In recent times, and for a number of reasons, I've been feeling depressed. This has been particularly so over the Labour Party's defeat in the general election last December. I still struggle to understand why the most popular and principled politician in England in 2017 was defeated in a general election just two years later when in my view he was still the most principled and popular political leader in England even though he was unjustly vilified by the media and undermined by the treachery of a minority - yet surprisingly powerful minority - of Labour MPs and officials.
Last week I heard of a dubious, or possibly spurious group (set up and selected by whom? certainly not the membership) which has decided that most of the blame for the election defeat must be placed upon Mr. Corbyn. How wonderful they must feel to be "truly" free of responsibility.
Exasperated by this I sent a letter of protest to the Labour Party leader Sir Kier Starmer, and the Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner, both of whom, (unlike many of us who put up extra funds of money we could little afford for the 2017 and 2019 campaigns), are relatively comfortably off. Neither politician replied. Then I wrote an almost identical letter to the secretary of my Constituency Labour Party here in Totnes. I have not as yet received a reply. Here is the letter.
Dear -
I have been left feeling that many members like me carry a sense of having been "stuffed" and nobody really cares. I was reminded of a passage from The Eyrie a novel by the Australian author, Tim Winton.
"We're meant to lose ,and campaign and calculate all we like, the bulldozers still arrive, the agencies wash their hands, the media enjoys its little flash of colour and silent influence and it's back to business as usual.
Like every arm of government it's a servant of industry facilitating its ongoing prosperity. Bribery isn't even necessary. That's the real insult the system works beautifully without it".
Last week I heard of a dubious, or possibly spurious group (set up and selected by whom? certainly not the membership) which has decided that most of the blame for the election defeat must be placed upon Mr. Corbyn. How wonderful they must feel to be "truly" free of responsibility.
Exasperated by this I sent a letter of protest to the Labour Party leader Sir Kier Starmer, and the Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner, both of whom, (unlike many of us who put up extra funds of money we could little afford for the 2017 and 2019 campaigns), are relatively comfortably off. Neither politician replied. Then I wrote an almost identical letter to the secretary of my Constituency Labour Party here in Totnes. I have not as yet received a reply. Here is the letter.
Dear -
I sincerely appreciate all the efforts which you and others put in to keep the Totnes CLP purring along but, before the Labour Party as it currently stands (or collapses) addresses any issue, it must first deal with the matter of the corrupt “officials” in the Party who despicably & dishonestly counselled against the Party Leader, Jeremy Corbyn & his team. They also built up a spurious case which implied that all those who rejoined The Labour Party because of Jeremy Corbyn were anti-semite. Until we have clarity, these issues are the only matters on the agenda. Unless it is sorted out we have a Party without a soul tormented by an inner cancer. Blairites and their camp followers have ripped the heart out of our Labour Party. Predictably they are all now silently smug about it.
The Party must deal with this matter now not in some investigation in the middle distance which inevitably would end up in a whitewash.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Sharpe
I have been left feeling that many members like me carry a sense of having been "stuffed" and nobody really cares. I was reminded of a passage from The Eyrie a novel by the Australian author, Tim Winton.
"We're meant to lose ,and campaign and calculate all we like, the bulldozers still arrive, the agencies wash their hands, the media enjoys its little flash of colour and silent influence and it's back to business as usual.
Like every arm of government it's a servant of industry facilitating its ongoing prosperity. Bribery isn't even necessary. That's the real insult the system works beautifully without it".
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