Lloyd Russell-Moyle and Faiza Shaheen are the latest victims of the Starmer leadership’s damaging factionalism.

In the middle of an election campaign to get rid of the Tories after 14 years of corruption, austerity and class war against society’s most vulnerable, Labour’s leadership seems hell-bent on waging a factional battle against the left of the Party.

The treatment of Diane Abbott has dominated the headlines for the last two days. Last night it emerged that Brighton MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle and Chingford candidate Faiza Shaheen are also being blocked from standing for Labour.

Russell-Moyle told Novara Media that he believes that his suspension is the result of “a vexatious and politically motivated complaint about my behaviour eight years ago” and “was designed to disrupt this election”.

Since there is not enough time to contest the anonymous complaint before the 4th June cutoff for party candidates, Russell-Moyle will be ineligible to stand as a candidate at the election. “I’m gutted,” said Russell-Moyle. “I’ve spent the last decade of my life building one of the best campaigning CLPs in the country.” His full statement is here.

“Fabulous” – then blocked

The pretext for blocking Faiza Shaheen is equally flimsy. Shaheen, whose campaign to get rid of Iain Duncan Smith in the Chingford seat she came close to winning in 2019 was already well underway, was told last night that she had been blocked for liking a tweet of a clip from a US satirical TV show. She appeared on BBC’s Newsnightan hour after receiving the news, visibly shaken.

Jon Stewart, the US comedian whose clip  Faiza Shaheen had liked on twitter, responded to the news, tweeting: “This is the dumbest thing the UK has done since electing Boris Johnson.”

The Times, which broke the story yesterday, claimed Shaheen was also being blocked for calling the Party “institutionally Islamophobic”. This is hardly controversial: the Forde Report also highlighted Islamophobia in the Party.

The Labour Muslim Network responded: “The deselection of Faiza Shaheen  is unacceptable. To use her tweets accounting personal experiences of Islamophobia as evidence for deselection is utterly outrageous. Telling a Muslim woman she is not allowed to talk about her own experiences of racism is clear Islamophobia.”

A Momentum spokesperson said: “It is deeply disturbing to see another BAME woman come under attack through anonymous Labour briefings. Faiza was selected democratically by local members in Chingford and Woodford Green. But instead of uniting to beat Iain Duncan Smith and win the seat for Labour, Starmer’s team seem more interested in purging a Muslim woman for speaking about her experiences of Islamophobia in Labour, and for sharing a view on Israel’s brutal war against Gaza which has been validated by the world’s highest court. Simply put, Labour cannot be an anti-racist party if it purges Muslims sounding the alarm on Islamophobia. If these reports are true, it would amount to yet more institutional racism from Starmer’s Labour, alongside Diane Abbott’s appalling mistreatment.”

Party activists will rightly be staggered by the leadership’s pursuit of these factional vendettas against hard-working committed socialists. Their treatment is an insult not just to them but to all the activists who have already taken time out to canvass in their campaigns. Members will wonder why they bother, and will do less in this election as a result. This the leadership’s witch-hunt against the left, mid-campaign, is in danger of jeopardising the election victory we so desperately need. Already there are fears in Chingford that the Tories may now retain the seat, and in Brighton that the Greens will win.

Even more damaging is the way people around the leadership seems determined not just to block candidates but to vilify the individuals concerned, seeking to destroy the reputations of hard-working and committed candidates. This could contribute to an atmosphere where religious, sexual and ethnic minorities not only feel less welcome in the Party, but less safe.

Keir Starmer denied he was blocking left wing candidates and said the moves had been made to ensure Labour had “the highest quality candidates.” This is laughable. As Momentum  tweeted, Faiza is a women from a working-class background, a leading writer and thinker on inequality, a tireless community campaigner who bucked the national trend as Labour’s candidate in 2019 and was called “fabulous” and “fantastic” by Keir Starmer on a previous occasion. Starmer’s remark is even more absurd, given the Party’s endorsement of a candidate from the right of the Party who had been suspended for racist remarks.

Faiza Shaheen responded to Starmer’s comment with characteristic dignity: “Please don’t undermine my credentials, Keir Starmer.  I came from a family with a violent father and spent part of my childhood on benefits. I’m now a visiting professor and teach at the London School of Economics. Public services really helped me, and I had to work so hard to get to this point in my life.”

A Momentum spokesperson said: “This is a purge. Left-wing women of colour like Diane Abbott and Faiza Shaheen are being targeted for deselection by Team Starmer, against the wishes of their local parties.”

“Plain as day, Keir Starmer is purging left-wingers for the crime of believing in causes like public ownership and anti-racism. He is pushing out independent-minded women of colour, including Britain’s first black woman MP in Diane Abbott, who he rightly called a ‘trailblazer’.  The pretence that this is about ‘high quality candidates’ is contradicted by the endless stream of allies, often white men, he has let off despite scandals. This behaviour is an insult to grassroots Labour activists, to democratic principles and to millions across the country inspired by Diane’s example. It will not be forgotten.”

Support grows for Diane

Lord Simon Woolley, founder and director of operation Black Vote, joined the condemnation of the Party’s treatment of Diane Abbott, saying yesterday: “Labour has 48 hours to get this right. If they don’t, it will be a slap in the face for Black and working class communities.”

TUC President and FBU General Secretary Matt Wrack also issued a powerful statement, which said: “After 14 years of austerity, misery and chaos, people are sick of the Tories. Now is the time for Labour to unite to sweep them from power.

“Diane Abbott is a powerful, popular advocate for Labour. She and other candidates have been treated in an appalling manner.

“There are clearly double standards in how they have been treated as left wingers and as women of colour when compared to more centrist MPs. It is only a matter of weeks since hard-right Tory Natalie Elphicke was welcomed with open arms.

“This has all been an embarrassing distraction. The Labour leadership must now act decisively to reinstate the affected candidates and ensure that no one is barred from standing at the last minute with no due process.”

Communication Workers Union General Secretary Dave Ward said: “The gerrymandering and jobs for the boys approach to selections whilst axing outstanding candidates is a disgrace.”

And significantly, Deputy Leader Angela Rayner voiced her support for Diane Abbott this afternoon, saying, “I don’t think there’s any reason why Diane Abbott shouldn’t stand as MP.”

A LabourList poll of 2,500 of its readers saw 75% said that Diane should be able to restand. Another 11% said her local party should decide, 2% said the Party or whips should decide, and only 11% said she should be blocked.

Last night, Diane Abbott told a rally of hundreds of supporters in Hackney: ““I promise you that, as long as it is possible, I will be the member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.”

Image: Faiza Shaheen. Author: FromMorningToMidnight, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.