It is a bad time to be a member of the Socialist Campaign Group. Hours after Mr S revealed that Labour activists in Poplar are urging the party to intervene against Apsana Begum, tonight Lloyd Russell-Moyle has confirmed that he will be blocked from standing again in Brighton Kemptown. The left-winger, a former frontbencher under Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer, told activists tonight that ‘yesterday, out of the blue, I received an administrative suspension letter.’
According to Russell-Moyle, an unknown person has made ‘what I believe to be a vexatious and politically motivated complaint about my behaviour eight years ago. This is a false allegation that I dispute totally.’ He claims that this was ‘designed to disrupt this election’ and that because there ‘isn’t enough time to defend myself as these processes within the party take too long’ the party has now ‘told me that I will not be eligible to be a candidate at the next election.’
With a ‘gutted’ Russell-Moyle bowing out, who will deliver a rant on election night now? The news means of course that the Labour leadership can begin imposing a candidate on Brighton Kemptown where the party currently has a majority of more than 8,000. A Labour spokesman said: ‘The Labour party takes all complaints extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.’
Who’s next on the list eh? Watch out John McDonnell…
UPDATE: Well, that didn’t take long. An hour after news of Russell-Moyle’s enforced retirement broke, the Times is now reporting that Labour will suspend Faiza Shaheen as its candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green. Joseph Starmer strikes again!
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