As I expected, several tribalistic old skool Labourites have
put party loyalty before the truth and tried to defend the indefensible by
claiming that I quoted Green out of context. Well this is the exact quote from
the widely leaked internal Labour document “I don’t like losing, and want my revenge”.
Following the tried and tested advice of my old English teacher Mr Manthorpe let’s
breakdown and analyse this short sentence to see what it actually means.
The first part of the sentence says “I don’t like losing”.
So what is that Green lost? Well his statement makes it perfectly clear that it
was his loss of the 2015 Council election in Newington Ward which he didn’t
like. The second part of the sentence says “and want my revenge”. This can only
mean that he wants revenge on those responsible
for his loss in Newington ward in 2015. Those responsible for his loss of that election can only be the voters of Newington
ward who chose not to vote for/ elect Green. So, thanks to Mr Manthorpe, it’s evident that
David Green is unhappy/ angry with the voters of the
Newington ward who didn’t vote for him last time around and that he has chosen to become Labour’s election candidate in Newington Ward in 2016
so that he can seek his revenge on those who had the audacity not to vote for him before.
If anger about an election loss and a desire for revenge on voters
are Green’s primary motivation for seeking public office then God help us! And
God help us also that misguided members of the Labour Party seem to think Green’s
comment was acceptable and seek to justify/ excuse what he wrote. But I guess I
shouldn’t be too surprised that Green
foolishness appears to be acceptable to many of his Labour Party comrades. Until 2012 I was a member of the Labour Party and witnessed at first hand just how much councillors, MPs and the Labour Party leadership took for granted the support of voters in deprived, often neglected and run-down, urban areas such as parts of Newington, Northwood, Central Harbour and Eastcliff. This arrogant sense of divine right to rule meant that little attention was paid to the needs and aspirations of people living in less affluent areas. These people were cynically left behind and neglected by a Labour Party who was entirely focused on feting well-off middle Englanders. Then along came UKIP which, although I politically oppose, did, and continues to do, an incredible job of winning the votes of disaffected former Labour supporters in Newington, Northwood and similar places throughout the country.
foolishness appears to be acceptable to many of his Labour Party comrades. Until 2012 I was a member of the Labour Party and witnessed at first hand just how much councillors, MPs and the Labour Party leadership took for granted the support of voters in deprived, often neglected and run-down, urban areas such as parts of Newington, Northwood, Central Harbour and Eastcliff. This arrogant sense of divine right to rule meant that little attention was paid to the needs and aspirations of people living in less affluent areas. These people were cynically left behind and neglected by a Labour Party who was entirely focused on feting well-off middle Englanders. Then along came UKIP which, although I politically oppose, did, and continues to do, an incredible job of winning the votes of disaffected former Labour supporters in Newington, Northwood and similar places throughout the country.
Bur rather than learning from their mistakes and instead of trying to
re-connect with the communities they have left behind and ignored, what does
Thanet Labour do? It imposes upon the people of Newington an election candidate who appears to be angry with them and who wants to take revenge
on them. This reminds me of some type of medieval feudal baron punishing the
serfs and demonstrate to me just how far the labour Party has to travel before
it can become a party of the ordinary man and woman. And on that point I’m
surprised and disappointed that Green was able to have been selected as the
Newington candidate in the first place. Surely the new left-leaning,
Corbynite, recruits to the Thanet Labour Party should have put forward candidates
of their own to oppose representatives of the right wing old skool establishment such as Green. What about Jackie
Walker or another powerful socialist voice? Because this is exactly what’s needed to rebuild support for progressive
policies and ideas in our urban working
class areas, not David Green chastising the voters for throwing him off the throne
he assumed was his by divine right! Should a more connected and inclusive Labour
Party with strong socialist/ environmental policy become a reality – which personally
I doubt – then even I might apply for membership!
I
will be looking at Mr Green’s record whilst in power at TDC in a forthcoming post.
He does look dodgy
ReplyDelete