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I joined the Labour Party...

TopCat

TopCat

Putin fanboy
Class politics by any means necessary has always been the aim. So after joining the Labour Party (LP) as a supporter to vote for Jeremy Corbyn I then joined as a full member when he won the leadership election.

I got my membership card today and intend to write on this thread about my experience of joining a reformist political party.

My local MP could not be more Blairite.

The council is solid LP. They seem to do a reasonably good job. I have met a number of them in my professional experience.

I don't know yet anything of how the LP is organised. Do they just have ward meetings or have a bigger one as well for the whole CLP?

What could they throw me out for? Is swearing not allowed for instance? Turning up pissed to meetings? Shouting TRAITOR at the MP?

How might they try to trip me up? Negate my views and contribution?

Top tips surely welcome.
 
Yes they do have whole constituency meetings of the CLP. I can't see why they would want to trip you up. You are a member and their view will be "the more the merrier". If they don't like your views they will argue with you. Swearing is not expected as in any group in polite society. Be ready to be disappointed in their politics unless there is a big influx of Corbinites.
 
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Hocus Eye. said:
Yes they do have whole constituency meetings of the CLP. I can't see why they would want to trip you up. You are a member and their view will be "the more the merrier". If they don't like you views they will argue with you. Swearing is not expected as in any group in polite society. Be ready to be disappointed in their politics unless there is a big influx of Corbinites.
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The ones I have met professionally do not impress me with their politics. They are well meaning and it's often a big part of their lives (the LP), but sticking up for working class people sems lower on the agenda than fly tipping.
 
Mation said:
My pack arrived to day too. I like the welcome letter :cool:



Has the membership card mentioned the word 'socialism' in recent years, does anyone know? The one I have does.
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The last one I had - some years ago had the modern version of Clause IV on it which included a long-winded reference to "endogenous growth". It didn't mention socialism I don't think, unless my memory fails me.
 
fly tipping is their bread & butter, it's dealing with stuff like that which keeps them elected. There's easy victories to be had through fly tipping and dogshit. less so through sticking up for working class people.
 
TopCat said:
The ones I have met professionally do not impress me with their politics. They are well meaning and it's often a big part of their lives (the LP), but sticking up for working class people sems lower on the agenda than fly tipping.
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This because their focus is on getting the local councillors re-elected. The party is focussed at council level rather than nation issues which only provide elections once every 5 years.
 
Hocus Eye. said:
The last one I had - some years ago had the modern version of Clause IV on it which included a long-winded reference to "endogenous growth". It didn't mention socialism I don't think, unless my memory fails me.
Click to expand...
Ah, ok. My card has the current (1995) Clause 4.1 on the back:

1 The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many not the few; where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe and where we live together freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect.
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e2a I lost a decade!
 
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TopCat said:
The ones I have met professionally do not impress me with their politics. They are well meaning and it's often a big part of their lives (the LP), but sticking up for working class people sems lower on the agenda than fly tipping.
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Perhaps you could get them to do both?
 
TopCat said:
I would say it will be odds on. I have been giving thought to the right drug combo to get through meetings. Pity barbiturates like Mandrax are no longer available.
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I'll have a tenner on 1 to 3 meetings depending on your drug intake ;)
 
I've rejoined. My local CLP and MP aren't too bad by Labour standards.

The last time I was threatened with expulsion was after the 1966 General election. Some of my mates at school and me had joined the Labour Party. We did a lot of leafleting and protected George Brown at street/estate meetings from the Young Conservatives. But we sang the Red Flag and had a little scuffle with the YCs at the election count.

The MP, a Labour Government Minister, didn't like that, and a couple of weeks later we got letters summoning us to LP HQ for questioning about whether we belonged to another party. I later realised that they might have thought we were in the SLL/Young Socialists or Militant, but we were 15 and had never heard of them at the time.

Anyway we just tore up our cards in disgust.
 
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