s speech was a total crock of shit. I clapped but i probably didn’t do a very good job of masking what i thought.”
Amy Fowler: “I clapped but I didn’t smile and it takes a conscious effort for me not to smile in those situations”
Dan Hogan: “i couldn’t look at him. my eyes rolled a lot. i probably shook my head”
Amy Fowler: “I feel like he should have maybe addressed the massive elephant in the room that we all kind of hate him But I’m not sure how he could have done that without making me hate this more”
Katherine Buckingham: “I had some drinks in the office until Jeremy came in. and then all I wanted to do was go home”
Senior staff would frequently use the word “Trot” to describe people they didn’t like. In November 2015, Danny Adilypour (Campaigns Officer – Campaign Technology ) referred to Labour MP Rachel Maskell as a “Trot”. Another example was when on the 25 May 2017, Catherine Bramwell, South East Regional Communications Officer, described a Labour parliamentary candidate in Brighton as “the trot candidate”.
There was a lot of bitterness toward MP’s who nominated Corbyn to be added to the ballot and they continued to be targeted long after the election. For example, on 28 April 2016, a week before the 2016 London Mayoral election, Jo Greening (Head of International Liaison) commented that she might consider voting for Sadiq Khan after he’d called for Ken Livingstone to be suspended and then added “probably not though”.
Director of Policy and Research Simon Jackson, speculated over a snap general election with colleagues saying he refused to vote Labour and that they should act to protect candidates favoured by the right…
“Ultimately though, who votes for JC? If it’s a choice btwn him & TMay how do WE vote for him?? I mean we’re not fucking mad. Any Labour member who advocates opposing a Labour candidate, or supporting a rival, can be auto-excluded from the party.”
Days later a Labour member was auto-excluded for saying Sadiq Khan would not be getting their first preference vote for Mayor – no small irony considering the fact that neither Greening or Jackson were prepared to support the Labour Party themselves…
6 October 2015
Simon Jackson and a number of senior staff remarked about the Labour shadow cabinet, which was a broad “unity” line up with only four Corbyn supporting MPs.
Senior staff commented negatively on Dawn Butler MP’s appointment to the Shadow Cabinet, apparently suggesting that her accusations of racism within the Labour Party were untrue:Simon Jackson: (Iain Duncan-Smith) is “shit” but “the mad thing is he’s better than most of our shadow cabinet”
Emilie Oldknow: “DAWN BUTLER”
Neil Fleming: “Yep. Plp women will go spare.”
Emilie Oldknow: “Good grief”Frances Fuller-Claire:“Did she not accuse the LP and its staff of being racist this week? Nice.”
Emilie Oldknow: Harriet “white privilege” Harman26 January 2017A senior staff member engaged in a racist trope calling Diane Abbott an “angry woman”, while his colleague called her “repulsive”:
Neil Fleming: “Watching QT without the sound on. Abbot is a very angry woman.”
Greg Cook: “Abbott is truly repulsive”
8 February 2017
Sarah Mulholland as PLP Secretary was the main liaison between MPs and the Labour Party. In February 2017 she had a shocking exchange with members of staff in her WhatsApp group where they talk about someone finding Abbot crying in the toilets and telling Michael Crick, a Channel 4 reporter at the time, where she was:
Sarah Mulholland: (Diane Abbott) “literally makes me sick”
Patrick Heneghan: “Abbott found crying in the loos”
Julie Lawrence: ?Tracey Allen: “Abbott memorial cupboard works well”
Patrick Heneghan: “Diane in Leon on vic street”
Fiona Stanton: “Shall we tell michael crick”
Patrick Heneghan: “Already have ?”
