No, Jared O’Mara wasn’t disciplined for being working class

claiming it had treated him “like a criminal ”.

No part of the saga is satisfactory for anyone involved. The Labour Party and O’Mara have both shown themselves to be lacking in understanding of what his offence means. Both in relation to those he insulted then, and why it matters to those of us in the party who remain determined to wipe the scourge of misogyny from the party and wider society.

O’Mara does have some legitimate complaints and has clearly had a dreadful time. I wouldn’t wish his emotional distress on anyone. The lack of support he received is a stain on the party and its processes.

Politicsemma@politicalhuman.com13 July 2018Jared O'Mara, Labour Party, Labour NEC, Discipline

Corbyn, Capitalism and the Horizon

There is a sense I get from some Corbynsceptics in the Labour Party that if they just sit quietly and ride out the storm, then eventually things will return to their version of normal.

This is why there is so much infighting on process issues. They know that mandatory reselection, whereby MPs have to refight for their seat before every election would put at risk some of their MPs and would change the largely Corbyn-critical membership of the Parliamentary Party.

Politicsemma@politicalhuman.com8 June 2018Jeremy Corbyn, Capitalism, 2008 Crash, Labour Party

It’s not just poor organisation—Labour Live was always going to fail

Tens of thousands of people hanging on your every word and singing your name to the heavens. Who wouldn’t want to experience that? More pertinently, who—having experienced it once—wouldn’t want to recreate it?

It is very easy to see how, after the high of Corbyn’s post-election appearance at Glastonbury, the temptation to go big on Labour Live was as difficult to resist as it has proved impossible to deliver. According to reports, ticket sales are rather low and my younger, cooler friends tell me the line up isn’t up to much. Even I can see that there’s no Stormzy there—an oversight apparently caused by him already being booked to do something else. Which begs the question why that wasn’t checked before the date was set.

Hateful and Hollow: Morrissey's lifelong mission to piss off his fanbase.

In the bleak mid-80s, life was tough for young people in general, and in particular for those of a more sensitive disposition. Sensitivity wasn't cool. Cool was brash, buccaneering, blokey.

So when The Smiths came along, they spoke to a generation of (mostly white) dispossessed young people of a sensitive and mostly left wing bent. Their anthems to loneliness, quirkiness and being different struck a chord in many in a such a profound way that it is still ringing in their ears decades later. Their music was wonderfully refreshing (and Johnny Marr remains an untroubling hero) but it was the lyrics of Stephen Patrick Morrissey that made a lot of lonely vulnerable people going through a difficult time feel less alone.

Politics, CultureEmma Burnell18 April 2018Morrissey, Racism

Keeping an Open Mind on Syria

I’m not a pacifist. I believe that there are times and places where intervention is right and necessary. I have little but contempt for those like Stop the War who seem to believe that a war doesn’t happen until the West is involved. Wars are happening all over the globe. Sometimes the way to stop them is precisely for the West to get involved. Sometimes that is not the case.

PoliticsEmma Burnell12 April 2018Syria, Theresa May, Intelligence

Labour's Gen Sec battle: Left goes to war with itself

The battle to replace Iain McNicol as the Labour party general secretary is getting heated. There have been some pretty furious exchanges between supporters of Momentum chair Jon Lansman and Unite's Jennie Formby.

Those on the inside of each organisation will tell you that this is about deep, important divisions over how democracy within the party should be played out. Lansman's supporters say this is about party democracy versus union-backed central control, while those backing Formby say it’s about defending Labour’s historic link with the unions.

“Whatever the restrictions they face, the choices councils make are political ones”

How we run local communities, what services are provided and by whom, are deeply political questions. The philosophical traditions of the two main parties in Britain differ greatly on state involvement at every level: national, local and international.

Review: Silk Road

I really wasn’t expecting much from this play. The fact the press release promoted it as “bitcoin-funded” had me worried it was going to be a buzzword-heavy, all-too-trendy play, heavy on zeitgeist and light on almost anything else. I could not have been more wrong.

This play is a one-hour, one-man tour-de-force.

The Politics of Mental Health

The message that “something must be done” is one of the most prevalent of modern politics. Although designed to reflect the resolve of politicians and those who influence them (from constituents to campaigners) on the issues that face them, the need to show urgency often leads politicians to take action without fully examining the consequences, or to reach for easy solutions to tough problems when actually only a long, hard, and politically unrewarding grind will do.

PoliticsEmma Burnell27 January 2018Mental health, Politics, Lancet Psychiatry

What Next for Labour's Factions?

As expected, the Momentum slate swept the board again at Labour's NEC elections. This means they now hold all nine constituency positions as well as controlling other internal bodies such as the Conference Arrangements Committee. It all sounds incredibly boring, largely because, for the most part, it is.

You have to be a truly dedicated political activist to care much about internal elections. Even party members don't very much, which is why turnout (other than for leadership contests) is always so low. You will probably hear a lot from the losing factions about turnout numbers, but then you always do. Whoever happens to be the losing faction at that time will always make that argument. When they start winning again they'll do naff-all to change it.

PoliticsEmma Burnell16 January 2018Momentum, Progress, Labour First, Labour Party

Blind Faith in a Broken Market

To understand why the Tories are incapable of solving the housing crisis, you have to understand that its roots come from Tory dogma older than most of the unfortunate ‘generation rent’. It is a creed they refuse to resist, and a doctrine that blinds them to the increasingly perilous consequences.

It is exemplified by ‘right to buy’, one of Margaret Thatcher’s most politically potent and significant policies. Incredibly popular at the time, it is probably responsible for some measure of the older generation’s electoral loyalty to the Tories. But the electoral bribe it represented was time limited – unlike its consequences.

PoliticsEmma Burnell25 November 2017Housing, Conservatives, Tories

Parties must do more to support the volunteers entrusted to investigate harassment complaints

Once again politics is going through a crisis of its own making. The scandals around sexual abuse and harassment have been a ticking time bomb for years. Women in all parties will tell you they've been raising this alarm for some time. They were largely ignored as an inconvenience. So of course, the parties were then caught on the hop when the scandal exploded.

So far, so Westminster. It is a reactive place and however much politicians like to talk about the future, they actually spend most of their time reacting to the recent past. All too often this means responses are put together too quickly and are not always as well thought through as they could be. The implications aren't fully considered. Too often the responses to crises such as this contain the seeds of future problems.

PoliticsEmma Burnell6 November 2017Labour Party, Volunteers, Mental health

There's Something to be Said for Life Experience: Interview with Jo Platt MP

While Jo Platt is off buying us both a much-needed coffee from the Portcullis House café, her new boss Angela Rayner walks by, stopping for a quick chat. “She’s a bloody superstar,” says the Shadow Secretary of State for Education “she’s keeping us in line”.

It’s unusual to become a PPS (one rung down from a junior shadow minister) so soon after being elected. But it’s quite clear from the passion that Platt shows when discussion education at every level as well as the mutual respect between her and Rayner (who she describes warmly as “an absolute force” and working with her as “the perfect opportunity”) that she’s hit the Parliamentary estate running.

Interviews, PoliticsEmma Burnell6 November 2017Jo Platt MP, Labour Party, Interviews

TIME FOR A NEW D:REAM

I don’t mind a little nostalgia, so the first time at conference this year I heard Things Can Only Get Better, I admit I sang along, danced and laughed indulgently at the chants of “Tony, Tony, Tony” – sometimes from those who will cry “cult” at the first hint of Seven Nation Army. But, by the fourth time in four days, I was thoroughly exasperated. While those of us on the left may not feel it our place, it should be said that those to the right of the Party need to get their heads out of the 90s and into the game.

Politicsemma@politicalhuman.com12 October 2017Labour Party, Open Labour

The future of socialism is up to all of us

Labour is currently promising nothing short of a complete change of economic model for the UK. That would be a hell of a challenge under the best of circumstances. Faced with the likely contraction of our economy post-Brexit, which will make any upfront investment needed to make this shift harder to come by, it’s going to be a bloody difficult ask.

Politicsemma@politicalhuman.com30 September 2017Open Labour, Labour Party

MY JOURNALISM