Labour rebels

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Withdrawing the whip from serial rebels is a very old tactic of the Labour whips and I'm a bit suprised it's taken this long for them to think about it.

Doing it to everyone that's a member of the Campaign Group would be stupid (they aren't all nuts) and impossible (if only because one member of the group (at least she was last time I checked), Ann Cryer, holds an elected position within the PLP) and the same is also the case of all the other serial rebels.
But... at the same time it would probably be a mistake to simply ignore quite how angry most of the PLP is with a very small group of M.P's; this is the sort of thing that could spill over into the CLP's resulting in some very messy (and quite ironic) deselections of leftwingers.

Making Bob Marshall-Andrews a scapegoat (you all know where that phrase comes from don't you? Very appropriate in this case I'd say) would go down very well with most Labour M.P's, members and (especially) voters; the fact that he's been blatently working with the Tories recently is probably crossing the line. There's the added advantage of the fact that he wouldn't be much of a threat as an independent candidate; he's let his CLP wither away and, from what I understand, he's a crap constituency M.P.
Having said that it might be better to give him a very public warning about dealing with the Tories and withdraw the whip unless he stops doing it, rather than just taking it away now.

EDIT: I wouldn't support taking it away from anyone else, unless there's proof they've been acting like Marshall-Andrews. Rebellion, even serial rebellion, is one thing. Playing at being Ramsay MacDonald is quite another.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Whip on Wikipedia

Essentially if the Whip were withdrawn, the MP would cease to be a member of the Parliamentary Labour Party and would have to sit as an Independent.

In other words; Peter Law would have someone to sit next to

[Filuwaúrdjan]

You were sounding very differently about Marshall-Andrews at election time.

At the time I wasn't aware that Bob MacDonald-Andrews was conspiring with the Tories; only found out about that pretty recently. Suprisingly enough I'm not very happy about it. There is a line and he's just crossed it.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

They'll be a rebellion o/c, but probably not enough to defeat the bill (although stranger things have happend).
More interesting is the education bill (which will change the administration of schools by taking powers away from the LEA's and giving them to individual schools). No one (if they're being honest) is sure how that one will go.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

More interesting is the education bill (which will change the administration of schools by taking powers away from the LEA's and giving them to individual schools). No one (if they're being honest) is sure how that one will go.

The Education Bill isn't due to come up until next year, if I recall correctly.

True, but it's seen as the big one (devolving power to schools is seen as a flagship policy) and if Blair resigns over any defeat it would be over that bill. On the other hand if he has a warped sense of humour he might actually resigns if it passes...
I'm not sure when the ID cards bill is up for a vote in the Commons, but the fact that it's a manifesto commitment and is supported by the public makes a big revolt unlikely.
It seems likely that the ministers are going to see what backbenchers have to say much more in the future anyway; the backbenchers representatives are generally soft-left types, btw.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

No. Doing so would only alienate more Labour MPs and cause further dischord.

It's Labour M.P's that are demanding it
But if it's more than just the honourable member for Medway then there could be trouble.
It's unlikely that Armstrong will even do that though.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Is it just me or is Gordon Brown about to inherit a fractured and divided party? A bit like John Major after Thatcher.

The Labour Party is always fractured and divided
But if you mean in the way that it was in the late '70's and '80's or how the Tories were for most of the '90's then, no, that's not especially likely. What's happing now is quite strange; almost all of the multitude of factions within the PLP and the CLP's (and most of these are actually organised... I'm told that the soft-left Tribune group was reborn the other week) are becoming united in either irritation or absolute loathing of a small core of persistant trouble makers; this is unusual. Things have usually turned into an out and out Left v Right hatematch by now, that this has very clearly not happend is significant but I'm not sure how.