Former Plymouth MP explains why she opposes Corbyn

Former Plymouth MP explains why she opposes Jeremy Corbyn

7/7/2016

The following is a letter sent to members of Plymouth Moor View Labour Party by their former MP.

PLYMOUTH MOOR VIEW LABOUR PARTY

From Alison Raynsford (previously Seabeck), St Budeaux ward

Dear Chair of the CLP, Friends and Fellow Labour Party Members, I am writing because, although no longer your MP, I am being asked by many party members, residents in the Plymouth Moor View constituency, across social media and by TV and newspapers to express a view on what is happening within the Labour Party. I did not want to go public until I had let the Constituency Labour Party understand my position.

There are a great many new, and young, members of our local party and you need to be aware, if you are not, that this is a scenario I have witnessed before. The outcome was a split Labour Party pursuing policies which did not have the support of the vast majority of the electorate, 18 years of Tory rule and all of the excesses of Margaret Thatcher. The line which the Party I supported, and tried to change from the inside, took then was selfish. We put ideology above the welfare of those who most needed a Labour Government. We made ourselves unelectable. I am watching history repeating itself and it can be avoided.

The Party needs new leadership and I intend to explain why I believe this and how I reached this difficult conclusion. However, before I do so we need to understand the complex and dangerous times in which we live, which make it essential for the country to have strong leadership and an Opposition Party firing on all cylinders. Following the divisive BREXIT vote, a vote which was based as we now know on a series of lies about the financial position, how much money we could expect back and, on immigration, the claim that free movement could be stopped without us leaving the Single Market, we are seeing a society at war with itself. Neighbours abusing neighbours, young people feeling particularly angry that their future opportunities are disappearing and the very existence of the whole UK being under threat. This is exactly the time when a strong and united Opposition is needed. It is hardly surprising that the Tories are saying that electorally it is in their interests for the status quo to continue. Sadly we are not a united opposition, and whilst Jeremy remains leader we will remain ineffective. Sixty shadow front bench posts are still vacant and he cannot find enough people to do that and so provide an effective opposition. This must not continue. I can understand why many who voted for Jeremy feel aggrieved, but having personally given him the opportunity to show true leadership and remained uncritical, I can no longer stay silent when it is so clear that he is failing.

* The argument being put forward is that Jeremy has a large mandate. Yes, he does, but the MPs who were elected before Jeremy became Leader have much larger mandates and from a much wider cross section of society. They were elected on a manifesto too and have a duty to their constituents.
* Another allegation is that Jeremy is being bullied - not true simply because no one is allowed to meet him. In any case a Leader of the U.K. has to be able to withstand pressure. Vladimir Putin and others do not pull their punches. Churchill was leading his Party and the country at the same age as Jeremy and no one would say he needed protection from people with differing views.
* The MPs and Shadow Spokespeople who have resigned had in most cases spent years developing expertise in the areas they covered. This has all been lost and most of the new MPs who have been desperately brought in to fill gaps are out of their depth, albeit they will be doing their best. Jeremy cannot fill ail the vacancies and even if he wins a new election he will still be 'leading' the same PLP and he will still be a total lame duck without enough people to act as shadow ministers. The Party will be ineffective in Parliament and in the wider country. These are MPs from every wing of the Party.
* When Ernest Bevin and other Trades Union leaders called a halt to the ineffectual but decent George Lansbury's leadership Clement Attlee was elected! He was not widely known or charismatic and not from a Trade Union background but he went on to become one of the most successful and radical leaders of the Labour Party. He was able to maintain the support and respect of a Party filled with talented, strong minded individuals from left to right and drive forward a ground breaking programme which appealed to the voting public. That is what we need now.
* Jeremy and his team failed to make a sincere case for the UK to stay within the EU and evidence from Alan Johnson MP, shows that they actively worked to undermine the 'Remain' campaign. These are the same people preventing Jeremy from talking alone to colleagues like Tom Watson MP, who incidentally also has a large Party mandate. Jeremy's team include individuals with no history in the Labour Party, I've been a member for over 40 years through thick and thin; good and bad times and fear that they could preside over the breakup of the Party. It is incredibly selfish to play such games when the people of Plymouth and across Britain need Labour in government not a protest group. Our international allies in Europe and beyond need a Labour government. We need a Labour government led by someone with vision and the ability to unite and strengthen to deliver the outcomes which will lead to an end to the unremitting austerity people have been facing. We need a leader who will be able to communicate to people across the country.
* There are allegations of disloyalty to the Leader. Jeremy campaigned against, and opposed Labour policies, under 3 party leaders of which Tony Blair was only one. This is nothing new and nothing which should surprise Jeremy.

I am writing in good faith and have drawn on my long experience both inside and outside politics; both in and away from Westminster. People talk about the Westminster bubble and the importance of MPs understanding their communities. Operating effectively inside Westminster is a complex and difficult job, so the views of MPs should not be summarily dismissed.

To ignore the fact that 172 of the team have no faith in the Leader is like putting your head in the sand. I will therefore argue strongly for change and for a challenge.

Yours fraternally,
Alison Seabeck, St Budeaux ward.

22 Comments

Mr David Russell

7/7/2016 08:04:18 pm

This letter saddens me deeply. A letter sent to CLP members without appearing to think through its potential consequences, and to those who have just joined the Labour family. What kind of example does this letter set to those new members who have a different viewpoint. It confirms that a few MP's cannot be trusted when things doesn't suit them and will use any method they can find to undermine an elected leader and to hell with the members who voted for them.

Many CLP members do not agree with this letter and would have been horrified to have received this unsolicited letter on what appears to be headed Labour Party note paper, as if it was some sort of official Labour communication.

This is nothing more than desperation from a very small section of the party who doesn't appear to understand the meaning of a democratic organisation. Many MP's appear to think that because they cant have what they want, they will throw tantrums and cause havoc whilst acting in an infantile manner in the media and disparaging anyone who does not agree with them, until they get their own way.

The members have decided who is the leader.. Some MP's and former MP's would do well to remember that. Labour party members select Parliamentary candidates on a Labour ticket. Unfortunately Plymouth Moorview doesn't have an MP anymore, and considering the Chilcot report yesterday will find it difficult to get voters to trust any connection with Mr Blairs ideology.. MP's are not forced to remain in Labour. They can always leave to become independents , if they disagree with the democratically elected leader. And 250,000 plus members growing exponentially who support Mr Corbyn.

MP's, after all said and done are paid public servants, and are most welcome to serve their future hopeful constituents as independents, (if they could ever get elected) from that standpoint! Of course, many candidates would rather not risk the chance of a good salary with expenses by doing so. Who could blame them. However, they can, and should do so, if they don't like members voting in a democratic election for a leader they prefer, rather than one MP's think they should have. I would have more respect for that than sending a letter out to members without giving a right of reply to the person who the letter is referring to. The choice of being independent is theirs if they are conviction politicians. Sadly there are not many of them around anymore, but fortunately many of them are now on the Labour front bench or supporting Jeremy Corbyn.in the sidelines.

Membership has now grown to 600,000 members under Jeremy Corbyn's stewardship! Many of which will support Jeremy Corbyn , rather than for a few selfish MP's who think of their own self interests before the Labour movement.they are supposed to be there to serve.

Eileen

8/7/2016 08:47:17 am

Very well said Dave. I hope she reads your comment and takes note. She should surely see the error of sending this letter out by now?

Kate Steele

9/7/2016 05:46:14 pm

An excellent reply from you, David, and one which I fully support. I live in Plymouth (although not Moor View ward) and I feel betrayed by Alison's stance. I am sure many members across Plymouth will be equally angry and disappointed with her. Thank you. Kate, Labour Party & Plymouth Momentum member.

Ruth Wilson

9/7/2016 08:35:19 pm

I think it is very disappointing to see a former MP and ex-office of this clp misuse Party resources in this way. On whose authority was this letter circulated to members and why?

The fact that dissident members of the PLP chose precisely the moment they were most needed to launch their failed coup is despicable. They then attempted to paralyse the effective running of the Opposition when the country expected us to speak with a united voice. They have attemptied to break Jeremy Corbyn as a man, having no defsense against his policies and his support in the country. That you attempt to justify this brings you, as well as them, into disrepute.

I sincerely hope Moor View CLP is given the immediate opportunity to debate contents of this letter and to distance itself from the position it describes. I feel it is incumbent on the elected officers to establish how this letter came to be circulated and to inform the members, for their consideration.

Carmen Malaree

10/7/2016 09:29:23 pm

Very well said David.

jayne Birkett

7/7/2016 09:20:30 pm

Alison ryansford your clearly out of touch.new labour viewed as just the same as Tories. We want grass root labour values for the people who feel ignored and abandoned. Jeremy corbyn brings us hope. He does not lie. We think people like you Alison are only interested in your career and your own wealth. Judgement day

Angus Campbell

8/7/2016 07:59:46 am

"Jeremy and his team failed to make a sincere case for the UK to stay within the EU" or to put it another way... Jeremy failed to lie to the public and promote 'project fear' about leaving the EU. He should have lied, lied, lied!! We don't want honest, respectable and reasonable people in politics. How could we ever be in power when we can't lie to the public in our manifesto before the election?! We don't want a leader who will speak honestly and answer questions directly... no, we need someone who can lie to the public without even blinking. That's what will win us an election!

Ken wordley

8/7/2016 08:33:34 am

This view has been expounded by most of the 172 rebels in the PLP. To me this is less about Jeremy and more about who runs the party. MP's need to remember that although they do have a duty to their electorate they need to remember it was labour supporters that elected them. Their campaigns were supported and funded by the Labour Party not by supporters of other political parties. It was not the labour leader that failed to deliver a remain vote. The Tories failed miserably to get remain votes from their supporters. This now has become an issue of who owns the party, the membership or the MP's. Election results since Jeremy became leader speak for themselves yet the rebels want to return to the politics of failure. 600K members versus 172 MP's. The winds of change has become a storm. Should there be votes of no confidence by constituency parties in their MP they should resign or seek re-selection.

Jim Wallis

8/7/2016 10:20:37 am

This is an absolute joke, a letter,unsolicited, circulated in the knowledge that it would be seized upon by the press, without any consideration of the manner in which it would be used by those who are no friends of the Labour Party.

Quite why a disgraced former MP should think anyone's interested in listening to their whining.

She's got form for this kind of behaviour - when former hubby Nick stuck the knife in Brown's back in 09' she was one of his most vocal defenders.

I think it's high time we started calling a spade a spade. These folks need to know that the days when a bunch of self serving, careerist chancers had free reign to use the party as a means of lining their own pockets are long gone.

Eileen

8/7/2016 10:26:56 am

For now it is just posted here and this blogging site is supportive of Labour. But along with the recipient we feel such letters should be in the public realm now. When members of the PLP chose to publish their resignation letters on social media the gloves came off.

Patricia Campbell

8/7/2016 01:44:07 pm

I read this letter and it in no way reflects how I feel as a Labour Party member. I think many Labour MP's for a very long time have been part of the Blair-style New Labour and this shift to the centre-right has alienated many grassroots supporters. The way the PLP vote is quite the opposite the views of true Labour supporters. We never wanted war/bombing of Iraq or Syria. We don't want austerity or welfare cuts. We don't want tuition fees or the sell-off of the NHS. The core membership want a Labour Party that reflects their wishes and many of the current PLP are too far removed from reality and are careerist, more Tory-based in their views and opinions.
A sea-change is happening and I am one of many people who say 'NO!' to the right-wing and let us get back a huge degree of fairness, equality, truth, caring and decency. Jeremy Corbyn is the answer to all of this mess that Labour has got itself into.
If you don't like it then leave and form a different party or join the Tories.

paul edwardsshea

8/7/2016 04:03:37 pm

This seems quite a measured letter, voting somebody a leader does not make them a leader, each of our MPs have a history of being members of the party before being chosen to be the prospective candidate and wining an election. Jeremy knew who these MPs were before he went for election and knew he had to work with them to create a team that can win the next general election. This is his main role, not to dictate policy but to listen and build. Titles don't make leaders, the labour leader needs to motivate, inspire others & facilitate to establish a shared vision of the labour project.

Labour had a poor referendum campaign, Jeremy as leader should take responsibility for it. Labour failed to address the key issues of sovereignty and immigration, the reason why many labour voters outside large urban centres voted leave.

Mr David Russell

9/7/2016 02:39:43 pm

Labour had a better result on #remain than the Tories did. Most of JC's speeches or visits went unreported by the media and done so deliberately. Personally I'm glad we are out of the EU. At least the NHS is safe from TTIP. Only Tories to worry about. I'm just sorry JC didn't campaign for #Brexit! But that is academic now. He followed the rules and policy. Unlike 172 Blairite MP's.

Terry Deans

9/7/2016 07:35:57 pm

'voting somebody a leader does not make them a leader'?

Really?

So what did we vote for, and why. Paul Edwards?

How did Labour do regarding the 'remain' vote in comparison to say, Cameron's 'remain' vote. Who failed who?

Which people ok'd Jeremy Corbyn's place on last years ballot paper? And which people did not oppose the £3 membership idea?

Who elects the Mps for selection? And who votes for the leader of that party which they all serve?Who works for the MPs at campaigns?

This letter is a shameful disgrace. It has nothing whatever to do with Alison Seabeck's right to voice her opinion. An opinion she denied members last week at the AGM for the CLP she is a member of. She is as entitled as any of us to do that, but not more entitled?

It has everything to do with her trying to mislead young and new members into believing that their judgement and opinions are unreliable and misguided. Patronising in the extreme, and an attempt to further undermine the integrity of the leader of our party. And using the members list as if it were her own private mailing list.

Albeit many, including myself as newly elected vive-Chair of her CLP, have not received.

Moreover, for me it illustrates and consolidates the impression of those who support their democratically elected leader,that the old ways are not only failing, as reflected in the rising majority of non-voters and disconnected public, but they are resorting to desperate and reckless methods in which to defend some kind of moral high ground that they seem to believe is their privileged right., despite members voting to the contray?

remember, for a man who is supposed to be 'unelectable' and a 'poor leader', he has somehow managed to convert 100s of thousands from members of the public to not only support him, but to pay and register as official members of the Labour Party. I don't know about you, Alison, but I'd call that leadership.And electability

Some are panicking in the face of the pressure they are under, and this letter epitomises that. Are these the mind sets and mentalities we want running our party and entrusting with the best interest of the people that they claim to be representative of?
I

Michelle McKay link

8/7/2016 06:23:31 pm

Labour voted Remain by 63% Jeremy Corbyn did over 30 pro-Remain speeches all over the UK. These are facts. For 172 MPs resign because of this does not make sense, it is a red herring. Maybe they dont like Jeremy'ss deodorant or something, but I along with many other members have met him and have full confidence in his ability to do the job; Jeremy is the only way Labour will win so thankfully the trash have taken themselves out, now he can build a shadow cabinet of loyal MPs who better represent what we the members want. The traitors should be deselected so he can get on with the job unhindered by backstabbers.

Paul Edwards-Shea

8/7/2016 08:12:42 pm

Labour did not address the key issues of sovereignty and immigration, making a case for being in Europe. This lost many votes, why weren't they faced head on? Since the first EU referendum Labour has always been a pro EU party with a few anti EU MPs. To get only 63% of our traditional vote is not a success, there is a strong possibility that a substantial number of these will defect to UKIP at the next general election, read the following article
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2016/07/after-brexit-red-ukip-prepares-take-labours-northern-heartlands

We need to win 2-3 million more votes at the next election, we need a united Labour team from PLP, MEPs, mayors and councillors to activists all with a shared vision, a team that is bigger than the sum of the parts. I feel that Jeremy has not lived up to the task, it is not enough to say he has a huge mandate, he needs to work harder to unite Labour, he should look to Harold Wilson,who also had a difficult job with left and right, for a inspiration,

Mr David Russell

9/7/2016 02:56:04 pm

Well we wont get that with 172 MP's who ignore the wishes of 600,000 plus members. If they had any guts or decency, they would defect to the Tories UKIP or form their own party. All mouths and little else. They wont do that, as they are cowards. They know their salary BAC's will only come from taking a Labour whip and from a Labour Party who provide them with their support and money.

Harold Wilson was my local MP. in Liverpool (Huyton now Knowsley South) back in the 60/70's and I met him on a few occasions. I have met JC as well. They are very similar. both in demeanor and ideology.

JC has done more to unite this party rather than trying to destroy it as a few inconsequential, and underwhelming MP's have done. Many who few people have ever heard of, let alone provided anything of consequence!

Adrian Parry

8/7/2016 08:01:09 pm

An whole letter and not one single mention of a Labour policy that Corbyn has enforced that she doesn't like. What is the point in saying "I want him out" with no suggestion of how we go forward from here. Which Blairite is she willing to get behind. Or if not New Labour who? Labour MPs (and ex-MPs) seem to be unable to grasp that they lost the voting class vote through an insistence of having middle class MPs voting for middle class policies.

Adrian Parry

8/7/2016 08:09:24 pm

I'd also add that the Plymouth seat was lost to Conservatives when there was no Corbyn leading the party. Why was it lost? The Labour vote increased but the Liberal vote collapsed. Most of those Libdem votes didn't move to Labour. Indeed, it looks like UKIP was the big winner and probably all of their 300% increase in votes could have been disaffected working class votes.

Kevin Neil

9/7/2016 07:24:36 pm

Alison Raynesford (formerly Seabeck) skillfully underlines why it is the she's a FORMER member of parliament for this area whilst Jeremy Corbyn is now the Labour Party leader, elected with a massive majority ten months ago. Indeed on the very day that the electorate of Plymouth Moor View signalled that they had lost faith in Alison, Jeremy Corbyn acutely increased his majority in his own seat.

Now election results are complex and can rarely be attributed to single themes, but I'd say one obvious difference between the two would be that Jeremy speaks lucidly and clearly, leaving people in no doubt exactly what he stands for. Alison meanwhile had learned that annoying Blairite trick of appearing to agree with everyone whilst rarely committing to anything at all.

During the time Alison was in government, Labour membership fell and fell. With Jeremy as leader the membership total has now hit a high not seen in 60 years, making Labour the biggest democratic socialist party in the world.

Addressing you directly, this is a trust thing Alison and whilst the people of Plymouth lost trust in you, hundreds of thousands have trust in Jeremy. The problem now is that a number of Labour MP's fear for their futures. Not because the fear Jeremy can't win, but because they fear he will and in the process leaving those individuals increasingly marginalised.

I'm sorry to say this Alison but I think you are now hugely out of touch with the membership and the electorate in Plymouth. We need to win back voters who have become increasingly disaffected and we can and will do that with straight talking honest politics. We also need to engage the huge numbers who have flocked to the party who support Labour's democratic socialist aims and values and who support the policies Jeremy was elected leader on. Locally you will find both energy and optimism amongst the rapidly expanding membership, along with a commitment to fight to defend our leader from undemocratic attack by these plotters. Had you been paying attention you would of course have realised that your letter probably means the end of your poltical career as far as Plymouth is concerned.

Joseph Patrick Cronshaw link

17/7/2016 01:39:08 pm

I left the Labour about the time Alison Raynesford says she joined. I left because the Wilson Government were destroying the lives of young people that were leaving college and University as nurses, doctors and teachers with absolutely no prospect of getting job in their chosen profession. Also every time workers took a stand for their rights to strike they were threatened with the use of the army, and in fact the army was used 5 times to break strikes, all to follow the instruction handed to them by the IMF. They also brought in the PTA, which was then used by the police against trade unionist more than against any terrorist group. Even I was with others threatened with its use when arrested outside Hendon Police Station after walking 474 miles in 1976. As for Clement Atlee his government was in many cases even worse, they used troops on 10 occasions, and not lets forget what happened to the people that fought and sacrificed so much against the Nazi Germany and fascist Japan during the WW2, we went to war against them, to put them back in their place. Changes I believe came that benefited the workers, because of the 100's of thousands of people coming home from war, that would expect to see some benefit from all the struggle and suffering. Just after the WW1 they came up with the National Assistance Board (or Board of Guardians). We do not want a Labour Party that is almost a mirror image of the Tory Party. As for filling the post of the traitors, that shouldn't be a problem, they can be de-selected and by-elections called that will hopefully find the vacancies with honest members. Don't forget we have a Tory right wing PM who was not elected by the people.

Jayne Alker

10/8/2016 12:06:10 pm

I am one of the returning members of the party and moor view is my clp. We vote tonight on which candidate to support. Let's see how very little impact her letter has had. Farcical really coming from someone so expert in knowing her electorate she gave her seat to the torys last year

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Former Plymouth MP explains why she opposes Jeremy Corbyn

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